I realise that TV shows like Mary Queen of Shops, Country House Rescue and my favourite (if only because I could watch Alex Polizzi doing anything all day) The Hotel Inspector, despite being formulaic and often contrived are the current entertainment of choice, but what I’m really waiting for is a series of “the ones that got away”.
I’m just itching to see the cases that sent the celeb consultants screaming out of the door, if only because I need the reassurance of knowing for sure it’s not just me who occasionally encounters a hopeless case that simply won’t be helped, or for which there is just no hope.
I’m currently going through that process of mental double-checking every option explored or unexplored that I guess every business consultant goes through before declaring a “patient” DOA. My nemesis has proved to be a small advertising agency with a £1.5million turnover and accumulating losses that came to me at the beginning of the year.
I believe there is a solution to every business problem and the biggest obstacle to success, as in this case, is usually prejudice, laziness or obstinacy of top management, who despite consistent failure, insist on perpetuating the same model or set of practices. Who was it who said “Insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting a different outcome”? What is really frustrating about this case is that the solution was pretty obvious.
The people at this agency are getting on in years and looking for an exit that they quickly discovered didn’t exist. Their stated losses were modest enough, but when I took a closer look I discovered that the three partners, who were independently wealthy, weren’t paying themselves a salary, which made the real picture rather more of a nightmare. Strangely, this isn’t the first time I have come across a business where owners were not paying themselves and been forced to point out that they were not a business (which makes money), but a hobby (which burns it)
Working as I often do with marketing services firms I always start with the perspective that whatever discipline they may lead with, a marketing services firm is a consultancy. A position which carries with it two clear responsibilities. The first is that you must know more about your subject than your clients do. This may sound obvious, but I often find client/agency relationships that are a bit like the blind leading the blind. Assuming you qualify on the first point you should be advising your client not taking instruction, otherwise there is no reason for your existence.
Explanations for the failure of this business were turning up under every stone I turned:
- The principal of this business told me with pride that he had never in his life stepped foot in any other advertising agency and didn’t know what they did or how they worked.
- In fact they had never conducted a competitive review and were oblivious to who their competitors were or what they were offering.
- Neither had they undertaken a client review.
- None of the employees had worked in other marketing services firms either, so their “training” had all been at the hands of their agency principal. Consequently their perspective was as narrow as the business.
- In an era where integrated marketing is accepted as essential this agency operated in a very narrow field indeed. All they offered was local press advertising! Account handlers positively resisted the idea of offering additional comms, probably because they didn’t know anything about them.
- The business operated on the commission model where, as an NPA recognised agency (remember those?) they received a 15% commission payment from publishers, which they used to pay for the design and artwork they provided. I don’t know of another agency that still operates this system, simply because it doesn’t work. For one thing any agency, regardless of “recognition” gets 15% discount from publishers these days and for another, 15% of the space cost is rarely enough to cover the cost of design and production when the majority of the space you are dealing with is in local newspapers.
- They “sold” advertising space rather than advised on media strategy and account handlers were paid on commission, just like a media sales rep. They also did pretty much what their clients asked if it meant selling some space.
- Senior management had no contact with clients and I was refused access to them because the account handlers wouldn’t allow it!!! Work that one out!
- Their in-house management system, including job-bag management and invoicing was all done BY HAND! Yes, you read that right. What’s more, they were adamant that this was better than a computerised system. I haven’t seen that much paper since Wiggins Teape was a client of mine!
The list goes on, but you get the idea. However, without giving too much away, after speaking to local businesses, business networks, competitors, local media and other marketing services providers, I identified an opportunity for my client to create a model that catered for small businesses and even outlined a plan for growing the business nationally. This was obviously going to take the founders out of their comfort zone, but they weren’t planning on being around for long, so that was hardly the point. My job was to make their business attractive to potential investors.
I wasn’t entirely surprised though, when the owners decided not to adopt my strategy. It had become clear to me early on that they weren’t removing themselves from the situation. Comments like “But we like the business as it is” and “What we really want is someone to come in with a few new clients” were commonplace, despite me pointing out that the business was losing significant sums mainly because there aren’t any clients left for whom the agency’s offer was relevent.
So, this is one for the “ones that got away” file. A fruitless exercise, but maybe not a waste of my time because its always good to have an insight into markets and in this case I have awoken to an opportunity that some other small agency might make work. It also reinforces my belief that businesses fail, largely because they deserve to and that a great many small businesses should start by deciding whether they are running a business or pursuing a hobby.
Michael Weaver
April 21, 2011