Client Presentation Errors

Yipes! Mistakes not to make when presenting to a client.

From the article:

When you call a client by a competitor’s name, you probably won’t keep the advertiser’s account.

And in this patriotic age, if you misspell the word “America” in the headline of an advertisement, the client might give you the same heave-ho.

That’s the assessment that can be made from results of a survey of 250 advertising and marketing executives developed by The Creative Group, a staffing service in Cleveland. Executives were asked, “What is the funniest or most embarrassing mistake you have ever heard of someone making while working on a client’s advertising or marketing campaign?”

“We recommended a spokesperson who was dead,” one executive revealed.

Of course, things other than death probably can kill an advertising campaign, as a survey summary sent by The Creative Group noted, “Many respondents lost to the competition ... not their own, but their client’s.”

“We went to the sales presentation with a competitor’s logo and information still in the presentation,” one executive recalled.

“A competitor’s product was served during a lunch presentation to a food retailer,” another executive remembered.

Little things do indeed count, as other executives learned from their own experiences. One executive left major portions of the ad presentation back at the office, while another placed presentation materials in a rented car, then took a different car to the meeting. A seemingly diligent ad executive tried too hard, apparently, and sprayed the presentation board with insecticide, instead of adhesive. A relatively unobservant executive didn’t recognize the client’s president when he walked into the building. An executive who didn’t attend to details “thought he had put the phone on mute — but had not — and was talking about the client.”

“One of our art directors blew the whole presentation with bad table manners,” one respondent explained. “He acted like he was the only one at the table.”

Every now and then a campaign will sound creative to a client, but be a little less than brilliant when it is put into action.

“An ad we did for drive-time radio had such a complicated phone number, no one could remember it — and no one called,” an executive reported.

So, sometimes an ad executive just has to break down and admit that something went wrong.

“A zero was added to million-dollar give-away by mistake,” one survey response confessed.

Nerves can overwhelm “the most seasoned professional” — such as the one who fainted during a presentation, noted Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group.

“But a flub during a meeting will not necessarily take you out of the running for an account,” Turner claimed. “Many prospective clients will remember how you handled the situation rather than dwell on the mistake itself. Maintaining your composure — as well as your sense of humor — will show you have the ability to handle any challenges that arise.”

Which leads us to one final point, if you will pardon the soon-to-be-obvious pun.

“I heard of someone who dropped an X-Acto knife on her foot,” said one advertising executive, “but was too busy to stop and take it out.”