What I’ve found staggering is that more agencies don’t challenge the quality of briefs if they’re not getting what they need. But I don’t blame agencies for this at all, it’s indicative of an inequality in the relationship. This power imbalance makes the likelihood of any agency challenge less likely. And agencies need to challenge some of the poor client behaviours we’re seeing.
Some of the quotes from respondents in my research used to describe their poorest relationships gives us some clues as to why some agencies might not feel comfortable to challenge the client.
“We all retreat to our corners and lose the human dialogue” – Agency Leader
“I remember finally getting to our agency Christmas Party at 9pm and getting a call from my senior client at 10:30pm stating that we needed to get on a call at 7am the next morning to urgently discuss the agency fee.” – Agency Leader
There’s no obvious financial benefit of clients chasing a better relationship (in the way there is for agencies). Sure, they’re there if you pause and think about it, but many clients simply don’t have the time, training or inclination to look beyond the here and now and move past an outdated “agency as a slave” approach.
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