ZDO Blog
Select ZDO Business Philosophies
Several years ago, an article was written about ZDO and its rather strange, albeit innovative business philosophies. While I can't lay claim to the list of ideas completely, I can say that we have honed and shaped them and, buffed and polished them and finely tuned them to the point where we have found that they are not only effective in their own right, but have garnered respect from our colleagues, vendors and clients. While they're not earth-shattering or mind-blowing in and of themselves, they may surprise you a bit with their turn from the course of accepted business thought. By now, anyone who knows me personally will know that the corners of my mouth are upturned slightly as I write this blog. I've included just a couple of my favorites, here, that pertain particularly to clients and client or potential client relationships. Indulge me for just a moment.
ZDO BUSINESS PHILOSPHY #5: THE CLIENT IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. I've listed my favorite one first. If you want to see, firsthand, what office fireworks look like, or at the very least, the rapid twitching and furrowing of your client's or potential cient's eyebrows, repeat this to him or her. See, our entitlement society has programmed service businesses to sing this absurd mantra from the crests of the waves and convinced clients to actually and foolishly believe it. The reality of the situation is that if clients were always right, they wouldn't need you! Does a client know his or her market better than you could ever hope to? Probably. Does a client have valuable insight into the marketing of his or her company's product or service. You'd better hope so. But when it comes to marketing strategy and appealing to the largest slice of your client's target audience, that's your forte, and something for which your client will pay dearly. If you're a client, wanna see how fast you can suck the life out of your agency and water down an otherwise effective message? Insist that you're always right.
ZDO BUSINESS PHILSOPHY #7: DON'T TELL THE CLIENT WHAT HE WANTS TO HEAR. This one got the attention of a couple of our clients. Well, #5 did, too, actually, but this one seemed, for some reason, to wreak a little more havoc with Directors of Marketing, because in executive session, he or she wants you to always be the bearer of glad tidings. Happy news. Yaaayyy team. Whether it's about budget or expenses or timelines or vendor issues or progress on a project---whatever---the client does not want to be told bad news. And if there is bad news to tell, your client wants you to cover it in a thick, candy-coated shell. He or she is relying on you to make him or her the proverbial hero of the piece. Make him or her look good to their superiors. They want "attaboys." They want that shiny cut glass employee of the month paperweight placed predominantly on the stack of other people's ideas. But that's not reality. Fact is, how you handle bad news will make all the difference in how your client or potential client views your ability to cope with their workflow. Sometimes, bad news can be a good thing. Or at the very least, an informative and engaging thing. Work through those potentially negative issues. Show your client innovation. Show your client resource and resolve and a host of other "re" words. Show your client determination to work things out to their general advantage. Show your client you care enough not to pull the wool over their eyes, but are honest and forthright and motivated to work for them and the overall good of the company.
ZDO BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY #8: RELATIONSHIPS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INUNDATION OF BAD DESIGN IN OUR SOCIETY. Wow! That's a rather broad sweeping generalized statement, Bryon! Why yes, thank you, it is. Let me explain, and I promise you'll agree. While the concept of this principle is simple, it is perhaps the most widely ignored of all of the seven deadly obstacles to good marketing (Are there such things as seven deadly obstacles? Maybe this is a book in the making). Think about it. We have a great realtionship with Bob's Advertising, Inc. They treat us well. They give us great discounts. They listen to us and to our ideas. And we're happy with our company's 10 percent growth since working with Bob's. Self-respecting designers, art directors and creatives of all types WAKE UP! This is far more prevalent than you might imagine. If you don't believe me, just thumb through any periodical, trade pub, newspaper. Drive by nearly any outdoor board. Look at practically any company's stationery or building signage. You can see it everywhere. What I always tell people when we get into this discussion, is that so many clients have convinced their respective agencies that if they want to keep that client's business, they will need to buckle under and carry out the orders of the client or the client's marketing director. The problem with this line of thinking is that it doesn't take into account the creative ability or marketing savvy or design and message centricity—or lack thereof—of the client or marketing director. The very fact that the agency is bowing to it's new position of order-taker is doing the client an injustice of mammoth proportion. Who's to say that your company won't realize a 20 or even 30 percent growth working with an agency that is both tuned-in to the current trends in marketing and advertising and possesses incredible strategic and design skills to boot?
While every client is different and every client relationship equally different, it should be the goal of the agency to plant the seeds of accountability and cultivate the client relationship with the clients goals and aspirations at the forefront. To take the whole harvest analogy a step further, the fruits of your determination and willingness to be flexible and not merely to flex, will provide your clients and potential clients with an image of your firm that is both interested and invested.
Bryon D. Zimmerman, CEO
28.02.2009. 11:13
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