Consequences of Jumping the Gun

Well, I'm not sure if we’re ready, but we’re curious to see who’s out there.” Yikes. Words to make me cringe. Lots of businesses start the search for a marketing agency very early on—way before they are actually ready to engage anyone. They do it because they know how long the process can be. What they don’t realize is it's jumping the gun that makes it take so long. Most clients don’t realize it’s not just about capabilities and industry experience, there’s a host of other factors that come into play.

It all seemed so easy in the beginning. Your team was already ‘networked’ and you thought you knew who to call. You spent months of sitting through long capabilities presentations, sifting through proposals, and tons of emails and calls. Then, push comes to shove and you finally get that team management buy-in and the reality that your budget is a mere fraction of what you hoped for, and focus has shifted--completely.

All of the sudden, you need a very different kind of marketing company. The agency you fell in love with is actually oh-so-wrong for your needs right now, and your reality. (And, you’ve ticked off agencies that spent considerable time preparing for the meetings, and developing all that material.)

Now, you need to start over. But after investing all that time, you make every attempt to try to salvage the relationship and work it out. Proposals and negotiations go back and forth. You get frustrated with proposals that are a fortune and way out of the ballpark and your current reality. (And the agency is annoyed that they’ve invested all this time pitching an account that is now so small they would never otherwise pursue it.)

How frustrating for everyone! No wonder this relationship is doomed to fail. Jumping the gun leads to grief; you’ll pay for it later.

It’s best to get your act together upfront. Get management buy-in first, agree on a budget range and allocate time and resources making it happen. You’ll save and your team and yourself a lot of time and headaches, and spare yourself the time of talking to companies that are not a fit. Especially when you’re spread so thin. Your time is more valuable than that.