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The Client is Not Always Right

Share the goods.

The Client is Not Always Right Kim, Alayna, and Maddie converse at a table

As marketers, our goal is to help companies grow their business. That means using our expertise and kickass tactics to get you where you need to be. Sometimes, though, that means saying no. Remember, we’re brought on for a reason, and we won’t let ideas that hinder your business’s growth fly–just because you want them.

Kind, Not Nice

This is a phrase we live by at 8THIRTYFOUR. Being kind means letting someone know they have food in their teeth, rather than letting them walk around with spinach–mouth all day. It might be uncomfortable to bring up, but it’s the kind thing to do. Being nice is skirting around it and letting them wonder why people keep giving them funny looks.

Sometimes, you will bring ideas we know will not benefit your business. Kind is letting you know, offering an explanation, and a solution. We can get so caught up with being nice and trying everything we are asked for that we forget why we were hired in the first place: for expertise, advice, and to improve. If we know something won’t help, it’s our job to say so, even if it means saying no.

Recognizing Our Relationship

You’re the expert in your industry, and we’re experts in ours. As much as we’d like to be, we can’t be total experts in every industry that we market for. You hired us because you can’t do everything and become a marketing wizard on top of it all. Let us do what you pay us to do. We always establish collaborative relationships with our clients so that we can leverage our amazing marketing skills using their expertise. See how that works? Not so hard.

Fresh Perspective

When you’re too close to a situation, you tend to lose sight of the big picture. It’s our job to bring a new perspective in and never take our eyes off it. That unique perspective allows us to sift out opportunities, uncover blind spots, and think beyond what you thought was possible in your industry. When we challenge you, it’s because we genuinely know our idea will work(or that yours won’t).

We Know Our Shit

The marketing landscape constantly evolves and changes quickly. You may not be aware of the latest trends or strategies that could benefit your business. We make it a big part of our job to proactively introduce innovative ideas and challenge outdated practices to stay ahead of the competition.

In an agency environment, it’s essential to question the notion that the client is always right. By fostering a collaborative partnership rather than a customer dynamic and challenging clients, we deliver kickass marketing outcomes that are better than the rest. It’s our responsibility to guide you, not the other way around.

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Recent Musings

Something on Your Mind?

Who made all these rules anyway?

Don’t wear color. Don’t share your ideas. Don’t put yourself out there. Don’t talk about your family.

We’re told to follow them, but @bodespeaks says question every single one. Then uncover your big hairy audacious goal, throw out the rulebook, and build a personal brand that actually works for you.

Thank you to Aggie and Cristy for having Kim on the @badass_women_in_business Podcast and, well... for being total badasses.

Listen to the full episode in bio.
We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”? 

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife
We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.
Showing up to an interview with an iced coffee? Not the move… unless it’s for @bodespeaks

#icedcoffee #agency #PR #trending #grandrapids
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