In the world of marketing, or really any business, there are basic, core values that are essential to keep in mind to set ourselves up for success. After all, we are here to serve our clients and in that service, we need to be able to meet certain criteria to build and maintain these relationships that also builds up our business’s credibility and progress. At beMarketing, one of these values we prioritize is Speed of Delivery.
We define speed of delivery as managing client expectations and deliverable expectations, meeting timelines and milestones, and responsiveness. These ideals are crucial to balance for success, because they are a make or break situation between clients and an agency. What makes this so important is that the stakes are high and it can be a very tricky tango when you have projects lined up in production then last minute requests come in or clients who may always expect something at the drop of a hat..
Tricky Tango
Unexpected things happen each and everyday, and in an industry where things are changing all the time, you have to roll with the punches. Pretty recently, in the midst of the busy fall season and approaching holidays, and with only so many hours in a day, things can pile up!
One of my e-mail marketing clients is very particular about the look and content in their emails. He sent me a print newsletter that they wanted us to mimic the design and the content for their next email. Knowing how particular this client is, instead of me working on it myself since it’s outside of my skill set, I sent it to our Creative Team to have it coded in HTML.
I knew this particular project would be more involved — so I did my best to give enough cushion to the team to have the time to build it as well as meet the deadline for the e-mail. With the upcoming holiday, lots of major projects coming in and it being a time consuming project, it took longer than I anticipated for the project.
PRO TIP: Be honest and over-communicate. I e-mailed and texted the client with updates when the e-mail was worked on but reiterated that the design required more time because of the amount of detail involved. It’s not ideal because no one wants to have to go back to the client and say “we can’t get this done”, but it’s important to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
THE RESULT: With these updates, the client was understanding and was happy with a compromise. We were able to quickly create a “Happy Thanksgiving” e-mail for the client that had a new, fresh design template that the client loved and be able to push the other e-mail into the next month.
The Upside
I am without-a-doubt blessed to have clients that appreciate the work we do for them. I’m lucky to have way more positive experiences with speed of delivery than I have negative, even when I feel like I’m not able to do enough for reasons outside of my control.
More often than not I receive e-mails from clients with a simple “Thanks for your attention to this”, “Thank you for getting this done so quickly”, or sometimes even “You’re the best” that let me know that I’m meeting (and hopefully exceeding) expectations.
As an Account Manager, it’s important to me professionally and personally that my clients get what they need from me as quickly as possible. While most days that’s achievable without a second thought, with a high volume of clients and projects, sometimes I have to take a step back and remind myself that just because it’s not getting done right when I want them to for my clients that doesn’t mean I’m letting my clients down. Like I’ve said before, there are only so many hours a day and some projects have to take priority over others for a variety of reasons, so long as I’m communicating with my team, my clients and advocating for them I know I’m doing my best!
