Photo by adactio
When you land a big client, you want to shout it out from the rooftops, right? Course you do! All those hours of blood (well, hopefully not blood), sweat, and tears earned you the right to boast that it was time well spent and a job well deserved. But! and oh, there is always a but…
Unless you are an advertising company, where your client list and portfolio is essentially your business card, what advantage is this really benefiting your client? Because that is who your business is all about, right?
In my marketing business, both my clients and I sign non-disclosure agreements (otherwise and herein referred to as NDAs). This is not only to protect any sensitive materials or the admission that the client “needs help” – but also to protect you! As a marketer, much of your billable worth is the strength of your intellectual property. Without an NDA, what’s to say the client won’t take that intellectual property and tell another – maybe cheaper – marketing agency how to do what you’ve slaved so hard to create?
Now potential clients may want to see a portfolio, a way to evaluate what sort of fabulous services and ideas you do for them. It is at this point that the all important case study comes into play, but Wayne’s done quite a thorough job covering how using case studies can earn you trust in business.
So next time you want to add that big clients’ logo to your homepage or show off a bit to your marketer buddies, think of how you’d want your clients to tell their buddies, too. The goal of a marketer should be to be the person that no one knows, but everyone uses.
February 14, 2008 at 9:24 am |
I respectfully disagree with you. I think with an NDA in place your clients cannot reveal your strategies, tactics, etc. Should a prospect see that x company is successful they can assume it was because of your expertise. I think you can and should discuss the clients that you have helped (with their permission of course)you don’t have to disclose any tactics, etc. I believe the goal of the marketer is to market themselves as much as they market clients.
February 14, 2008 at 10:21 am |
Thanks for the comment!
I think we actually agree here – and excuse me if I did not make myself clear. I mention having an NDA is important because then clients cannot reveal strategies, just as you said.
And, of course, with any company’s permission, being able to share with clients stories about others you helped is great – but depending on your business, especially when dealing with sensitive information/companies, permission is not so easily or freely granted.
February 14, 2008 at 8:32 pm |
Wow, this should be interesting hearing about both sides of something that I had never thought about before!
February 28, 2008 at 1:44 pm |
“the person that no one knows, but everyone uses.” I like that, but how do you land business afterward? Just word of mouth? If you design something for say, the cheese industry, are you forever stuck in the cheese industry?
Marketing, marketing is weird business.
I hadn’t thought of an NDA to protect my intellectual properties, the idea is growing on me.
April 9, 2008 at 11:31 am |
The concept of a ‘completely silent’ agreement is highly critical in the world of SEO/SEM.
Many markets are new to both site optimization and paid search engine campaigns. I’ve advised all of my clients from telling their peers that they have hired me for one simple reason: It dives the cost of their own campaign up.