54. The building 2: Go out

54

THE BUILDING 2: GO OUT

These days many people work from home. There are substantial organisations with no offi ces at all, so what happens when you meet the clients? You go out.

The idea This is a story told in 1981 at an Advertising Association event for young trainees, by Lord Bell, the advertising man who described himself as “the ampersand between Saatchi & Saatchi”. When his advertising agency fi rst moved into their London offi ces, they had a huge, smart reception area with comfortable chairs for the clients. Everyone else in the whole team was packed into one room behind it.

When clients visited, Tim Bell said that he and the team would arrange to meet at midday and sweep them straight out for lunch, after giving them the impression that they had an equally swish offi ce behind the door that led from the reception area. For a big meeting, the team would generously offer to travel to the clients’ offi ces.

Once the agency could afford to expand they took more space, and started to invite clients into their own building, which, by that time, was as large and luxurious as the clients had always imagined. To avoid the dissonance between their brand values and the facts, Saatchi & Saatchi carefully managed the situation until the two sides refl ected each other perfectly. They pulled it off so well

because in their hearts they knew that was the kind of agency they were really going to be.

In practice • When your building doesn’t yet match your aspirations, hold your meetings somewhere that does. • If you work from home, and you don’t feel comfortable holding meetings there, volunteer to travel to the client’s place, hire a hotel meeting room or a use a company that rents out offi ce facilities. • The occasional lunch treat is cheaper than the rent for a building, so balance out your costs before you decide to move into a more expensive space.