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5 things marketing agencies do to turn off potential clients [Part 2]

30 October 2013

You know the drill. Here's part two of our series on common mistakes made by marketing agencies during the search and selection process.

Catch up on part one here.

As always, get in touch via the comment section below, or Tweet us, to share your views.

 

#4 Don't listen to briefs

Far too frequently, agencies stand before clients in all their glory and somehow and somehow, spectacularly fail to answer the brief at hand.

Marketing agency teams are more often than not given a specific set of agenda for presentations, yet despite this some choose to go ahead and do it their own way.

This maybe because they don't have the time or inclination to plan things through, or at worse, the brief is considered more of an opportunity for the agency than the client. Projects should be mutually beneficial, but agencies often forget that intimately, it is there job to enable the client to do their job.

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To many clients, this not only fails to demonstrate that the agency is equipped and experienced at the task in hand, but that the client's needs are unimportant to the pitching agency. This obviously would not bode well for any potential partnership and can leave clients feeling irked or like their time has been wasted.

#5 Don't respond to queries effectively

It's common when agencies and clients are in the initial stages of communication for a client to request creds or case studies of work rendered for complementary clients or challenges.

Similar to the above however, and perhaps in their haste to impress (or dare we reason, our of sheer laziness), marketing agencies send across general creds, despite being asked to help solve a specific issue or problem.

In our experience, it is better to ask your prospect to wait a few days extra while you draft up a bespoke set of creds rather than rushing or hastily sending across whatever is stored in your D Drive. The client will appreciate the effort you have made on their behalf and it will demonstrate your relevant work more effectively, thus improving your chances of being hired.

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Danielle Stagg

Written by Danielle Stagg