By Barry Winslow
The Call
Yesterday I received a phone call from Kara, the General Manager of Riverside Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Escanaba. She, like all of our clients here at the Buzz, is not only one of our business partners and wonderful clients, but an honest-to-goodness true friend. Over the phone, Kara, in typical fashion, excitedly referred to me by my nickname (Big Bear) and proceeded to fill me in on a customer that had just walked through the door of her dealership.
“Big Bear, you won’t believe what just happened!”
“Hey Kara! What’s that?!” I replied.
“I just had to call you up. Check your text messages. I just sent you a picture of a dozen donuts”
“Okay…?” I replied. “Donuts… go on.”
“We just had a gentleman walk into the dealership. He wasn’t here for more than five minutes. He just popped in to drop off a dozen donuts and when handing the box over to our team, he said “those last two commercials you guys put out… you nailed it! We just absolutely look forward to seeing you and your team on TV every month, and the last two commercials you guys did were great!’ I just had to fill you in and tell you this, because you deserve to hear it and I knew it would make your day.”
“Wow, Kara! Thanks! What great news, and yes, it sure did make my day. I’ll be sure to tell the rest of our team here!”
As soon as I got off the phone with Kara, I told the rest of our team here at the Buzz about the story and shared the picture of the donuts.
It All Starts with a Relationship
Okay, great, donuts are nice and all, but what does this story have to do with The Buzz, account management, and marketing in general??
In the marketing world AND in business, this is the definition of a true WIN-WIN. This conversation is one of those sweet little victories we work for. A victory for me as an account manager, but more importantly, a victory for our client and proof that a combination of the right “Share of Voice”, a strong “Impact Quotient”, and a positive “Personal Experience Factor” all came together to lead a customer into our client’s front door talking about THEIR advertising!
Sure, we’ll get into some of those “marketing key terms” in a while, but this little victory would not have happened without a trusting relationship. Yes, I’ll say it again… a trusting relationship. Being a full-service advertising agency means we do A LOT of things to get your business’s name out there, but NONE of those things would be effective, let alone possible, without first establishing a trusting relationship between agency and client. Business relationships must be based on trust. This means that the marketing agency is being trusted to deliver the very best creative services possible to help build the client’s business, and the client is being trusted to communicate the correct information to the agency that they would like to have delivered across a variety of media channels.
How does one establish a trusting relationship? So goes the age old saying – Trust isn’t made. It’s earned. It is something that happens over time, with repeated and consistent communication, follow-ups, check-in’s, budget meetings, and on and on the list goes. This is where an Account Manager fits into the general shape of an agency. Sure, we have to crunch numbers, talk to media reps, buy and place media, filter, feed, and disseminate information from client to agency and back to client, schedule meetings, take great notes, write and develop engaging creative………. Are we there yet?! Whew!
But above all, it is the Account Manager’s responsibility to build, develop and maintain trusting relationships with all parties involved – starting with that of the client, their team, and their business. Only then can great creative be developed and delivered to the greatest share of audience the client’s budget will allow.
Truly Great Creative Comes with Time… and Coaching!
Back in 2018 when I first started with Bottom Line Marketing – Michigan, now The Buzz, I was tasked as a Marketing Assistant to manage Riverside Auto Group’s marketing. Seven car dealerships based in the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin with fresh creative across all avenues every month of the year.
No small task!
Beyond the sheer volume of work, I was coming in on the heels of a body of work nearly 20 years in the making of the greatest creative guru in the business, the master himself, Chris Brooks. Luckily, I was under Chris’ wing. Chris took me in and nurtured me through the entire process, learning the ins-and-outs of every last salesperson and mechanic in each of the dealerships, and how each one had their own unique story to tell. Then, it was head first into the process of writing GREAT creative – how it’s written, and why it works!
- Cut the Fat.
- Get to the MEAT of the message.
- The 8-Second Rule.
- Deliver a Transfer of Confidence.
- Don’t tell, SHOW!
- Close with a reference back to the Attention-Grabber.
- If you want crazy… go all in.
- The power of repetition.
The rules of HOW to write great creative go on and on, and Chris knows them all. The way and speed in which he trained me was truly fascinating, and I am forever grateful for his coaching, leadership, assistance, patience, support, and friendship. This all circles back to that key-term, “Impact Quotient.” How much of an effect does your message have on your audience? How do you get someone’s attention, hold that attention, and why does it work?
When you are able to captivate your audience, deliver your message at the right time through the right channels, and follow up your message with an excellent customer experience once they walk through your door, you close sales. And who doesn’t like closing sales and increasing profits?! Now that’s a sweet little victory we all live and work for!
