After being in client service for many years I’ve heard a lot. Clients call stressed because they have forgotten a project, they have just been given a task by their boss, a great opportunity has come up and the email, the ad, the script, whatever it may be, is due in an extremely short period of time. But what is common in all of these circumstances is the urgency, sometimes panic in their voices.

My job as an entry point into Creative Link is first to assess the situation, an advertising triage if you will. Now we know our business is not life or death but I would be hard pressed to convince some clients of this fact.

In one particularly memorable example, my client wanted an insert printed and bound inside of a weekly publication. Now the deadline had already passed but because of the advertiser’s clout with the publication everyone was going to do all they could to accommodate. I responded to the situation by first gathering the necessary resources to fulfill the client’s request. Once I had the means of getting the task done, I was able to calmly convince the client that if we rushed the printing, express shipped the inserts and paid extra to get the books printed, the return on these expenses was just not worth the potential outcome and added stress to his business partners.

Instead of reacting to the situation and blindly taking the order, my team and I responded to the client’s need and found an alternative to the last minute fire drill that had been created. We were able to update the website to reflect the offers, send out an email to a targeted mailing list and create inexpensive signage for short-term, in-store use. 

Ultimately, by taking a moment to respond instead of reacting, the client was presented a more integrated plan for less money and the sales results were better than anyone expected. How is your response rate?