Four "Lessons Learned" Rules for Business, Plus Four More

One that did and who didnamp8217t insist on anonymity was Pam Vick ex Leo Burnett now running Caspia Consulting Iamp8217m grateful to Pam whose quotlesson learnedquot is belowTo recap I listed four lessonsLove quotthe workquotTake responsibilityClients are always right except when theyamp8217re notItamp8217s the clientamp8217s moneyHere are some moreLesson 5 Be polite be professionalThe other day I timed how long it took me to type quotIamp8217m really sorry I had to cancel our meeting something unavoidable came up I will I promise refixquot It took 20 seconds and Iamp8217m slowIt really isnamp8217t hugely hard to be politeWhen I was a media agency guy I was apparently known for being easy to get in to see This wasnamp8217t altruistic I always thought there was a chance that the person I was seeing would have a good idea that I could use and naturally pass off as my own After all noone knows their product better than those selling itNow that Iamp8217m a consultant with neither a title nor any corporate infrastructure around me I find it extraordinary how rude people can be Like many others Iamp8217ve been kept waiting for hours not had calls or emails returned and had meetings that had been set up for weeks cancelled without any explanationI get it that people are busy A dog chasing its tail is busyOne major media agency was asked to see us by their largest global client We duly arranged to come in to see the executive mentioned with a presentation involving thousands of pounds worth of kit and prototypes This was a gaming business Reminders and invitations were sent and acknowledgedCome the day the person concerned a forgot we were coming b hadnamp8217t bothered to invite her colleagues the client asked us to be sure to see the whole team c hadnamp8217t booked a meeting room d with bad grace eventually agreed to see us in the agencyamp8217s basement cafamp233 e spent 10 minutes telling us about her forthcoming holiday and f had a secretary come over 10 minutes later with a trumped up excuse that she had to leave to go somewhere elseAt no stage did the executive apologize or even admit she had made a mistake There was no suggestion of a followupI canamp8217t help but smile when Iamp8217m approached for advice by people who ignored the present me for years whilst they were in a big job but who are now suddenly out on their own and think that all of a sudden I might be helpfulOf course I always see them I might learn somethingLesson 6 Celebrate the craftNone of us really knows how advertising worksWhat we do know is that some advertising has worked and some hasnamp8217t And weamp8217re quite good at explaining why after the eventSome of the most useful sessions I was ever involved in within agencies were the ones spent with multiple clients just chatting over the latest award winners the stories behind them and what made them greatBe they Cannes winners or IPA Ad Effectiveness awards entries there are always lessons to be learnedSpending time with clients talking about the craft of advertising or media planning with no specific agenda and no pressure works well and communicates far more than perhaps you might thinkLesson 7 Donamp8217t prejudge the channel with thanks to Pam Vick at Caspia ConsultingWhen a prospective client calls to ask for advice itamp8217s surprising how often theyamp8217ve already decided what they need to do to solve their marketing problemFor instance what they know they want is quite often a brochureWhy amp8220Because we donamp8217t have one need a new oneamp8221Itamp8217s remarkable how often clients start from the wrong endThe need is not for a new version of the old thing but to think through such basics as what you want to achieve and who you need to reach to achieve itThen you get to move on to the fun bit deciding on the strategy and the mix of channels best suited to achieve your goalsThe answer may be a new brochure It probably isnamp8217tLesson 8 Saying it isnamp8217t the same as doing itI once worked for one of the largest market research businesses in a global role Early on as the new boy I was invited to present to the UK management team on what I was planning to do as part of a quotvision away dayquotThe team members were clear as to their vision They were going to stop being researchers and start being consultants That way they could move to a different fee structure and charge more I paraphrase probably unkindlyThere was no talk of hiring people better suited to the new vision no talk of bringing in a different type of graduate no talk of retraining restructuring or cutting out the deadwood to encourage the new growthIn their minds it was simple They had smart people All that was needed was a clearly articulated visionWhen banks discovered marketing back around the early 1960s it was always said that the key word in the title Bank Manager was Manager Once a Manager you could manage anything your skill was transferableHereamp8217s news It isnamp8217t trueClick the 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Four "Lessons Learned" Rules for Business, Plus Four More

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Brian Jacobs

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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