Staff training has to get better or agencies are going to damage client relationships beyond repair. Stop treating your staffing requirements like you did 10 years ago. The client has grown up. Have you?
The agency believes that its sales people are brilliant. But does the client? At the iMedia Agency Summit, we were reminded of that disconnect. So what is causing that divergent perception? And is it real? Unfortunately, yes, it is real.
Once again, the explosion of our industry and cost cutting has forced agencies to hire the newbies... again. And, once again, due to time constraints, those newbies get relatively little training and are supposed to survive trial-by-fire, thrown in at the deep end to see if they survive.
What's the problem this time?
Clients are no longer the dullards they were the first time this happened, and they're noticing it now more than ever, big time. Something needs to change drastically.
Every agency in our space, and every vendor for that matter, should require a three-week training course on the nuances of our industry -- the terms, the needs of that client, the competitive space. It should start with SEM, banner advertising, rich media, email, microsites, etc., and work its way all the way through ad serving limitations, measurement and research.
Often what these newbies don't know when you send them out to a client meeting is stunning. What's worse is they think they are in complete control. Even worse than that? You don't even know what they don't know when you send them to that client. Fine if they don't know all the aspects of the client's business, the client understands that. But not knowing more than the client about capabilities and options in the online space, especially with the level of competency at most clients, is unforgivable.
First, create an interview test for all potential new hires. Test them on everything from various media to the space in general to business models, etc.
Google gives a test to all potential engineering hires, and many other companies have basic competency barometers before an applicant can even be considered. An electrician has to get certified, but in our industry? Sometimes it feels as if you only have to have a warm, attractive body to qualify for the job. Typically, the in-person interview is about personality, about their fit with the agency or vendor, and it's not about assessing competency -- since the process is only as good as the competency of those interviewing. And often, even if the interviewer is competent, they don't ask the right questions to assess whether the potential hire is able to really do the job well.
The next step would be to construct a training program for all new employees after they're hired. Look, you basically only have to do it once and then just augment it with a follow-up test. In fact, everyone at your agency should take that course and have the test results posted. That will spur learning real quick, I guarantee. And don't cop out and do the test online. Treat it like a lecture series, a classroom. It is the interaction and debate among carbon-based life forms where learning actually happens, and of course the fear of looking foolish in front of their peers will get them to focus.