The Ethical Optimist

I had an interesting discussion with a colleague a few days ago.  We were chatting about business and giving each other the 411 on current projects, and I mentioned a crisis that I worked on the week before.

After discussing how we handled it, my friend said, “Well, I hope you charged them a higher rate for your advice.  After all, clients who are in trouble are more willing to pay top dollar for senior level counsel.”

While I understand that this is a common practice in crisis communications, it got me to thinking.  Is my advice any more or less relevant depending on my client’s circumstances? Frankly, I like to think the counsel I give them to successfully manage their day-t0-day operations is just as critical to their long term success as my crisis intervention is to their short-term success.

Moreover, this is a longstanding client…the thought of up-charging them seemed akin to kicking someone when they’re down.  I couldn’t help but think how the CEO would have reacted if in the midst of his dilemma I said, “Oh, by the way, happy to help, but this is gonna cost you big.”

Don’t get me wrong, there are times professionals need to charge higher rates during a crisis. Especially if a client is going to take them away from their core business or other clients for a substantial period of time.  If that’s the case, it needs to be transparent to the client.  In my case, I regularly devote time to this particular client, so it was not an issue.

While this is a business issue, I believe it is also an ethical issue.  Clients pay for the sum total of my experience. The fact that they are in crisis doesn’t make me more or less valuable than at any other time.  I look at my client relationships as long-term partnerships, and the idea of taking advantage of a client’s vulnerability just doesn’t  sit right with me.

My friend and colleague Ken Jacobs recently sent me a link to a terrific blog posting titled “Business Ethics: Oxymoron or Common Sense.” 

It captures the longstanding debate first posed by Milton Friedman when it comes to business ethics.  Friedman basically states that a business’ only focus is to make money for its shareholders, ethics to the contrary be damned. Frankly, I think he was shortsighted and has since been proven wrong.

I hope the author, Madeleine Jarvis, doesn’t mind my sharing it, but she tackles the subject so succinctly that it’s worth the read.

I’ve seen numerous articles and blog postings lately about how clients are demanding more of their vendors (agencies included) thinking they have an ability to beat them up during tough economic times. Why? Because they assume vendors won’t push back for fear of losing the business. But is this ethical? No, it’s not.

Not only is it unethical, it’s short sighted. Look, as agencies, we’re willing to work with out clients through tough times. Fees can be renegotiated, etc., but abuse does not lead to a healthy long-term relationship. And, from my experience, long-term relationships — those that allow an agency to truly understand the many nuances of your business — are the most productive.

So, my advice to all is to be fair. It’s okay to ask for special pricing and reasonable discounts if they are truly needed, but be careful not to get ridiculous in your requests.

To hammer it home, I have a short sent to me by a colleague that has a lot of folks in the agency world buzzing. It’s funny, but also offers food for thought.