If you work in new business for an ad agency, design firm, social media consultancy, etc., I’m sure you’ve come across a prospect that contacts you and says, “I’m looking for new ideas on marketing my business.”
They’ve been running the same print ads for the past 10 years and think it’s time for a change. Their website hasn’t been updated in a few years.They have a Facebook page and post something every month or so. They’re tired of dealing with the negative reviews on Yelp that are completely unfair. They feel there must be something they can do to improve their marketing.
So you meet based on the premise that they’re interested in contracting you for your expertise and services. You have a great discussion. They’re impressed by the case studies you present. You have a great rapport. You feel that this could be a great working relationship. When you share some preliminary ideas for tactics, they don’t even bat an eye at the ballpark budgets. They’re excited. You’re excited. Awesome meeting. They promise to get back to you shortly about next steps.
A week passes by and you figure, it’s probably just a busy time for them. The next week comes around and still no word. You decide to drop them an email. For some reason, no response. You give them a call. They apologize for not getting back sooner. It’s a busy time for them. They ask if you can send over the proposal again and they promise they’ll review it and get back to you with what they’re interested in moving forward with.
Some time passes by again. You follow up again with emails and calls. But now they’re not even responding. Could you have completely misread the meeting?
You still see them run the same print ads. They still haven’t really been posing on Facebook. You do notice that now they’re running station-produced TV spots even though that’s not even something you recommended or that they were even interested in from your initial discussion.
In the end, you never really hear from them again.
Now, hopefully, this isn’t a typical experience for you. But if you work in this business long enough, you’re bound to come across it.
Why would someone reach out for help, get a lot of advice and then not follow through? Even if they didn’t go with you because you were too expensive or they didn’t like your creative, why not reach out to one of your competitors? Why not at least try something different?
People rarely want new “ideas.”
They want security. They want empathy. They want to feel better about themselves. The solutions that you provide may be able to solve for all of those. But sometimes, when people are asking for “ideas,” what they’re really asking for is “hope.” And maybe just thinking about the possibilities feels better than actually having to do them.