Are the carpets clean?
Every once in a while, I end up talking to a company that seems like they’re doing something interesting. I once had two experiences – one good and one bad. The recent good experience is going to bore you, as the company seemed to be an example of how to do things right. The bad experience comes from a while ago when I was talking with a small agency that was rapidly growing. I won’t even tell you what space they were in, as you’d probably be able to guess who they were. So, we’ll just say that they had a well-known CEO and he did a good job of attracting investment and creating a brand that many people bought into.
The problem begins when your ideas are hard to put into practice. You may have success when companies need to be led by the hand through the maze of a developing marketing channel, but what happens when you actually have to show some results and prove the viability of your ideas? That’s getting into the, “oh crap” phase. I’m not saying they can’t do it, but at this point there’s no guarantee of the outcome. It’s either snake oil, ultimate failure, or ultimate success.
I spoke with these people and had a decent time with them. However, they had a investment partner in the same space whose influence seemed to be overbearing. Flag 1. The office was also a dirty, cramped mess where you’d expect the stereotypical used car dealer to work. It was the worst environment I’d seen in a long time and dirty. Flag 2, especially for a place that was supposed to be creative. In a small place, you expect to meet everyone, especially the CEO. I didn’t meet him and he wasn’t even billed as being part of the process. Perhaps out attracting more business, or maybe not even an integral part of the business…? Flag 3.
I went with my gut and asked them some questions about these things. I asked about the CEO, the office, the investment partner proximity, and I asked them to give me some examples of how they’ve driven sales for clients through their campaigns. Seems fair enough, right?
The very short response I got back was that “by the nature of your requests, the fit may not be best at this stage of development”. They should have said, “at any stage of development”. A company that recoils at normal business and operational questions is probably having the same doubts and concerns itself. I don’t really know how much more nicely or constructively I could have put the questions. It’s my guess that they have promised a lot with all of their new clients and are not sure how to deliver it.
Then there’s the issue of work environment and leadership involvement. Do you actually bring your clients there? I’ve worked with startups before. If you’re going to move from the living room meetings to an office, don’t downgrade. On leadership issues, there has a be a clear leader who is 100% involved with the business and not just a figurehead. I’ve seen them hurt more companies than they’ve helped.
