May 24, 2010Should you argue with your clients?

It’s the Don Draper effect. If you’ve seen Mad Men, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you work in this business, you know you’ve had to adapt. A couple of years ago, clients expected you to show up in jeans and t-shirt and a beard and they expected to tell you what to do. Now they expect you to show up clean-shaven, suited and booted, and ready to tell them how to run their business.

Mad Men is a pretty extraordinary show, not just because of the quality of the acting or the writing, but because it’s caused a seismic shift in the way we do business. People don’t just want some guy in a t-shirt any more — they want a silver tongued marketing genius who’s totally, 100% confident that his ideas are right.

Confidence has always been attractive.

Think about it — how many girls did you get when you were growing up and you were still afraid around women? (Yes, Mad Men has made it cool to be ever so slightly sexist again) Girls like older men because they’re more confident. They know what they like — they’re not afraid to say it. Clients are like girls, to a certain extent. They like to be told what to do. Or at least that’s what Neil Strauss says about the dating game.

And sometimes it pays to argue with your clients because they want reassurance that you truly believe in your ideas — and are willing to fight for them.

But what happens when the relationship starts to break down? Continuing the analogy, it’s okay to have a blazing row with your girlfriend. Arguments can be passionate. Unfortunately, they can also be destructive. Sometimes, you kiss and make up. And sometimes you go too far and years of hard work spent building your relationship are obliterated overnight.

I’ve got more business in the last year by fighting to get my foot in the door than I have in any other way. When a client enquiry appears in my inbox, I take a look at the lead’s marketing, business model and way of working, and I suggest to them how I could help them do things better. When I argue with them, it’s only so I can show them how I can help.

I can get pretty passionate about what I do. I’m a strong INTJ on the Myers Briggs Personality Scale and that means I’m often convinced that I’m right, even when I’m working purely on intuition — because I’m a true believer in what I do. But there’s an invisible line it’s impossible to cross, no matter how right you think you are. After all, “the customer is always right” — they’ll argue with you to a point, but the truth is, they know their business better than you do. They’ve been working on the same projects for years and years and if you’re too combative, you run the risk of chasing your clients away.

Don Draper is an excellent example of how to argue well — he takes risks and he believes passionately in what he does. Take a look at how he talks these clients into becoming “true believers” — by presenting them with a revolutionary idea.

Here’s the Don Draper secret to success:

New ways of thinking are always worth arguing for.

That’s the secret to presenting a case to your clients.

You’re not arguing with them. You’re not arguing against their way of doing business.

You’re arguing for something new – something better.

Ultimately, when you argue your case to a client, when you make a pitch for a new account, you should be arguing that your way of business brings something new to the table. That’s what clients really want. And if your arguments are good enough, you can probably show up to future meetings in jeans and t-shirt as well. After all, style is only substance up to a point. By all means, learn how to argue. But never forget when you’re in front of a client — you’re here to help.