Growth and profitability have become increasingly challenging for the advertising agency world – and all of marketing communications for that matter. That’s not news.
Companies have been trying countless ways to change this. New offerings, new talent, new fee structures, mergers, start-ups, alliances, you name it.
Yet I still hear complaints from our clients about the inability to retain and grow key or new accounts at acceptably profitable levels while doing the kind of work that energizes and engages clients and employees.
There are unique aspects to every situation. Yet there are also common elements which we think both explain the prevalence of the problem and provide clues to its solution.
McKinsey published an article called “How to Unlock Growth in the Largest Accounts.” It listed four best practices. Let's look at them:
Quantify the full customer experience
Build “value selling” muscle
Make it easy
Prepare for negotiations the way customers do
Numbers 2 and 3 seem to offer tremendous upside to companies.
The cry for a greater emphasis on value has been heard for years in the advisory community. Yet few have attempted to place value ahead of price. As long as it’s a pricing/fees game, the value argument stays on the sideline.
Advisory companies absolutely must reinforce the value issue. Only then can fees become more equitable and relationships more enduring. This takes strategy and skill. You need to plan how and when to raise the issue, then sharpen your persuasion, negotiation, and objection-handling skills.
As for “make it easy,” here’s another of our bigger concerns. Ask any senior client about the relative strengths of their advisory firms, and you’ll often see fingers pointed at account management as an area of weakness. Not to indict account leaders alone. Cross-functionally, advisory firms often lack the client care, proactivity, and understanding that clients value so much in all their providers.