what happens to the senior client after the pitch?

permanently listed in the Top 10 of client gripes with agencies is ‘The team that pitches is not the team we end up working with’. worthy of a discussion maybe, but it does prompt another thought. an angle that rarely, if ever, gets mentioned: what happens to the senior client after the pitch?

picture an enthusiastic, passionate agency team rolling up at a company boardroom. in their shiny portfolios is three weeks’ worth of work by ten, delivered in five days by a team of four. there are handshakes all around for their audience, which includes the Marketing Director or even Managing Director. Pitch delivered with aplomb, the agency wait with baited breath for the call.

then, pitch won, the account team meet the client again to confirm the brief, develop processes and set the ball rolling. frantic activity ensues. the agency presents a tweaked strategy (probably), amended concepts (likely) and revised costs (inevitably). excitement abounds. results come in, strategies evolve, media gets changed and brand measures receive in-depth analysis.

and all this activity undertaken without ever seeing the board-level management again.

so is this a bitter gripe?

absolutely not. it’s about engagement. commitment at a strategic level where direct marketing can have its greatest effect. your direct agency will be finding the best way for you to talk to your customers, or helping you to find more. in a fiercely competitive market, what could be more important?

delivering outstanding work, with the customer at the heart of it, needs to be sponsored from the top. ideally, these deeper insights should be integrated across all the marketing activity and customer touchpoints. this means continual engagement at the most senior level has a vital role in creating campaign success.

when senior managers engage with their agency, the results are better. period. and the level of passion and commitment often engendered by the marketing director et al is invaluable for client and agency team alike.

so what stops senior client involvement? perhaps it’s symptomatic of increased time pressures or a worrying lack of representation for DM at the boardroom table. of course campaigns need to be delegated to managers and teams but, in my experience, the best work happens when seniors are involved from start to finish. I’m not convinced this common across the industry.

agencies are used to being beaten with the ‘pitch team’ stick, but that shouldn’t stop them from asking the same questions of clients. groundbreaking results come from ongoing commitment – from both sides.