Recently I have had this conversation too many times with” social media” agencies looking for guidance in pitching a prospective client. They live by the old rules of offering a host of “great” ideas and suggest the client pick what they like. All this does is open the discussion to a myriad of “their” ideas as well as others offered up by the client and leads the client to believe that they do not have a firm grasp on what can work best… at least in their opinion. They are afraid to stand by their convictions, take a stand, and truly lead a client in the what they believe to be the right direction. Hard to break old legacy thinking and start pitching “only” what you truly believe and not just what you think will get you the account and earn you fees. It is the effective solutions that will make you and your business shine for the long-run.
If you are going to specialize and call yourself a Social Media Agency… then be sure to bring your expertise to the table, tell it like it is, and only execute what you believe will work, is appropriate and will provides value.
Amen to this. The vulnerability that comes from approaching potential clientele with a myriad of “great campaign ideas” can very easily be agency suicide.
Pick your front-running, confidence-backed, executable suggestion. Blow them out of the water with results. THEN share other suggestions.
We get too antsy these days. 🙂 It’s so easy.
Jess… You ROCK! Dead on 🙂