What’s your problem?

As phases go, it ranks right up there with fuhgeddaboudit, where the meaning is all in the context.

It’s also, after hearing some very smart people talk about what it takes to win client love in a spiraling advertising industry, what I think every agency should be asking their clients. And in the right way. 

They're not.

All of which might go a long way to explain why top tier agency search pros Robin and Steve Boehler told a Zoom full of us that most clients know precious little about agencies. Think about us even less. 

And when circumstances do conspire to force consideration — about 3% of clients at any one time — approach the whole thing with trepidation. 

So, what means right, in this context?  

And, maybe more important, what means wrong?     

Wrong question: What are you selling?
Right question: What are people buying? 

Wrong question: How do we improve the marketing?
Right question: What’s the problem underlying the marketing problem?

Wrong question: How do we make the brand better known?
Right question: How do we make the brand famous? 

Wrong question: What are we trying to say?
Right question: What will people actually hear? 

Wrong question: What are the copy points?
Right question: How do we connect people, spark empathy, drive action? 

Wrong question: Where does the data drive us?
Right question: What leads to a shared emotional experience? 

Wrong question: How do we tell people where we’re coming from?
Right question: How do we make the next chapter clear? 

Wrong question: How do we persuade people to rethink what they’ve already decided?
Right question: How do we inspire people to persuade themselves? 

Wrong question: Does everyone in the room love it?
Right question: What happens when it leaves the room? 

Wrong question: What’s your brand purpose?
Right question: What would the world miss if the brand disappeared? 

Wrong question:  How do we satisfy the CFO?
Right question: How do we get the CEO to see this as career-critical? 

Wrong question: What’s the brand story?
Right question:  How do we turn that story into an engine of growth?  

My prediction about what happens if Adland doesn't start learning to ask the right questions, instead of the wrong? 

Fuhgeddaboudit.