Happy week, agency leader. Having a shared perspective with your boss in your new job is important. But in the agency business? It’s two times the challenge. Because in most situations, you’re learning about your new agency boss AND the client. Who’s not your boss, yet pays the bills and has influence on your career. Today’s post will summarize Chapter Four — Negotiate Success — of the well-known onboarding bible, The First 90 Days. And like other posts, you’ll also read a bit of agency context. Handy bits are here even if you don’t have a new job, but have a new client.

The chapter title alone speaks volumes. Because “negotiate” suggests you won’t get everything you want. And who doesn’t like success?

Negotiating ad agency job success: fundamental do’s and don’ts

Building a productive relationship with your boss and your client can be made easier when you consider these basics:

• Don’t stay away
• Don’t surprise your boss
• Don’t approach your boss or your client only with problems
• Don’t run down your status checklist
• Don’t expect either party to change
• Clarify expectations early and often
• Take 100% responsibility for making the relationship work
• Negotiate time lines for diagnosis and action planning
• Aim for early wins important to the boss and the client
• Pursue good marks from those whose opinions the stakeholders respect

Head-nod stuff, right? Having worked with clients, prospective clients and agencies for <cough> years, what I’d add here is to understand the personalities involved. And while I encourage you to be you (always), understand who these people are as human beings…< insert your favorite personality test methodology here >. And act accordingly.

For many years, yours truly helped agencies find and win new business. Beyond solving a brand problem, a big part of winning a pitch is understanding prospective client personalities. And then using that insight to shape pitch content and context.

Defining your success in your new job is very similar. It will also help you figure out your five conversations.

The five conversations

Michael Watkins suggests there are five subject areas you’ll want to cover in your first few months in the job. Here are those areas, listed in a logical order:

• Situation. What’s the STARs situation? How did the agency get here? What makes this a challenge?
• Expectations. What does your boss need to do in the short term? How will your performance be measured?
• Resources. What do you need to do to be successful? What do you need your boss to do?
• Style. How will you and the boss/client interact moving forward? Talking? Email? Text? How much? Which decisions need sign-off?
• Personal Development. After a bit, you can ask about what’s working. And what’s not. Are there special projects you can take on?

This doesn’t mean five different meetings. You may want to combine a couple of subjects in one meeting, for instance. Or it might take multiple meetings to cover one area. Your mileage will vary. You should also expect that over time, your shared understanding of these areas may change.

These crucial areas and the accompanying dialogue with your boss builds your relationship and sets you, your client and the agency up for success.

The author goes into detail in each these areas listed above. From a real-world agency perspective, two areas leap out: expectations and resources.

Often, boss and client expectations may be unrealistically high. That can be messy, right? I suggest it’s on you, dear reader, to help educate and inform. With facts. Not opinions. While I’m sure you’re brilliant — you’re being paid to think, after all… Depending on the situation, I turn to relevant facts from outside resources like known & proven experts and trade associations to change hearts and minds.

And in the resource-starved world that is agency life, the resources available to you are probably going to be less than ideal. Good thing you’re smart, nimble and creative. And realize that resources and expectations need to be linked. And negotiated.

An extra thought or two

While the author doesn’t go there, I wonder if there isn’t some value for you in capturing a few things when you start this new gig: what made you both happy and unhappy at your last job and what you now know about this new position.

Without proverbially jumping on a therapist’s couch with you, I’m getting at the gooey and unbusinesslike emotional and mental stuff everyone experiences. The kinda stuff that keeps you engaged, happy and productive at your job. Just suggesting it’s smart to jot this kind of thing down and then take a look at that in a few months to see what’s changed. How and why did things change? It is good? Bad? What can be learned from this as you move forward?

The people I’ve seen rise in their companies often take the lead on projects related, but not part of their current job responsibilities. In the agency world, one of the easiest ways to contribute is through new business. And there are lots of ways you can contribute, regardless of your discipline:

• identifying smart agency growth strategies
• (keeping an eye on brands that are good agency fits)
• (researching agency prospects (both in terms of the decision-makers and the brand challenges)
• keeping tabs on the agency’s biggest competitors
• (writing and delivering content in RFPs, credentials and finals presentations)
• writing case studies of agency work in a variety of formats
• contributing to the agency’s thought leadership
• and lots more

What? You’re not comfortable in new business? No worries. (Well…) I suspect that in any of the digging you’ve done on the agency (see below), there have been problems you’ve identified that may not directly relate to your day-to-day function. Help solve one of those problems!

More reasons to buy The First 90 Days

You can order it from Amazon here. And while waiting for your book to arrive, read a few other chapter summaries with a wee bit of agency-think attached to them:

• Match Strategy to Situation (Chapter Three Summary)
• How to learn fast in your new ad agency job (Chapter Two)
• How to prepare yourself for your new agency gig (Chapter One)

Happy reading. And congrats on your new job!

photo credit: visitBerlin Berlin Green Meetings (6) via photopin (license)

Other articles of interest:

• How to shape the career discussion you’re NOT in
• Finding a new agency or client-side job through marketplace triggers
• A collection of recent agency pitches, wins and losses

Hello, agency leader. And welcome to your new ad agency job! This post is part of series that summarizes The First 90 Days, a terrific book written for leaders of all levels who are, yup, just starting a new gig. This particular bit will summarize Chapter Three, “Match Strategy to Situation.” And as you’ve come to expect (from chapters one and two), yours truly will add a bit of agency context. And give you more reasons to buy this book!

Meet the STARS model

In this chapter, author Michael Watkins introduces us to five different business situations. He defines each of the situations, and suggests a few corresponding challenges and opportunities. He calls it the STARS model:

• Start-up. “Assembling the capabilities to get a new agency or initiative off the ground.” New shops or new in-house agencies.
• Turnaround. “Saving a business widely acknowledged to be in serious trouble.” These might be agencies who have lost big chunks of business and staff. Or agencies that have publicly failed via uncool corporate behavior.
• Accelerated Growth. “Managing a rapidly expanding business.” Sounds like agencies adding lots of new business and staff might fit this bill.
• Realignment. “Reenergizing a previously successful agency that now faces problems.” Potentially large, traditional alphabet soup shops in holding companies, for instance, could be in this group. Maybe they’ve lost a big client. Or lost some key people. Or lack capabilities the market is currently buying.
• Sustaining Success. “Preserving the vitality of a successful agency and taking it to the next level.” Longtime creative hot shops come to mind.

As much as I’d love to make a few judgements on whether you’re working at a “turnaround” vs. an “accelerated growth” shop, you will learn these things as you research the agency and interview for the job. The point here is to know that not all agencies are in the same business situation. Even if they’re branded the same. For instance, JWT Chicago is very different than JWT NY. Well, was.

And, I think this same kind of thinking can apply to a specific piece of client business you’re on. Your challenges and opportunities are different on a new piece of business versus a legacy brand your new agency has had for many years.

Note I’m not talking about the brand’s marketing and marketing communication challenges. (But that could have an impact.) I’m talking about how this client fits in the agency’s overall portfolio of business. Things that define this will include:

• Revenue size (and % share of agency)
• Profitability
• Agency capabilities used by the client
• Tenure (both client and agency side)
• And more

Leading change in the STARS model

So, once you’ve figured out what kind of situation your agency — or your business — is in, then think a bit more about the big picture stuff you can do to impact change. In the book, Watkins goes into some detail here between Turnarounds vs. Realignments, offering some step-by-step detail on the first six steps:

1. Organize to learn
2. Define strategic intent
3. Establish A-item priorities
4. Build the leadership team
5. Secure early wins
6. Create supporting alliances

I found myself hungry for his thinking on the other business situations, too. That’s not in the book. But you should still buy it.

Keep your “you” in mind

Different business situations require different skills from leaders. We can’t all rock everything. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Are you what Watkins calls a “hero” or a “steward?” Maybe you’re something else. The point is, as you assess the business story in your new job, understand your own skill set, too. You may need to practice some self-discipline to be successful. Or augment your skills with professionals on your team to shore up weaknesses.

Measuring success can be different, too

So, we know that a different STARS situation can dictate how we go about growing a bottom or top line. But can the agency/department/client business situation also impact how you’re evaluated and what defines success? Absolutely. That’s the kind of thing figured out between you and your boss. And I’d suggest some regular check-ins with them to make sure all are on the same page.

Seeking alignment (aka covering your STARS butt)

So, there you are, reading posts like these as you start your new ad agency job. Maybe you’re ready to implement structure and ideas you read in The First 90 Days. But whether you’re a hero or a steward or someone in between, share your thinking with your boss before you get started. This delivers at least three benefits:

• Simply having the conversation is terrific. Because you’re now talking about the new-to-you agency’s situation and what needs to happen next to affect positive change. Even if you don’t use the STARs model.
• Assessing the agency/department/client’s situation, challenges and opportunities (and then sharing that thinking) demonstrates your passion and commitment for your new job.
• This builds alignment and connection. Never a bad thing as you start a new gig.

Anywho, hope this helps get you started on the right foot as you start your new agency job. Should you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. Happy to help!

Thanks for reading.

photo credit: partychief3 IMG_1033 via photopin (license)

Other articles of interest:

• How to learn fast in your new ad agency job
• How to prepare yourself in your new agency job
• Shaping the career discussion you’re NOT in
• Events close to the Moment of Hire (blog post category)