“We have to work in our clients' tools”
Head of Operations · Work management and collaboration
A Head of Operations at an agency whose clients all use different tools has to work in theirs, and doesn't see how another tool helps. It's a real constraint. Start inside the team: ask how much time goes into tracking work across clients' tools, and who does it.
Practise it before the real call
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What the buyer says
Our clients all use different tools. We have to work in theirs, not ours.
How to handle it
Listen
Hear "theirs, not ours". Client tools aren't optional for an agency. The objection is that their own tool would be one more place to update.
Acknowledge
Agree that the agency has to work in clients' tools, and that asking clients to switch isn't realistic.
Explore
Ask how the agency tracks its own workload across clients today: capacity, deadlines, profitability. Ask how much time goes into copying updates between client tools and internal spreadsheets, and who does it.
Respond
Position your product for the agency's own view of its work: capacity, deadlines and margins across clients. Be clear about how it connects to clients' tools, or how little extra updating it asks for.
Say this
“That's a real constraint. You can't ask clients to change their tools.”
Say this
“How do you track your own workload across all your clients today?”
Say this
“How much time goes into copying updates between their tools and yours?”
Variations
- Agency Managing Director: “Every client has their own system. We just live in theirs.”
- Account Director: “My team updates three client tools already. A fourth would be too much.”
Questions people ask
How do you respond when an agency says they have to work in their clients' tools?
Agree that clients won't change. Ask how the agency tracks its own workload across clients and how much time goes into copying updates, then position your product for the agency's own view, with as little extra updating as possible.
How do agencies manage work across many client tools?
Many keep an internal view of capacity, deadlines and margins alongside the client tools they work in, and look for ways to reduce duplicate updating.
More objections in Work management and collaboration
- “We're cutting software spend”
- “Our productivity suite already includes it”
- “We went back to spreadsheets”
- “Every team uses a different tool”
Practise it before the real call
Free to start. No credit card.