1.
High Gear
Teach your account management team
how to work smarter, not harder.
Shift into High Gear

2.
Protect your agency’s most valuable asset:
Your relationship with clients
Each of the following pages
outlines a client profile: Which of
these clients are yours?
Steve likes options…
But his gatekeeper ad manager only wants one recommendation.

3.
Client relationship: Under attack
 Client retention is dropping like a stone
 Industry client retention might last only two
years soon
 Most agency leaders don’t understand how weak
their current relationships are (but this information
is known within the agency)
 Agency leadership can take action now so your
agency beats the industry averages
Linda wants an agency that believes in process….
And she’s upset because your agency isn’t providing that.

4.
Conditions that are impacting client retention:
 Less experienced
client-side managers
 Client-side managers who want
their own team
(own agency)
 Increased switching of managers
on client side
 Advertising is seen as less
strategic and more tactical
 Greater pressure to
reduce costs
 Push to consolidate vendors
 Less interest in long-lasting
campaigns, more interest in
short-term projects
 Desire for measurable impact
now, less interest in long-running
efforts
 Client consolidations reducing
the number of agencies needed
 Poor understanding of agency’s
role and how agencies can help
 More interference from outside
consultants
 Pressure to find
lower-cost alternatives
James feels that an agency’s integrity is of prime importance...
What procedures do your agency follow that upset him?

5.
What are you going to do about it?
Sit and watch problems linger,
relationships degenerate
and your clients leave?
Or be proactive?
Henry seems to go out of the way to fight with the agency…
How do you reduce the high agency/client stress that exists?

6.
Your best insurance against client loss:
A close relationship based on great chemistry:
 Great chemistry means high agency likeability
 Great chemistry is meeting client expectations
 Great chemistry shows clients you really care
about them
 Great chemistry is the glue that bonds clients
to agencies
Steve constantly rechecks every recommendation you make…
How do you get him to make a decision and move on?

7.
To achieve great chemistry:
 No longer does one shoe fit all
 Now it’s one of four shoes fits
 No longer can you keep clients by managing them
all the same way
 Your agency needs to adjust in the way it handles
each client so great chemistry is achieved and
maintained for each client
 With great chemistry clients don’t just stick,
they bond
 With great chemistry clients bond with the agency,
not individuals
Bob needs lots of support from his agency…
How does he measure this and what should your staff do?

8.
This agency training shows your account team
how to best work with clients:
Process Results
Relationships New
Learn how to set up
“system thinking” so
clients are handled in
one of four system
approaches
Aldine believes in a logical approach to everything…
How do you get her to believe in strong creative insight?

9.
The course is called “High Gear” and it’s taught in
one day onsite at your agency:
 All clients put into the system
 System thinking set up for each client
 Your staff trained to follow the system
 Immediate positive feedback from the client
quickly proves the system
Bill wants quick action and quicker results…
How should your firm present recommendations to him?

10.
High Gear session shows your agency:
 Why clients are different and why they need
system thinking
 How to set up system thinking at your agency
 Why clients need to be treated in patterns or
profiles or systems
 Why clients need a unique system approach
 How to determine which system approach to apply
to each client
 How to present creative materials in a
system approach
Susan loves the flash and dash of advertising…
You’re worried that she believes she’s outgrown your agency.

11.
High Gear shows your agency:
 How to negotiate over money
 How to present marketing recommendations
 How to access the state of the relationships with
key clients
 Early signs of poor chemistry
 How to solve problems with clients
 How to avoid “Agency Hell”
 How to measure the positive effects of system
thinking at the agency
Hank was just appointed marketing director at your best client…
He called and asked for a meeting. How do you prepare?

12.
Benefits of High Gear you should expect:
 Client satisfaction with the agency
climbs higher
 Organic growth improves (new
business from existing clients)
 Client/agency tension reduces
 Agency teamwork improves
 Reduced stress between creative
types and account handlers
 System thinking becomes the way
the agency handles clients
 High Gear will be the most
popular training program you
ever tried
 People who missed High Gear
will want it repeated for them
 High Gear language will be
part of the agency’s culture
 High Gear manual (120-pages)
keeps system thinking fresh
for years
Joe always wants the most economical way…
Your staff just caught on after 10 months of uproar over billing.

13.
High Gear Information:
 Time: One day plus pre-retreat planning and
agenda review
 Support: 120-page High Gear workbook to guide
discussions and keep on schedule
 Moderator: Senior consultant from Sanders
Consulting, the world leaders in agency new
business performance
 Investment: $3,500 plus expenses
Risk vs. Reward: Keeping one client one week
longer pays for the entire High Gear training
session
www.sandersconsulting.com info@sandersconsulting.com

14.
All brought to you by Sanders Consulting Group:
 Sanders’ Consulting Group does no work for advertisers but is
100% on the side of marketing communication companies.
 Operating over 30 years for over 5,000 agencies
 Help our clients properly brand and positioned themselves
so they compete successfully in today’s rapidly
changing marketplace
 Help the leadership at our clients develop growth programs
and new business strategies that achieve steady increases
in revenue
 Make sure our clients have account service procedures and
good chemistry training so client churn is not a problem
 Work with our clients to set up the best ways to manage
people, policies and procedures so that above-average
profitability is achieved
 Lastly, put in place internal communication programs that help
staff members understand the firm’s direction and how to be
part of its success
 Will show you how to win, not just play
www.sandersconsulting.com info@sandersconsulting.com

15.
One Last Reminder
High Gear is a one-day workshop that addresses
the need for a fresh look at account management.
The program shows your team the changing role
of account management, the new client world,
moving from tactics to strategy, setting price and
value for what you offer, and how to negotiate. It
moves the account management from just being a
bag carrier to a true strategic partner.