It was sometime early in 2024. I'd just gone independent for the second time in my career and - without the safety net of a salary - had started doing something I loathe: "reaching out" "proactively" to potential clients.
One such attempt at reaching out led to a meeting with someone at a well-known brand - one I'd still love to have in my book. The person in question was lovely and smart, and we got to chatting about our working styles - the kind of work I want to do, the kind of people they want to work with. They then told me what they don't like - difficult agencies. There was an agency in particular that they'd struggled with in the past because they wouldn't take meetings past a certain hour or on holidays. At the time - I'm ashamed to admit - I thought, "Good. Let them be difficult. More work for me."
The Learning
But over the last 18 months or so of freelancing, there's one thing I've come to realise - if the advertising industry wants to hold on to its best talent (which we're fast losing out on because of burnout and bad pay), we need to bandy with each other; not go up against each other. This is not to say that we don't compete at the awards. Or vie to have the best brands in our portfolios. Or have our own values and culture. Of course we do. (Cue Kapil Dev saying: What else we here for?) But respect? That's something we can only earn together.
Because every time agencies agree to pitch for free or against seven other teams, we're signalling it's okay for clients to idea shop and not compensate us for time & effort.
Every time we agree to meetings on a Sunday in response to poor planning and fake urgency, we say it's okay for their time to be important, but not ours.
And every time we undercut each other just to land that business, we let them know that it's okay for them to walk all over us just so long as their logo features on our website.
Easier Said Than Done?
Don't get me wrong. I know it's hard. And I know it's harder still if you're a small agency (or worse yet, a freelancer). You need to win new business. And despite our best efforts, there will be meetings outside of business hours. Because that's just how it goes. But clients who work with you only because you're "easy" will just as easily replace you with someone easier. And there'll ALWAYS be someone easier if we don't collectively say, "This just won't do."
So, the next time a client reaches out to you and says they want to move on from their previous agency, ask them why. Maybe their agency really was terrible. Maybe they didn't deliver what they promised. Or maybe - just maybe - they were fighting a fight you didn't even realise you were a part of.