“Selling starts at the agency”

For a Living

When I moved from the creative to the account side of advertising, I thought my job was just to get input from the client, share it with the creative team and present their work back to the client. How hard could this be? 

I went to my boss because I couldn’t figure out why the creative department was giving so much push back and attitude when I briefed them on assignments. He said, “Selling starts at the agency. Don’t assume everyone is on your side. Your client also expects you to represent him, inspire people to do great work for him, and not come back to him until you have it.”

Having been a copywriter already for years, it was suddenly easy to remember the times I was invited to be part of something awesome and not just asked to do my job.

For a Life

Running a board meeting. Hosting a couple’s weekend. Leading a family discussion. It’s way better to to sell the benefits of a achieving something awesome than to merely expect agreement.