‘No profession is easy, and you have to learn at every stage of your career with the help of other people on your team and a mentor if possible. It can’t be an easy run, and this has been reiterated by many career people, mostly celebrated today for their successes’
THIS lanky handsome dark in complexion guy with an accent-laced voice joined Ogilvy as a Youth Corp and went on to be one great guy. Oh, how I love to tease him! His name is Abdulahi Bello.
Most of the client service team who works closely with me knew I could easily switch between being the soft-hearted understanding Teju, to being the I am not having a slacky on my team, Teju. Just like everyone in the agency knew that when I call your full name, there is something amiss.
I used to do that a lot with Abdul. Firstly, I love the combination of his names. They were two Muslim Hausa-like names for an Edo boy. Those names are very light on the lips. Let me not go off track.
So, when I say Abdulahi with his surname instead of Abdul, he responds with ‘Yes Teju’ in a frustrating and ‘what is it now’ tone that makes me smile in my mind, not on my lips. I always kept my face straight. No, I wasn’t all out to frustrate him, and neither was I picking on him, but I always wanted to be sure if this soft-spoken, tenderhearted dude who was coming from a science-based educational background can withstand the stress of the agency. He insisted on serving at the agency and keeping a career in Marcoms against his dad’s wish. You know the ‘I did that course because that was what my dad wanted but this is what I love’ kind of guy. Yes, that was Abdul.
So, every time I saw a mail from his client, I feel for him, and I wasn’t going to let him know that. He needed to get beyond the breaking point and own his seat at the table.
As a Youth Corp, he was given the CSR account of a major brand the agency was managing. It was supposed to be an easy one for him because there wasn’t much budget in that section and they just had a few projects per year, only that he soon came to realize that there was a snitch Kenyan lady on the team who denies every conversation or approval that came from her ones her superior complaints, and she never kept her superior and team up to date on the brief to the agency and deadlines agreed to. The worst is, that she doesn’t respond to her mail or send her brief to the agency until someone on her end is screaming.
At first, Abdul thought it was absurd for anyone to do this to a fellow human being. As in, he was learning to understand work politics. He didn’t have any issues with other members of the CSR team and they were always celebrating and praising him for a well-done job.
When the mail drops from this client, Abdul knew the next was a call from me, and it wasn’t something he always looked forward to. I wouldn’t blame him though.
The only time the lady remembers copying her team or superior in the mail was when she wants to put us in trouble. Through the months Abdul was able to learn how to deal with this type of person. He knew I wasn’t having any excuses about what the client did or didn’t do, say or didn’t say, my focus is what did you do or didn’t do as the client service person. Did you tick the box in managing this type of client?
The important things he learnt in this situation were
- never forget to send a minute of the meeting which must include the agreed task and deadlines to your client maximum 24hrs after the meeting.
- Include at the end of the mail that ‘Kindly review and let me know if I missed anything or there is something you don’t agree to, otherwise I will take your silence as a consent to what we have here and go ahead with execution’ This used for people who deny agreeing to or approving anything.
- Ensure s/he acknowledges receipt of the mail.
- Follow up with a call to tell him or her about the mail if you don’t get a response.
- Follow up with another reminder for an acknowledgment mail
- If you don’t get a response after the second mail and two calls, send the last reminder, and copy his/her superior and teammates.
Most of the time people who avoid taking responsibility for what they asked the agency to do usually don’t copy their superior or team in the mail. If you smell a rat, add the others in the mail.
At the start of his career at the agency, Abdul was frustrated with dealing with this client and trying to manage the creative end to meet up with his never-ending deadlines, and I and Fiona didn’t make it too easy for him as well. We saw a great potential and drilled him as much as we could. He was a fast learner who became a star on this account, he was retained at the agency and went ahead to manage other brands successfully.
He has now moved on to the client service/marketing team of a tech company.
No profession is easy, and you have to learn at every stage of your career with the help of other people on your team and a mentor if possible. It can’t be an easy run, and this has been reiterated by many career people, mostly celebrated today for their successes.
*Olateju Ogunyomi is a Marcoms professional and behavioral analyst. She left Ogilvy Nigeria in 2020 to start her own agency. She is an APCON member and was a member of the AAAN women in Advertising committee, and the AAAN Event committee. She is currently the CEO of Aspora Nigeria Limited, a Digital Marketing, Strategy, and Consultancy agency.
