Learning The Way of the Client

A few years ago I was on the phone, on behalf of a client, to a moderator they had recommended. In the course of getting to know each other he mentioned that he was happy, for my client, because they chose an agency that fit the brand’s size. We were a medium sized agency and my client (though a nationally/internationally known brand) had a medium sized budget. He said he made the point that the big global agencies (which the client had been with prior) would never give them the attention they deserved. While his argument benefitted my agency I thought it was (at the time) almost insulting, to our industry, because I always felt I gave my clients the attention they deserved no matter size. And I had done this at agencies huge and tiny for clients who spent $100s of millions and clients who spent $100s of thousands.

Now I am the client. I have been weeding through our vendor lineup (cough, I mean “marketing partners”) and kind of feel like the schmuck. CACI is not a big spender (as of now). We are on a startup budget. It’s not like we are not spending but we are not P&G. In some cases I have found that we are lucky and have “partners” who share our vision and see our growth potential. They have met us more than half way on budgets. However, in most cases, we have “vendors” who hardly give us the time of day. I asked one “vendor,” who we are currently running a campaign with, to send me a simple credentials deck – nothing new, just what they use to pitch. A week later plus a reminder and I still don’t have it. I can’t even get them to respond and these are people CACI is currently writing checks to.

What a joke. What happened to our industry? Have we become this arrogant? I’m not asking for the world – I’m asking for simple customer service. Amazing the difference in perspective you get when you represent the client side. Dear past clients…I’m beginning to understand your pains.

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