Change my mind: former agency folks make the *worst* clients.

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Would never change your mind lol. Epitome of “I had to suffer, so now you will suffer.”

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They know too much and use it all for evil! It could actually be such an easy relationship, they know more than the average client. Which could on paper save so much time and cut right to the chase. However they are consistently the worst!

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As trite as Account Directors make better clients if only they could keep one long enough to join. I was agency for 25 years, One Show, CA. First client-side role was global CPG brand. Big agency partner supplied big agency process, fees, substituted A+ team with C- team after the pitch, and lack of actually executable concepts within budget—along with sharing and verbally expressing the same bias as your post—it cost them the account within a year. Before the end of the month, I’d hired an AdAge Small Agency of the Year indie who actually listened, understood the business, aspired to great work, and understood I was their person on the inside to help them achieve their goals of award gold glory so long as they achieved the business’s. Which they did. Won Campaign of the Year. Not only because of their idea, but because I on the inside understood how to help their idea see the light of actual day, navigating the complexity that included marketing, operations, executive, and legal leadership for approval and production. The *worst*? Agency partner said I was their best client and while I was there everyone wanted to work on the account. Which, by the way, I helped them triple billings for. Because I as ex-agency understood their motivations and goals, and I wanted them to succeed. To help me succeed, of course. The big agency that cared most about billings would say I was the *worst*. The little agency that actually worked as a partner and cared about results would say to this day I was the *best*. And, in large part because of them, they’d be right.

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Okay I'll give it a shot. Having agency experience can definitely make agency folks very particular, but I think it’s more about knowing what they want and being used to fast-paced, detailed work. If they’re clear about expectations, it can actually lead to smoother collaborations in my experience

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Completely agree—in my case, this person is from my agency, and they seem to have a bone to pick (I’m not really sure why, they left years ago). If they just had agency experience and were ready to collaborate, I’d be in a vastly different boat.

I'm not going to try to sway you from the truth.

Yes!!! They know way too much and think they still are the experts.

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