Before you get the account

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall-off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new ad agency, one that could deliver an ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail executives went to the offices of a prominent London ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist who insisted that they wait. Then an unkempt person led them to a conference room  a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food  and left them to wait once more. A few agency people drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the executives who were growing impatient by the minute. The executives tried to ask some of them what was going on, but the agency people just brushed them off and went about their work.

Finally, they had enough. As the executives were angrily getting up, completely disgusted with the way they’d been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “your treatment here at our agency is not typical of how we treat our clients. In fact, we’ve gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We’ve behaved this way to point out to you what it’s like to be a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail isn’t your advertising, it’s your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising.”

The British Rail executives were shocked  but the agency got the account! The agency had the remarkable conviction to point out the problem because they knew exactly what needed to change.

The story is from Marc Anderson’s book Change Is Good. You Go First. Quite dramatic for an agency wanting to get a big and delicious account wouldn’t you say so? How many agencies you know really take the time to understand the client  do their homework, study the business, identify the problem and come out with a realistic solution no matter how painful the truth would be? The answer is: Not too many!

Yogi Berra once said, “Before we build a better mousetrap, we need to find out if there are any mice out there.”

The same is true with business consultancy. A consultant that doesn’t do his or her homework, who doesn’t sit down with the client to identify their needs, and who quickly and brashly offer canned programs instead, that person won’t be doing the client any favor. Why? Because prescription without diagnosis is malpractice!

If my car breaks down, I wouldn’t want to approach a car repair shop carrying a sign that says, “We get lucky at making repairs!” In truth, I’ve experienced bringing my car to an expensive service center that didn’t only try to fix my car’s problems, but also did repair on parts that didn’t need any fixing, only to have me leave the shop with the same problems I had when I walked in. Talk about frustrating!

When the Ilocana had her affliction, I didn’t bring her to a physician who said, “I hope we get this one right this time!” NO! I made sure she’s in the care of people who are knowledgeable of her condition, people who take the time to understand the situation and who have experience in treating such cases.

Before you shoot for the account, make sure you have knowledge about the business. Find out first what the problems are, so you can provide what the client really needs. Knowledge has to be sought, and this kind of knowledge rarely comes in the middle of the night. And it rarely interrupts you while you’re watching movies on the DVD.

Preparation, preparation, preparation  that is the key! Because, cliché as it may be, your clients do not care how much you know until they know how much you care!

Goes back to the “loving your neighbor” stuff in the Bible doesn’t it?

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