With more than 20 years under my belt serving clients, one would think I’d always know the right time to end
a bad client relationship. But truth be told, I have to admit that isn’t always the case.
Don’t get me wrong. Typically, my instincts warn me long in advance of a problem situation. One can pretty easily sense when a chemistry problem exists, or a client is not operating on the same wavelength as the agency team, or when we just won’t be able to deliver what that client expects. The big challenge is knowing when to call it quits and then holding steady with that decision because the relationship has become too detrimental to the welfare of the agency. Even if it costs the agency a little extra fee in the end.
One of our client relationships recently came to an end in this exact way. Let’s call this company Client H (abbreviated for Client from Hell). We began this relationship over 18 months ago after winning a competitive pitch. Although the monthly fee was low, it didn’t matter. This is a cool company that needed both brand building and crisis management help and we were very excited to work with a smart CMO and his staff to help continue building their business. Everything was going well for the first 10-11 months. We created a much needed communications infrastructure to deal with crisis situations and improved on proactive media relations efforts for the company which generated even more strategic publicity to help its business efforts. Our client told us they were pleased and our team really enjoyed the account because there clearly was mutual respect for the work we did and the time we spent obtaining results.
Then, the bomb dropped. The CMO up and left for another job. And, within a month or two, a new CMO took his place. We weren’t sure what to expect with this new woman until our first phone call (one week into her new job) in which she clearly set out to show us that a new sheriff was now in town. She immediately started the call by saying that everything done or agreed to under her predecessor was now dead. And, she expected Peppercom to do double or even triple the current work load with no increase to our fee. When my colleague and I jumped in to tactfully protest, she didn’t care a lick and threw out a threat that her former agency would be happy to take the business on (and the work load she wanted done) for 25 percent less of our fee. Then, in a nasty tone, this CMO quickly cut our conversation off because she had to run to the airport. But, before she did, it was made clear to us that we needed to make ourselves available in two hours (when she had a free moment to spare) to continue the call so that my colleague and I could be abused more.
It’s a bad economy and no one wants to give up business now. But, no one is going to treat me or my agency like this. So, it took me less than 30 minutes (after I calmed down) to spit out a resignation letter to the CEO (who at that point I was working closely with.) In the letter, I clearly explained how we were being treated and how little our time (which is our product) is being respected by this new top marketing person. Of course, I copied the CMO as well. That was that... or so I thought.
It’s funny. Only when you’re actually willing to push the eject button and resign a client relationship, does the client wake up and realize that he/she might have gone too far. This is exactly what happened with this nightmare CMO. I’m not sure whether the CEO yelled at her or whether she just never understood that her abusive tactics could push someone to say “I’m done with you.” But, within 30 minutes she was desperately trying to reach my colleague and me on our cell phones to patch up the relationship. We didn’t return the countless messages for a while (that was fun,) but when she finally reached us, all we heard from her was apology after apology. She promised to respect our time and even find us new budgets for extra work that needed to be done. After much cajoling and some begging, we agreed to work for Client H again.
Now, I didn’t fall off of a turnip truck yesterday. We knew that because I went around this new senior executive to her boss, she was going to resent us (big time). We also knew that once she proved herself, Client H might just secretly look for a new agency because of what we (err...I) did. Our hope (though), was that she would change (if only for a short time) so that we could continue to prove to her (and the CEO) just how good an agency we are. And, for about 3-4 months this strategy seemed to be working pretty well. Until, something changed (maybe she found a comfort zone) and this woman’s miserable personality resurfaced again.
Work was piled on with promises of added fees to support it. Yet, when those fees were about to be billed, she quickly rescinded those offers. (She lied). Her emails were curt and nasty. In one case, she actually mistakenly forwarded an email to one of our team members by accident. Within the chain of the email the woman had bashed us to colleagues for not being able to write a certain press release well (even though we never wrote the release). Overall, Client H was becoming the nightmare that we had hoped she wouldn’t. At that point, I should have known when to say when. But, I didn’t. Maybe I was too distracted with other accounts/business. Or, maybe I was hoping that things might just improve.
The reality is that I should have known better. Ironically, after our team worked painstaking hours on a project to deliver very high level results, I received the Agency Dear John letter that we were being terminated, with no explanation. Even though I knew why, I decided to push for a real explanation and called the CMO twice. (I actually wanted to calmly stand up for our agency and discuss the way we were treated.) True to her character, she never returned the call. Most likely, she’s too busy beating up the new agency…
In the end, it’s so much better not working for Client H. Our people are relieved and they can spend time delivering results for other clients who actually care. That’s really what matters now. If there is any lesson learned here, I hope this experience ensures that the next time this type of situation manifests, my instincts will compel me to make and stay with a decision that is clearly the right one.
Don’t get me wrong. Typically, my instincts warn me long in advance of a problem situation. One can pretty easily sense when a chemistry problem exists, or a client is not operating on the same wavelength as the agency team, or when we just won’t be able to deliver what that client expects. The big challenge is knowing when to call it quits and then holding steady with that decision because the relationship has become too detrimental to the welfare of the agency. Even if it costs the agency a little extra fee in the end.
One of our client relationships recently came to an end in this exact way. Let’s call this company Client H (abbreviated for Client from Hell). We began this relationship over 18 months ago after winning a competitive pitch. Although the monthly fee was low, it didn’t matter. This is a cool company that needed both brand building and crisis management help and we were very excited to work with a smart CMO and his staff to help continue building their business. Everything was going well for the first 10-11 months. We created a much needed communications infrastructure to deal with crisis situations and improved on proactive media relations efforts for the company which generated even more strategic publicity to help its business efforts. Our client told us they were pleased and our team really enjoyed the account because there clearly was mutual respect for the work we did and the time we spent obtaining results.
Then, the bomb dropped. The CMO up and left for another job. And, within a month or two, a new CMO took his place. We weren’t sure what to expect with this new woman until our first phone call (one week into her new job) in which she clearly set out to show us that a new sheriff was now in town. She immediately started the call by saying that everything done or agreed to under her predecessor was now dead. And, she expected Peppercom to do double or even triple the current work load with no increase to our fee. When my colleague and I jumped in to tactfully protest, she didn’t care a lick and threw out a threat that her former agency would be happy to take the business on (and the work load she wanted done) for 25 percent less of our fee. Then, in a nasty tone, this CMO quickly cut our conversation off because she had to run to the airport. But, before she did, it was made clear to us that we needed to make ourselves available in two hours (when she had a free moment to spare) to continue the call so that my colleague and I could be abused more.
It’s a bad economy and no one wants to give up business now. But, no one is going to treat me or my agency like this. So, it took me less than 30 minutes (after I calmed down) to spit out a resignation letter to the CEO (who at that point I was working closely with.) In the letter, I clearly explained how we were being treated and how little our time (which is our product) is being respected by this new top marketing person. Of course, I copied the CMO as well. That was that... or so I thought.
It’s funny. Only when you’re actually willing to push the eject button and resign a client relationship, does the client wake up and realize that he/she might have gone too far. This is exactly what happened with this nightmare CMO. I’m not sure whether the CEO yelled at her or whether she just never understood that her abusive tactics could push someone to say “I’m done with you.” But, within 30 minutes she was desperately trying to reach my colleague and me on our cell phones to patch up the relationship. We didn’t return the countless messages for a while (that was fun,) but when she finally reached us, all we heard from her was apology after apology. She promised to respect our time and even find us new budgets for extra work that needed to be done. After much cajoling and some begging, we agreed to work for Client H again.
Now, I didn’t fall off of a turnip truck yesterday. We knew that because I went around this new senior executive to her boss, she was going to resent us (big time). We also knew that once she proved herself, Client H might just secretly look for a new agency because of what we (err...I) did. Our hope (though), was that she would change (if only for a short time) so that we could continue to prove to her (and the CEO) just how good an agency we are. And, for about 3-4 months this strategy seemed to be working pretty well. Until, something changed (maybe she found a comfort zone) and this woman’s miserable personality resurfaced again.
Work was piled on with promises of added fees to support it. Yet, when those fees were about to be billed, she quickly rescinded those offers. (She lied). Her emails were curt and nasty. In one case, she actually mistakenly forwarded an email to one of our team members by accident. Within the chain of the email the woman had bashed us to colleagues for not being able to write a certain press release well (even though we never wrote the release). Overall, Client H was becoming the nightmare that we had hoped she wouldn’t. At that point, I should have known when to say when. But, I didn’t. Maybe I was too distracted with other accounts/business. Or, maybe I was hoping that things might just improve.
The reality is that I should have known better. Ironically, after our team worked painstaking hours on a project to deliver very high level results, I received the Agency Dear John letter that we were being terminated, with no explanation. Even though I knew why, I decided to push for a real explanation and called the CMO twice. (I actually wanted to calmly stand up for our agency and discuss the way we were treated.) True to her character, she never returned the call. Most likely, she’s too busy beating up the new agency…
In the end, it’s so much better not working for Client H. Our people are relieved and they can spend time delivering results for other clients who actually care. That’s really what matters now. If there is any lesson learned here, I hope this experience ensures that the next time this type of situation manifests, my instincts will compel me to make and stay with a decision that is clearly the right one.
Long-term this could be the CMO from Hell and a client that - dare I say it - returns. The new CMO will unravel. Before end of 2011 she's gone. The gallop in with guns blazing and "I'm going to fix all the wrongs" leadership model doesn't work, and it never did. It's arrogant, alienating, and precludes the very creative energy new CMOs need from insiders to move their ideas forward. The CEO will soon recognize this, look back to resources that their team admired, resources that generated good work and results. This could be a client again in the future. Idealistic to be sure. But I wouldn't count them out forever.
Posted by: Michael D. | April 06, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I agree with you 100 percent.
This person is so transparantly only about what she needs at any given moment. She'll promise the world and yes you do death and then moves on to next victim she needs something from.
I'm sure the same thing is happening within her organization and at some point, it will come back to haunt her.
Posted by: ed moed | April 06, 2010 at 01:35 PM
The real question is how do people like this get to such high levels, when they so obviously lack management or people skills? She's hardly an isolated example; we've also seen countless C-suite inhabitants that we wouldn't trust to walk a dog, let alone make major strategic or economic decisions. One has to wonder if there's something wrong with American capitalism that people like this so commonly end up at or near the top. (Just like Congress today makes you wonder if there's something deeply wrong with American democracy.)
However, on a less-philosophical level: the CEO, presumably, recruited and hired this woman, and has supported her behavior for at least several months, or so it seems. Her behavior may therefore be more indicative of the CEO's and company's values than not; maybe her predecessor left because he didn't fit the company's pathology.
Posted by: Steve | April 06, 2010 at 03:15 PM