It’s a question that I’ve tweeted. Because aside from the obvious, Donald Draper is an stand-up ad-man. He is honest with his clients and always puts their needs first.
Now, imagine you have to choose between two clients to sign. Suppose there’s a conflict of interest. Let’s call them Eddy and Jack.
You met Eddy first, through a colleague, and then you met Jack, through another colleague. You pitched them both.
Eddy has a good product that isn’t that sexy, but he is really good people. Jack has a pretty sexy product, and it’s about to get even hotter.
Eddy has deadlines and timeframes. Jack is in less of a rush, and hasn’t settled on timeframes.
Eddy’s date comes and goes, and you don’t hear anything. Oh well… You stay in touch with Jack.
Then, at almost the same time, they both decided they want to sign, and they both even pick the same date and time to do so.
What would you do? What would Donald Draper do?
Sign Eddy, hands down. He sounds like a client that will stick around, rain or shine. And his product sounds dependable. While Jack may be big money for a few months or years…Eddy will probably have longer shelf life as a client.