Agencies must learn when to walk away
Opinion
Saying no or goodbye is hard. But to build a resilient, high-performing agency fit for growth, you have to be courageous enough to enforce a client filter.
We all celebrate winning pitches, landing big projects and working on campaigns that make the headlines.
But bravery in business lies in knowing which clients and projects not to chase and who to say no to. Not every piece of work will end up as a case study or win a Cannes Lion. This does not mean it lacks value. In fact, it can be the exact opposite.
Some of the most impactful work we do as agencies — the pivots, the transformations, the ruthless channel decisions — never gets an accolade or a headline.
But it is the kind of work that really makes a difference. It drives growth, scales businesses and builds momentum.
It’s the campaigns that resonate, not just win awards. The influencer work that, through substance and a bit of style, engages. The content that is not only viewed, read, watched or listened to — it’s shared. It’s work that not only drives conversation but converts into sales or at the very least generates leads.
This work creates measurement metrics and results that not only look great in a deck, they resonate with the board. And it shows in black and white the real value of marketing spend.
And all of this is only possible if the partnership is right.
Right now, when everyone’s watching the pennies, it’s the perfect time to remember that real business bravery is about picking the right clients for the long term.
To build a resilient, high-performing agency fit for sustainable growth, you have to be courageous enough to enforce a client filter. But saying no is hard. As is saying goodbye to clients that no longer fit your life stage or size of business.
Power of saying no
Agencies often talk about the power of saying no. But when it comes to the crunch, they rarely take action.
It goes against the human instinct not to grab hold of every opportunity.
Declining work takes confidence. Especially in an unpredictable new-business environment, where budgets are scrutinised and adspend monitored even more closely.
Some clients or projects might be fun work but lack strategic depth. Others may promise high visibility but come with unrealistic demands. And then there are the clients that, despite offering great budgets, simply aren’t the right fit for long-term collaboration.
Portfolio pieces are nice and have their place, but profitable partnerships build reputation and team morale. If someone comes to you wanting work that doesn’t align with your values or a campaign without proper measurement attached, they’re probably not the right fit.
High-profile doesn’t always mean high-impact for clients — or even high-margin for the agency. I’m sure we’re not alone in learning the hard way that those projects often drain more than they deliver.
We all love an award, but it’s important to be proud of the campaigns and work that doesn’t make the cut. Truly great work will always be commercially valuable.
No dickheads
Sometimes we need to take a moment to ask: are they decent humans? If not, you need to enforce the “no dickheads” rule.
Excuse the language, but it conveys the point. If the “no dickheads” rule is good enough for the All Blacks, then it’s good enough for us.
And I mean that on both sides of the table.
Hire kind, ambitious, intellectually curious people. And we all want to work with clients who match that energy, who treat us like partners. Long-term business health requires evolving relationships — not holding on to clients out of habit or familiarity.
The perfect agency-client relationship should be an equitable value exchange. Clients who care about real outcomes over outputs and who understand that progress often means testing, refining, evolving.
In agency life, the hardest truth is that, sometimes, it’s time to walk away. When a partnership stops being collaborative or no longer aligns with the agency’s direction, moving on is the right call.
The business case for turning down work is simply that not all great work is good work for your agency. Instead, it’s important to engage with like-minded clients.
Crucially, the ability to say no to what doesn’t serve your vision or long-term plan, won’t lead to sustainable success or, quite simply, isn’t worth the time and energy will ultimately lead to a stronger, healthier agency.
Saying no early saves everyone a lot of pain later.
Kim Berkin is managing director at Charlie Oscar