Tom Martin

Today I was reminded by a post from fellow agency owner Suzanne Vara, of what is probably the single most important driver in the quality of relationships we have with our clients -- and, truth be told, probably the biggest factor in producing groundbreaking work for said client. Go ahead, give it a read and I'll wait.

Now that you've read it, you've probably realized two things. 1.) I stole the title and 2.) you are either currently all in or not with your clients.

But what do I mean when I say "all in"?

I've been lucky enough to have clients for whom I was all in. I lived, breathed and slept their brand, their product and the product category. Sadly though, if I'm honest with myself, I've more often not been all in. Sure I've liked the brand, the client and even the category. But it didn't light a fire in my belly. It didn't wake me from a deep sleep with the idea that was going to allow my client to leapfrog the competition, to gain market share and grow revenue. But hey, they were nice folks, they paid their bills and frankly their bills kept the lights on both at the office and my home. So I continued on, working diligently on their business just as I'm sure you do for your clients.

But ask yourself, are you really all in?

Shouldn't you be?

It's so much more fun to work on something that lights your fire. Work doesn't feel like work, it feels like play. Because in a perfect world where someone else paid for your house and kids' private-school tuition, you'd gladly do it for free. It's so easy to come up with ideas because you are the consumer. You love the brand, category and company not because they pay you to do so but because you genuinely love everything about them. Don't your clients deserve that level of commitment?

Think about clients that you could see yourself going all in for each and every day. Think about the work you think you could create for those clients. Think about how much more energetic you'd be, your staff would be? Would you really mind pulling an all-nighter for a client that you felt all in for?

They say that advertising is dying. They say that what we do is becoming extinct because it's not relevant anymore. Our messages, our ads don't work. They don't motivate consumers to action. They say it's all about social media because social is authentic, transparent and invited. And while all of this to one level or another is true, the reality is, in my not so humble opinion, that the real reason social is working better is because the folks behind those social efforts are all in. They have to be. Because creating all that new content, responding to those tweets and Facebook posts, engaging all those consumers at all hours of the day and night requires a person, a company, a brand that is all in.

So ask yourself. For what brands could you and your agency get all in?

Now why aren't you out there pitching them?

Think about it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Martin created Converse Digital to help companies and agencies monitor, create and engage in digital conversations. Want to talk? Just email [email protected] or follow @TomMartin on Twitter.