Some Agency Imperatives
 The other day a doctor told me most of his patients already know what they need for good health before they even come to the office. His job, he said, was mostly to emphasize the consequences of ignoring the obvious - a good diet, regular exercise, and so on.

Below is the first batch of a dozen or so musts for running a great agency based on many years of seeing what works and what doesn't. Sure, you know all this stuff, just like you know what the doctor's going to say.

But as you read, ask yourself if maybe you need to eat more vegetables or get back to the gym.

Boot the cats 'n dogs
We know an agency with 4 major income producing accounts and 38 "project" clients. "But," the president said, "some of them might really take off soon…" Sure they will, pal. Look, the overhead to maintain a pack of little accounts will suck you dry and almost always cause more red than black ink. Take a deep dive into what it actually costs you to sustain accounts throwing off a few grand here and there, especially with today's salary costs, and the conclusion will be inescapable. Shed the losers and the overhead; it takes guts but it's strategically the right thing to do.

Demand results top down
Agency principals are often the most lenient on those closest to the top, and that could mean the leadership discipline at your place cascades down with all the impact of soft bread. If you're not getting results at the management team level, you're nuts to think subordinates will toe the mark. A high performance organization requires you to demand results and enforce consequences for substandard output from the top. So forget about being an avuncular soft-touch. Instead try this: once a month make each senior player go to the front of the room and describe results and improvements achieved in the past 30 days. . . minus excuses and phrases like "we're working on that." Growth isn't about maintenance, it's about change. For more insights go to Articles at Grant Consulting and click on "What Should Agency Management Teams Do."

Improve profit by 10% on half your accounts
Of course that's just a starting point, but you'd be astounded to learn how many agencies function without any sort of account-by-account profit plans. AEs claim they're doing their best and principals eat that excuse like a cat scarfing up Fancy Feast. Meantime you're eking by at just above break-even. Come on! Smart businesses create profit plans for every product and service. Calculate what a 10% profit increase on half your accounts would mean. Then work backwards to put the pieces in place to get there. Of course you can always just wait by the phone, hoping a client will call with some project. . .

Hire only stars
The biggest mistake you'll make in our "people business" is hiring wrong. Great agencies are run like winning pro teams - the coach knows which positions are weak, where to find alpha talent, and how to trade and restock to build a more competitive lineup. Right now (mid-'06 as this is written) is a great time to land new people - folks are looking and things are fluid. Go get yourself some superstars. You know who they are in your town, and just think how formidable your agency will be with just 3 or 4 really great people in key slots. Too expensive? More than just money motivates people - sell them on your dreams and what their role could be in creating a very special place. The real secret to success, author Jim Collins says, is getting the right people on the bus. Learn more about agency hiring by going to People in the Articles section of our website and reading "What Makes a Good AE."

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We'll continue this list of imperatives next month. For additional insights visit our website where you'll find a section on these and related topics.

What took Gutenberg decades you can now do on a Mac or PC in moments. Here's a collection of interesting fonts to liven up your work, at Abstract Fonts.

Here's one of the coolest agency websites you're likely to see. Leo Burnett did a great job on this, not surprisingly.

It's time to recommend this vast resource of knowledge for marketers again. Don't miss Know This if you want to stay current with the latest marketing stories, trends, and techniques.

If I understand this correctly, a guy sold space on a web page for a buck a pixel and thus now has a million dollars, at The Million Dollar Homepage. Amazing.

Next time you're trying to put things in perspective, ponder the relative size of our puny little world at this site.

Kind of zany and highly opinionated, but a wealth of takes on our business, at Adland.

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Grant Consulting, formed in 1992 by Joe Grant, is a consultative resource for advertising agency principals who want to improve their companies. The firm works exclusively with senior managers to help them discover and then reach their full potential. Copyright 2006 Grant Consulting Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. We encourage sharing in whole or in part if copyright and attribution are included. Contact us at:

Grant Consulting
239.394.8220
joe@joegrantconsulting.com
www.joegrantconsulting.com