Any tips and tricks to transition from agency to client side?

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1. Understand what you have learned on the agency side…and what is going to be different.
What you CAN learn in agencies almost better than anyplace else is how to learn industries, categories, consumers & brands quickly. You learn how to turn on a dime & shortcut process when a client project has to be out the door in 8-48 hours. You can also learn “the language of ideas”.

Clients, ultimately, live in the world of “operations” - getting orders, products, etc in the door, processed, and out the door - on time and at a profit. Agencies live in a world of “a great positioning strategy/idea/execution”. Yes, agencies increasingly have to be very process oriented in order to be profitable & competitive, but ideas are our primary stock in trade.

2. Making the move:

To be perfectly candid, one of the best ways is to move to a client that you are working on while on the agency side. The reason is because that client knows you in a way that is beyond your resume/book/website, etc. You will need to establish to clients that you understand “real business” - vs only being an agency account leader, which they perceive as kind of a turbocharged project manager/wrangler

A couple of other approaches are to:

A. Focus on client side categories that you have worked on (once again, where you are able to credibly discuss the business dynamics of the category & the competitors).

B. Look at emerging in-house operations at clients. There are lots of these out there.

C. Be aware that clients can change their mind. While in-house creative operations are generally continuing to grow, Keurig Dr. Pepper just announced the closure of their entire unit - and it was highly regarded.


Hope this is helpful. I know you’ll make the right choice for yourself long term.

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I appreciate this thoughtful advice! Super helpful 🙏

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That is excellent advice—seeing a business from the outside in and then the inside out, offers an invaluable perspective agencies and clients alike can both take for granted. Doing both and doing both well, I might add, can propel dynamic growth for both you in your career and the companies you move into. I would definitely see the transition as a turbocharge for both. Good luck!

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