All my students know that in the first module, "A healthy mindset for a planner", out of 7 modules, I emphasized one point: you must empathize with clients, as long as they are decent clients. Today, one of my students learning through videos asked me: What makes a client decent or not decent? And what are tips for working with clients who aren't decent?
Although this is part of the course, this topic will also be useful to many people, so I want to answer this question publicly for everyone. And as usual, this is my personal perspective.
In 13 years in this industry, I've heard firsthand and heard stories about agency staff cursing (behind their backs) clients, and vice versa. To be honest, I used to do this frequently in my early working years, and I'm ashamed of it. Now I rarely curse at clients, and if I do, it's because that client really isn't decent.
Before answering the main question above, why does the agency side need to empathize with clients?
Since becoming a freelancer, I've had the opportunity to work with clients as part of their team, plus running my own company, so I understand clearly that: unlike agencies which only focus on Promotion in the 4Ps of Marketing, clients also have to handle at least Product, Price, and Place, along with the pressure of hitting numbers and managing P&L as well. And since no one is perfect, not every client is good at all 4Ps. If an agency is lucky enough to meet a client who's good at Promotion, work will be smoother. But if not, then empathize with and help the client, instead of cursing them, as long as they're a decent person.
I'll start with clients who are NOT decent.
Not being honest with the client brief
Once I received a very vague brief for brand X, and reading it, people in the industry often use the term "open brief": a brief so open that the person would say, I listen I listen about the blue ocean, but you can't clearly understand either the marketing objective or communication objective. All 20 slides of the brief were mostly background and product information, but the way she briefed us still showed very clearly what she wanted.
After a series of Q&A sessions to clarify the brief, my team and I started a chain of days redoing work because "it's not what I wanted", until the peak was 5 rounds, then we abandoned it because we wouldn't continue.
A few months later, I talked to a friend in the brand team (working under her), and the friend was upset telling me: at that time the brand team didn't know what to do next, so she said: "Just write some brief, give it to the agencies to do to see if there's anything good."
The client was honest with themselves that they didn't know what to do next, but created a fake client brief to deceive the agency. When I learned the truth, I completely lost respect for that client.
Clients might not know what they want. An "open brief" is very normal. Just be honest with the agency.
Clients "fishing" for ideas
I've heard about this type of client a lot, and personally I've encountered it once.
Similar to but different from the type above, this client knows what they want, then has multiple agencies pitch. In the end, they either take whichever proposal they like best to do, or cherry-pick a bit from various different proposals to take back and do themselves with a production house or in-house creative team.
Usually local agencies suffer this, because "cunning" clients understand that local agencies have fewer resources than global/network agencies so their likelihood of suing is lower. They act like a bully.
So what do I do with a bully? I don't have to stay silent. And that's what my company once did when we discovered a client at company Y stole our idea: we ultimately got the client to compensate us money for that plan.
The wolf in sheep's clothing client
In my opinion, this is the type of client who isn't decent at the most negative level. Because they appear very respectful, very cooperative, very listening… until they stab you in the back. And unfortunately, I've encountered this type of client.
This client had a history of working with the agency for several years, and now the task was to rebuild the brand proposition for another brand Z within their company. Because we trusted each other, the agency worked with the client for 7 rounds without ever signing any contract because the Brand Manager said this job was "given", not a pitch so just relax. The contract paperwork would be done later.
Until one day, the Procurement team said this job had to go through a pitch to follow proper procedures. So the Brand Manager said: "Just do a pitch. I'll invite another agency to participate just to have options. But the job will definitely go to my agency."
And boom, surprise: after the pitch, the job went to the other agency to our shock, with a meaningless explanation.
This type of client is a wolf in sheep's clothing because they deceived the agency while not following their own company's proper procedures, invited another agency to pitch just to be a dummy, and somehow magicked that dummy into becoming real (if anyone knows, they'll know).
I have to admit, this Brand Manager left the deepest impression on me so far. This type of client is hard to recognize until you're stabbed in the back, because outwardly they're very credible.
Clients who don't see agency staff as part of the human race
Anyway, this type of client is less decent but the mildest. Specifically, this client assumes the agency must work day and night, on holidays and weekends.
For example, they'll brief 1-2 days before a long 5-day holiday, and the presentation schedule is 1-2 days after the holiday. The client says: "You guys have a whole 10 days to work." 🙂
I remember a client who briefed on 29/4, and on 1/5 I and my team had to come to the office to work. By international standards it was a holiday, but we were working.
So what about decent clients? Just reverse the four stories above. Or if I have to say it professionally, there are basically just three principles: respect, transparency, and honesty.
And tips for working with clients who aren't decent?
With clients who aren't decent, we can only work with them once and that's it, there are no tips or reasons to continue working with them. My boss once refused to work with a few clients because they weren't decent, and dared to permanently blacklist them even when they invited us to participate.
The important thing to remind again: As long as the client is decent, we must empathize with them and absolutely never curse at them.
Wishing you all to meet many decent clients in the new year 🧧
