To do better as do gooders.
How one creative’s view of client fit has changed over the years.
In the agency new business game, sometimes you make a list of clients you would like to have and you go after them. And sometimes the agency is contacted by a client looking for expertise (or a consultant helping a client find a new firm) and you have to make a quick decision about pursuing the business or not. Most agencies are paid so little and have payroll and rent to cover each month, so they basically say yes to anything that comes along. It’s a numbers game. The more you pitch, the more you win, the more you bill. Right?
Back when I was an agency employee and not bootstrapping my own firm, we had a three-question checklist for prospective clients. If you could answer yes to two of these questions, we would consider going after the account.
1. Would it be profitable?
2. Is it a high-profile/prestigious account that would get us noticed?
3. Is it a good creative opportunity?
That worked relatively well back then. Although I must admit, there were a few clients I wanted to go after and was outvoted by other members of the management team.
Today, things are different. I have a different set of criteria. I don’t have a large payroll or rent to cover. And I can be a little more thoughtful about the kinds of clients that are a good fit. Here are the criteria I currently deploy:
Why be so particular? After working in the ad biz for three decades, I am no longer motivated by money, or awards, or fame. I am motivated by the short amount of time, relatively speaking, left in my career; I want my next decade or two of work to really count for something. When I founded SAND, I made a promise to myself that we would only work for clients who make the world a better place.
Hey, I’ve worked for some big brands and some great clients in my career. Beer companies. Hotel chains. Dot Com Darlings. Consulting firms. Coffee category killers. Insurance giants. Med-tech movers. But many of those past clients would not get past my six-question checklist these days.
I fully realize that I am not going to build a billion-dollar communication empire with this strategy. But if we do some good and leave the earth better than we found it, it will be worth more than a billion to me. Maybe even two billion.
Grant Sanders is the Founder and Lead Strategist/Creative at SAND on Nantucket Island.
