Beware the dog and pony

The traditional agency pitch drives me nuts.

Many of those agencies (across a variety of genres) are actually quite good at what they do.  Others, unfortunately, show well but fail to deliver the actual goods when push comes to shove.

There’s a huge difference between the pitch and delivery.

Great salespeople can sometimes sell a crappy product, but the company’s reputation is going to catch up with them sooner than later.

Bad job candidates can put on a good show as well.  They can say all the right things, get your team excited, but if you don’t dig deep enough you may find that the facade fades quickly into a bad hire that’s more expensive than a couple months of salary.

Agencies that are great at selling themselves might be good at selling your product or service too.  Or they could just be good at selling themselves.

It’s important to root out the difference in each of these cases.  I don’t want a new employee that’s great at interviewing, I want a new employee that’s really good at the work.  I don’t need an agency that’s great at the dog & pony show up front, I need an agency that knows how to help me make money.

The dog and pony can be fun, it can make you feel good, it can create a great first impression.  Just make sure there’s substance to back that up.

And at the same time, make sure you’re looking for agencies and candidates and others who might not care as much about the show, but will knock your socks off in substance and results.