Putting the 'NO' in November – why we don’t onboard new clients in November or December . . . and why you shouldn’t either.

If that statement sounds like I’ve turned into an unbearable bossy britches, then let me explain. Put simply, you wouldn’t feed a Mogwai after midnight… would you?

As much as I have trouble saying ‘no’ to calls for help, when those plaintive pleas happen in November and December alarm bells ring.. Managing a digital agency for nearly a decade means I have certainly noticed a pattern with the type of folk who come knocking on our door for our services in November and December.  There are always exceptions to the rule - but there is a very solid collection of negative past experiences that have informed our firm policy to not onboard new clients in this ‘danger zone’.

Here’s some of the top reasons why we’ll be saying NO

1. The timing is shorter than Danny DeVito
   Onboarding a new client to manage their social media takes time, concentration and lots of love. It’s like dating someone new but with the clock ticking, your clothes on fire and Jingle Bells playing on a loop. First you have to organise the logistical bits and bobs like contracts, service deliverables, social passwords, admin rights and connections to name just a few. This is assuming there is no weirdness like rogue Facebook Business Manager ownership by Tegan the intern who left in August. It also takes time to work out your voice, what you like, how you/your business tick and how you want to be represented on social. This process alone can sometimes take up to three months. Which obviously does NOT fit with the ‘let’s make this work’ in the two-months-before-Christmas timeline. Just writing all that makes me feel anxious and tired so please take note and say ‘no thank you very much’.
   
   
2. 7kg babies – or delivering the undeliverable
   There is a very real sense in this current world that bringing in a digital team will ‘solve all your woes’. Fair enough, we are pretty damn awesome, but even Team Amazing can’t perform actual miracles (most of the time). Whether they’re expecting you to manage the overflow from an overworked marketing team, ticking off some looming KPIs or myriad of other businessy things, the simple truth is it’s impossible to deliver everything in this short time frame. Add to the mix management trying to navigate increased days off (Chrissy functions!) and holiday requests within both the incoming business and your own team and you’ll understand that we have to manage expectations with a very firm dose of tough love. No matter how much you try to offer realistic insight into what can and can’t be achieved, I can almost guarantee those warnings will not be remembered in the heat of the moment, and everyone will be left with feelings of being let down with targets (real or imagined) not being hit.
   
   
3. Sell Season makes everybody a little nutso
   Even for our long-standing clients, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Pre-Christmas and Boxing Day sales are seen as the Hail Mary patches not only for most businesses, but especially for e-commerce. Those that have seen lower-than-expected sales for the past 10 months of the year, will see your digital agency as their saviour to finally hit those lofty goals (and deliver bonuses in time for Christmas). Of course, we have been known to work miracles, but this time of year is a highly competitive and noisy sales space. If your digital strategy has been woeful for a while, it’s going to take some work to get you out of the dumpster bin that’s on fire and hurtling to Nowhereville.
   
   
4. Our normal clients want fries, a Fanta and a super sundae too
   Even with our already on-boarded existing client list, things start to get a little… intense. They want extra photo shoots, more ads, supersized content and EDMs all day long because tis the season of golden sales. Not unreasonably, they too want to ride that purchasing wave and want us to help them get there. We’re super sorry, but that means at this time of year we have no more room at the Inn (even if you turn up on a donkey with some myrrh on the side).
   
   
5. Christmas brings out all the emotes
   We get it. The lead-up to Christmas is rarely ‘drama free’ - both in our professional and personal lives. All of us are spread thin, a bit tired and some of us are even ready for a full-blown punch-up on the best of days. Taking that into consideration, we’d prefer not to put the ‘boxing' into Boxing Day.
   
   
6. It’s not all bad news
   Once the tinsel is put back in its box, January brings renewed ideas, refreshed staff and plenty of down-time for a lot of us. Come-a-knocking then, we’d love to hear from you!

Nic.