Mad Men Recap: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

In last night’s Mad Men episode SCDP learned that Lucky Strike was moving on to another agency. Roger Sterling, head of account services, sat on this news and had no real plan regarding how to deliver it to his team. It wasn’t until a rival AE dropped the bomb on an agency employee that it all came out into the open. Even when presented with this, Roger lied to all those involved and his laziness and lack of committment was called out.

The agency then went into protect mode to salvage the clients it had and to prevent a mass exodus due to the agencies uncertain future. They were told what to do and what not to do in order to keep their clients happy and to impress them. This was the jist of the episode. That and a randy Peggy and Don screwing up again, literally, with his dentally-challenged secretary.

Why this post? Because it should serve as a reminder to all those in the agency business, and business in general, that we should not wait to treat our client’s great, provide them with fresh ideas/products, and stay on-strategy and brand-driven until the fear of losing them kicks in. We should work every day as if our competitors are knocking down the doors of our clients to get a piece of the business because they are.

In our business losing clients is a fact of life so getting new business is a daily challenge, but we must remain focused on our existing client base and treat them like new clients every day. Aim to impress before you become their ex.