This is a piece of advice we were given and told to repeat as the stresses of agency life begin to build and overwhelm. Money good, client bad. It is something that has been repeated a thousand times in a variety of different ways in team meetings, billing meetings, partners meetings, and in private. As a former client, it was one of the first shocking insights I gained when beginning agency life. Embarrassingly, it is something I ignored for years until the agency brought in a consultant to teach the agency how to be better at living this mantra. Remember, agency life is both beautiful and ugly.

I was first introduced to this dirty little secret when I shared how personally connected I was to each of the brands and products we represented. Every new account would invite us to become a part of the team. We would receive logowear and products to use. We were invited to confidential meetings and socialized with our teammates. I would celebrate the victories and be moved by the losses. I would be frustrated by decisions being made that did not seem well-considered. I would tell everyone who asked and many that did not to buy and use “our brand and products.” I was a brand steward and ambassador.

The reality is we are the employees of the agency and the agency is first. The relationship with the client is meant to secure a revenue stream for the agency. If one client would move on, we were to pursue the brand and products they competed against. I have been told this is a tenet of agency life. You are our friends until you are not. Money good, client bad.

There are a few (very few) people that operate differently than this greed mantra suggests. There are people that are honestly connected to the brands and products they represent. I will suggest they are either new to agency life and take pride in working for these brands or they are long in tooth and know the real difference in the brands, products, and people that stand behind them. All agency’s will claim to be one with their brands. Do not be fooled. The people that are truly committed to brands and products will spend their own money on them, use them during their personal time, and continue to promote them long after the account has closed.

Having a passion for the brands and products you worked with as an agency is a true differentiator. You can often see it in the work. Clients can absolutely recognize this connection through working together. This personal connection with the client’s brand and products in one of the top considerations a business should look for when pursuing an agency, a real partner. These agencies are out there. They are hard to find as most will claim their connection and passion. It is the few that can authentically demonstrate it to you.

A story of four days to termination

Agency life is notoriously cutthroat. People are the primary assets of an agency. When something changes that affects the bottom line, people are the first cost to consider. People are expendable.

I witnessed one of the worst examples of this agency life trait with an experienced agency professional that was recruited and hired for a mid management position. This person accepted the position and declined two others being offered. An agreement was signed and the start date confirmed.

The new manager received a hero’s welcome by the entire agency. A large office was provided. Orientation was completed. Direct reports were assigned. Typical long, boring and highly billable meetings were scheduled and held. Then BOOM!

If you have ever been terminated, there is a real, physical, emotional reason they call it a firing. Like a bullet that travels faster than the speed of sound, you are hit with the unexpected. It takes your breath away and there is this reverberating sound of the question why?

In the case of the four days to termination, the answer was ‘last to hire, first to fire,’ a traditional, bullshit excuse from a spineless agency leader. This excuse is intended to suggest a client has left leaving the agency no choice but to fire people. No one in their right mind believes this, particularly after four days.

The truth is people are expendable in agency life.