The Un-Agency
People like to complain.
I get it. I like to complain, too, when I have something to complain about. I can complain about slow internet, the lack of British murder mysteries on BritBox (hint: there’s no lack, I’ve just seen them all), and the price of coffee. It’s a fair complaint; I drink a lot of coffee.
People like to complain to me.
Most people start their litany of complaints about their website. I’ve started keeping track and the most overarching complaint that I hear about their web developer always includes the word, “responsive.” Their developer isn’t responsive enough.
In 2018, I left one of my longer-term clients and joined an agency. I was excited to have a wider range of projects to work on, to have actual colleagues, to know that I was going to be able to continue to learn and grow. I settled in my first week with 18 new (to me) accounts on my desk and a good attitude. I was going to be helpful, build solid relationships, and do solid work. It didn’t turn out that way at all.
After one week, the CEO called me and said, “You’re answering your emails too fast. You have to wait at least two days before answering an email from a customer. Otherwise, we look like we’re not busy.”
I’ll never forget it. Make no mistake, I’m busy. I have a lot to do. But one of the things that keeps me sane in this business is having a set schedule and routine that includes answering emails and phone calls from clients at the beginning and close of each business day, even if I don’t have an answer to their problem yet.
His point was that we needed to look successful, as if we were a commodity that was available to only a select few. And to communicate eagerly was to admit that we had time to get in touch with clients in a reasonable manner.
What the CEO might not have realized is that all of his clients were angry with him all the time. I had 18 new clients who assumed I wasn’t going to help them when they needed it or that I was too busy to listen to their concerns. If they had any recourse available to them, they would have been long gone.
But one of the things about agencies that a lot of people don’t realize is the fact that they keep your site hostage. Once you hire an agency, they control your hosting, your updates, your access to your own digital presence. I’ve come across it time and time again, clients who would like someone to take over updating or redesigning their sites only to find out that all of those functions are somehow locked out.
I didn’t last a year at that agency and, by the time I left, I was sick and barely functioning. I learned a timeless lesson, though. Every single client wants one thing: to be heard. To matter. To know that the people they’re paying to take care of their website are actually doing just that and will call or email when it’s done.
