Being gracious in defeat
I’ve been in the fortunate position a few times of working at an agency that won a client away from another agency. What happens in those cases is the old agency is supposed to turn over the files, etc., to the new agency.
In every case I’ve been involved in, the old agency has dragged their feet and was uncooperative. I don’t get that. To me, it makes much more sense to be cooperative and professional.
There are lots of reasons why a client would switch agencies. They could be dissatisfied with the agency’s work. The marketing manager could be making the agency a scapegoat for her mistakes. A new marketing manager might be bringing in a trusted agency. It could be just time for a change in direction.
Whatever the reason, the “losing” agency acting unprofessionally does no good whatsoever. It confirms the client’s decision and negates any chance of winning the business back in the future or getting a referral. Conversely, being gracious leaves open all kinds of possibilities.
I think this applies to all kinds of business transactions. If you’re not fortunate enough to win the customer’s business, the right attitude is to respect their decision (at least publicly). It’s not the customer’s fault they didn’t see the value you bring, it’s yours. So do what you have to do to make sure they do see it next time.
Then you’ll be on the winning side.
