Posted by Kevin Lofgren.

We once had a Fortune 100 client say she wanted the Lead Machine we were building for her to - among other things - ask prospects about their budget, timing and decision-making power. We recommended against it. She insisted we do it anyway. We said, "Okay, we'll send over our contract renewal for you to sign."

"What? Our contract isn't up for another four months and I don't know if I'm going to renew yet."

"Yes, but if you're going to take the control of our success out of our hands and put it into yours, we assume you're not going to hold us responsible for the results, so you may as well renew now. If you change your mind, though, and you're willing to trust us on this, we're willing to say that if we're wrong you have our permission to fire us, and not renew our contract. We're willing to make that bet."

Of course, our client could have fired us without our permission, but the point was made. The client conceded. We put our creative solution in place. Our client enjoyed an amazing response to the campaign, and an overwhelming number of thumbs up to the method we recommended to achieve the company's goals.

Oh, and the client did renew our contract.

Look. We're not going to let our clients get in the way of their own success. I think a lot of old-school agencies think their job is to give the client what they want. We don't. Our view is that it is our job to give the client what they need. If the client asks for a drill, we find out why they want a drill. If that reason is so they can have a hole, we find out why they want a hole. If that reason is to see through to the other side, we find out why they want to see through to the other side. If that reason is to know what the other guys are doing, now we're getting somewhere.

You see, most agencies would have provided a drill. Some agencies would have provided a hole. Even fewer would have provided a sight line to the other side. But Farstar, to continue the metaphor, would have provided the real-time camera, recording and alert system so that the client didn't end up with a hole in the wall for no good reason.

You get the point. If you want to be one of our clients, be prepared. You might think you know how you want to accomplish something, and that's okay. But be prepared for us to not only challenge you on the "how," but on the "why," too.

kl