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From promising less to referring business elsewhere: Seven counter-intuitive ways to happier clients

By Jono Marcus |

September 29, 2014 | 9 min read

Ahead of the publication of his new book, 50 Ways to Happier Clients, Inkling's Jono Marcus shares seven counter-intuitive tips for keeping clients sweet.

Jono Marcus

1. Only negotiate if you are prepared to walk away

You cannot afford to make any one client so crucial to your business that if they leave, your business dies. However, sometimes getting a client to stay an extra quarter longer than they intend to can make all the difference to cash flow. This is a time when trying to squeeze the client for as much fee as possible is NOT a good idea. It is a simple truth that you cannot effectively enter a negotiation that you cannot afford to walk away from.

That said, if you have put everything in place to ensure that while a deal or a piece of new business is good for your company but not essential, you can afford to aim to be compensated as fully as you think is appropriate and walk away from the table if you don’t get the response you want. As the legendary fictional lawyer Harvey Spector puts it, if a client doesn’t want to do business with you when you are presenting a fair proposal, then to get you to stop 'all you gotta do is tap out’.

2. Refer clients on

If a potential client needs something your agency could not do well, or if a client can’t pay enough to justify your agency’s man hours, don’t be afraid to refer them on. The consequences of accepting a client that is not the right fit can be far-reaching. It fills your agency’s credentials with work you can’t or don’t want to show-off about, and it fills your staff’s hours with work they cannot necessarily do well or be proud about, in turn, taking time away from the things that they can do well. Also, lack of passion in your office for a piece of business can make staff drag their feet, which affects client experience.

An unhappy client affects your reputation and business in a much more damaging way than saying ‘no’ to work. I have had countless instances where I have said no to briefs or work from clients, only for them to come back to me months later with briefs and work I was happy with.

Plus, when you refer on a client that would be bad for you onto someone they may be right for, that person becomes an ally for the future. One of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, said: "Most people return small favours, acknowledge medium ones and repay great ones – with ingratitude”. I consider referring on a client to be a small favour.

3. Push a client that says ‘no’

When a client says no to your agency’s ideas and work, unless you find out why, the exercise will have been pointless. You need to find out what they are saying no to, however awkward you may feel about launching such an interrogation. Is it because they can’t afford the budget? Is it because they don’t like the name you have given the idea? Is it because their boss has told them to sign-off no activations in that area? If you are an agency that produces great work and interesting ideas, then the reason behind a client‘s ‘no’ will inevitably be productive to learn from, for future purposes.

Traffic police in America know how vital direct feedback is, which is why they implemented flashing road signs that display to drivers their current speed followed in a split second by the legal speed limit. They appreciate that only clear feedback allows you to consider if you need to change in a way that will allow winning responses next time.

4. Talk about money

Problems occur when an agency is unclear about money and clients use that lack of clarity to get the best possible outcome for themselves, at the agency’s expense. So you must not hesitate to address unflinchingly directly the question of how much your client has agreed to pay you and when payment can be expected. Look them in the eye when discussing it, shake hands on it and follow-up in writing; make sure to get invoices or PO numbers sent out speedily.

If a client is not paying you at the right time as promised, pick up the phone and say very clearly: “So why have we not been paid for our work as yet? How can we ensure we are paid on time?” Studies have shown people are more terrified to talk about money in the workplace than they are to talk about death, politics and religion. But ‘misunderstandings’ about money always spiral down to clients and agencies splitting up.

5. Briefs: ignore and annoy

Don’t answer briefs which have no budget estimate attached. Following this rule will mean you turn away a fair bit of potential business. However, the business you turn away may or may not have lead to money in the company coffers, which, will never compensate for the value lost to the business in preparing proposals and pitches for Mickey Mouse opportunities.

Mature and trustworthy clients deal in figures and don’t obfuscate. If a client does not know the budget range for the work they are requesting, be concerned. If they know the budget range but will give their prospective agency no indication of it, be very concerned.

Get every brief from your client in writing first. Clients (apart from the special ones) will go back on their word, on the spin of a dime, especially at briefing stage. This is why you must be puritanical with new and existing clients in saying that you will not begin any work on a brief that has not been set down by them in writing in a formal document (preferably a signed document). If the client cannot be bothered to take the time or effort to do this, then you may presume the potential project itself is so unlikely to come off that it is not worth your agency’s time and effort preparing a response.

Plus, clients are very nervous about applying their signature to anything, so if they do, you know you most likely have a credible brief on your hands. If it helps, send your client a briefing word document template to fill out and sign for you.

6. Bring up issues you think your client has with your agency

You are expected to address the ‘elephant in the room’. Even if your client denies an issue that you believe exists, just having the confidence to address it with them will ensure it sits at the forefront of their mind, so they know that from your perspective it has not gone unnoticed. It gives your client the opportunity to discuss their fears, so you can help them get over those concerns. Remember William Blake’s wise adage from the Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "Without contraries there is no

progression."

If the issue is something the client cannot overcome with you, then addressing it may, at the most extreme level, involve telling the client that they will need to take their business elsewhere, before it has a paralysing or corrosive effect on your agency. However, nine out of 10 times revealing issues you think your client has is the only way to overcome them for the better.

7. Promise less

Big numbers sound good: you being the one saying those big numbers can result in instant smiles on the client faces looking back at you. But what really counts isn’t you, but your agency looking great over the course of an entire relationship, providing repeat businesses over the course of years. So don’t make overblown delivery or results promises.

Big promises you are not sure you can keep will be constant thorns in the side of your agency. If you don’t think telling the truth will win you the business, then try two techniques:

a) tell the client why anyone promising them more than you are is a charlatan...

b) tell them why what you are promising may actually be far more valuable, if less showy, than what they originally wanted.

If they still choose another agency based on its overblown promises vs your realism, then you can be sure the relationship won't last the course, and recriminations will follow.

Jono Marcus is client director and digital director at creative agency Inkling. His book will be out in October and will be available on Amazon Kindle Store, before going into print.

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