In this episode, Chip and Gini delve into the challenge of agencies being brought in late on client projects. They discuss the common scenario where clients give last-minute requests and share strategies for becoming part of the planning process earlier.
Key recommendations include integrating into internal communications, attending more meetings, and maintaining a mindset of curiosity to stay updated. They also cover how to handle situations when timely inclusion isn’t possible, such as negotiating new timelines or additional costs for urgent work.
The conversation emphasizes the importance of proactive client communication to prevent unrealistic expectations and to potentially increase scope and revenue.
Key takeaways
* Chip Griffin: “We need to find more proactive ways as agencies to get ourselves into the conversation much sooner.”
* Gini Dietrich: “Nobody wants to be in more meetings, but it actually helps.”
* Chip Griffin: “We all need to understand that our clients aren’t thinking about us every day in all likelihood.”
* Gini Dietrich: “You can negotiate some of it to say, listen, we’re happy to help you with this, but we just can’t do it in five days. We can do it in 10.”
Related
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What to do when clients don’t get your agency what it needs to succeed
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Getting the client’s perspective on agency relationships
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How to make agency team meetings more productive
View Transcript
The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy.
Chip Griffin: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin.
Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich.
Chip Griffin: And Gini today, you know, I think we need to figure out how I can learn what’s going on on this podcast a little bit sooner. I, I feel like I only learned at the very last second what our topics are gonna be, and I just, I need to get plugged in sooner.
Gini Dietrich: Okay. Nothing. I I got nothing. You got nothing. We went last week from you having nothing to I got nothing.
Chip Griffin: We we’re, it turns out our openings now are just play stump the co-host.
Gini Dietrich: Yeah. Right.
Chip Griffin: So, well how about, how about instead of that,
Gini Dietrich: learn how we get plugged in sooner to the discussion that we have as soon as we, just five minutes before we decide to record, but Okay.
Chip Griffin: Yeah. Well, I, and in fairness, this, this is a challenge that a lot of agencies have with their clients where they’re asked to do something at the last possible second. Right. And they then need to try to figure out how to make it work. Yes. Surprise. We’re having a product announcement tomorrow. Oh really? I didn’t even know you were working on a new product, let alone that it was launching tomorrow.
These are real world situations. They’re ones I’ve experienced, I’m sure you’ve experienced and just about ev...
