Wednesday, August 24, 2011

How Many Twitter Followers Does Your Chief Creative Officer Have?

As a business development leader at a top 10 global agency, I have filled out thousands (literally) of RFIs and RFPs.  When you consider that the average RFI/RFP has -- at a minimum -- 30 questions, then I have probably answered more than 30,000 questions.  What's amazing, though, is the fact that not one single client has ever asked me -- How many twitter followers does your Chief Creative Officer have?  Or - What's your CEO's Foursquare score?  How much Klout does your Digital strategist have?  How many facebook friends does your agency have?

Why aren't clients asking these questions?

If I was a procurement officer, or a CMO, I would want to know the answers to these questions before I even entertained entrusting my hard-earned brand to a potential marketing partner.  How can an agency offer counsel on emerging and social media, if they aren't actively participating in its narrative?  When agencies fake it (and, ghasp -- they do), they can cause serious damage to the reputations of the brands they serve - and the people behind them within the client organization.  

Falsities and truths mingle in the land of RFI/RFP writing.  But numbers don't lie.  Next time you search for any agency -forget about their D&B score.  It's their Klout that you are really interested in!

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