How to be a better client

David Ogilvy was considered by many to be the “Father of Advertising”.

When Fortune published an article about him and titled it “Is David Ogilvy a Genius?” he asked his lawyer to sue the editor for the question mark.

In his 1963 best seller “Confessions of an Advertising Man” Ogilvy devoted a complete chapter titled “How to Be a Good Client” in which he set down the rules which he believed would extract the best service from an advertising agency.

The following are my rules adapted from Ogilvy which I would use to get the best service from an accounting firm.

1. Select the right firm in the first place.

Find out what you can about how they operate. Are they good listeners? Will they help you grow your business? Will they return telephone calls promptly? Do they promise you results which are obviously exaggerated? Are they intellectually honest? Can you trust them? Will they meet deadlines?

Above all find out if you like them as the relationship generally is a close one so that personal chemistry should be good.

2. Emancipate them from fear.

Let them know that you are interested in building a long term relationship and that if you are dealing with the right people you will not be easily swayed by suitors. Your loyalty will be rewarded.

3. Understand they need to make a profit.

Your account competes with all the other accounts in the firm. If it is unprofitable, it is unlikely that the management of the firm will assign their best men to work on it. And sooner or later they well cast about for a profitable account to replace yours.

4. Don’t haggle with your firm.

If you allow pettifoggers on your staff to deal with your firm over payment of its bills, you make a mistake. It is best to agree a fixed fee and comply with the agreed payment structure.

5. Be candid and encourage candour.

If you think your firm is performing badly don’t beat about the bush. Speak your mind, loud and clear. Explain exactly what you find inadequate.

This kind of candour will encourage the firm to be equally candid with you and no partnership can fructify without candour on both sides.

6. Set high standards.

Make it plain that you expect the firm to hit home runs. This will encourage them no end. Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself according to Conan Doyle.

7. Coddle the goose who lays your golden eggs.

If the firm is proactively giving you ideas on how to grow your business or how to save on your tax bill make sure that you nurture and encourage them to keep up the good work. Imaginative ideas can be priceless.

Ogilvy also wrote that “imitation may be the “sincerest form of plagiarism,” but is also the mark of an inferior person.”

Thanks David!!