Niko Herzeg Marketing

So last weekend I went to watch Up in the Air. A movie about a guy (Clooney) who fires people on behalf of companies (or as he likes to say: he helps people steer their boat through desperation towards the dim light of hope…before throwing them of the boat and telling them to swim).

His life is turned upside down when a young MBA (always them MBA’s, played by Anna Kendrick) comes in and figures out that by doing the firing online and from one central location, the cost of business can be reduced by 85%. Clooney tries to convince her that this is not as clearcut as Kendrick thinks it is.

The contrast between Clooney and Kendrick serves as a nice backdrop for some practices we all know but sometimes need reminding of*:

Client vs Agency Client + Agency = Result
Kendrick comes in and tells Clooney, who has been at this job well over 15 year (and from the looks of it getting results), that there are better ways to do it. The subtext quite clearly being: “thank heaven you were smart enough to hire me, now get me some coffee and move out of the way while I apply the newest thinking to save the day”.

So he takes her out on the road. Trying to prove that she may know about the business, but does not know what the business is about.

The nuances about customers, the different ways they react (good and bad) and how these sitiations are always openings to create positive experiences. Of course this brings some sort of personal enlightment to Kendrick, but the point is one we could do well to remember as business people.

Yes the client has issues, otherwise we would not be needed. But most likely the client has been earning their living doing what they do, for a long time. Longer then we have earned ours by doing our work. Be humble and listen to clients, they may actually teach us a thing or two that will help us help them.

No need to grovel or to behave like the Beyonder. Work together, share the agenda and it might just benefit both.

*For arguments sake I leave the morality of working for/with a company that fires people for a living out of the equation. Same goes for the actual movie. No accounting for taste.