Insights

When clients move the goalposts, again!

An agency client was telling me how their client has moved the goalposts, yet again. My client explained the impact on the agency. How should agencies respond?

Some friends were recently renovating a property they had bought which was to be their dream house. They had found a builder and agreed the work and price. Two days into the work the builder phoned to say he’d found asbestos in the house. He required many tens of thousands of pounds extra. The builder said “What do you want me to do? Your choice.” Quite rightly as far as the builder was concerned it was not his problem. It was black and white. I wonder if many agencies are quite as cut and dried about it?

When clients move the goalposts once a project is agreed and underway it can create problems for the agency. Obviously, it depends how much the goalposts are moved. The problems can include having to rush to hit the deadline, more work involved and a feeling of frustration by the team. When it is because of changing circumstances, market conditions or competitor action it is more understandable than when the client simply has a change of mind because they hadn’t thought things through properly in the first place.

If the agency’s client is regularly moving the goalposts creating more work for the agency for no additional remuneration, then this will reduce profitability, impact morale and moves the agency more into the ‘supplier’ role rather than as a trusted adviser or partner. You may need to charge the client an additional fee for the extra work involved.

What is needed?

A simple response to the client highlighting the change and what the implications are, may be sufficient for the client to appreciate the impact and agree to the financial impact. However a stronger response may be required.

You may need to take a stronger approach and have a tougher conversation with the client. As always, a strong senior leadership team within the agency will create the right culture to avoid this situation or at minimum be able to resolve it easily when it happens. If you don’t have the tough conversation there is a risk that the client sees it as acceptable and they may be likely to do it again, and again. Thus, setting a precedent. You may decide the next time the client is briefing you on a new project to explain the implications of them changing their mind subsequently.

Changing the goalposts is less likely to happen and more easily resolved when the agency has the right relationship with the client – a peer to peer relationship whereby you are seen as trusted advisers rather than simply implementers. As always, start as you mean to go on. Have a strong relationship with the decision makers. Have clear briefs agreed with realistic budgets and timescales. Agree clear ways of working. It’s in your hands. It’s your decision.