Sep 8th, 2008
Sep 8th, 2008
Businesses are created to make money. Sure they offer services and satisfy the needs or desires of clients, patrons and/or consumers, but at the end of the day…it’s all about the bottom line.
To achieve goals and hit numbers, companies have to compete–and compete well. Sometimes this evolves into a “take no prisoners” mentality where competitors become the enemy which MUST be beaten. With agencies this can equate to poaching clients and sabotaging pitches. Is there or should there be an unspoken code of conduct amongst agencies to keep the peace?
Not to sound naive, but if an agency lands a clients and has a multi-year contract with said client…haven’t they earned the right to service the account without intervention from other agencies? I can appreciate a strategic email or comment by another agency along the lines of “Hey I noticed this” or “Did you think about that,” but where should the limit be? Is there a time when pitching to a competitor’s clients is inappropriate?
Man, that is a tough one and a good question. I know that clients are solicited day-in and day-out from all sorts of influences both internal and external. In other industries, the competition persists. Apple takes dead aim at Microsoft everyday.
I would say that there is an etiquette about it, of course, but that etiquette is less defined by the industry one is in than it is by personal character or constitution, but even moreso by the client themselves. Typically, if a client has been solicited by a competitor in a meaningful way, they have invited it either directly or have maintained a passive connection.
Competitors poach and accept one-another’s employees, talk to one another’s clients, work with vendors and freelancers… in the end, hopefully we’re all just making one another better and moving the industry in a positive direction toward treating our clients, employees, partners and vendors in a way that retains them and their loyalty. In each case, we win some and we lose some; each day is different than the next… that’s what makes us enjoy the agency side, right?
I completely agree that inter-agency competition is part of what makes agency life so exciting, and there certainly should be a distinction between cold-calling clients and reaching out to those with whom there is an existing relationship.
I also agree with your point that creating a code of etiquette would stem from individuals and not the industry at large.
What are some other areas that agencies could use a behavioral model?
what if two separate agencies support a single client and are both producing concepts for the same tactic for an in market test, is it professionally acceptable for one agency to leverage creative/lay-out from another when they are competing against each other?
I think it’s allowed to touch some clients of your competitors , in a pooperative way, on condition that the competitor allows that. However pitching clients to a competitor will lead to problems between the agencies and one of them will take a dead aim to the other.
Definitely. If one agency actively courts a client, it will be hard to maintain a solid relationship between agencies. Competition is completely normal, but lines can be crossed.