A good recommendation should survive a difficult question. “What would make you
By Simon Ellicott · October 29, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
A good recommendation should survive a difficult question.
“What would make you change your mind?”
Ask that in an agency account review and you quickly discover how well the recommendation has been thought through.
Suppose the proposal is to increase advertising investment.
Campaign performance looks encouraging, the client wants growth, there appears to be room to spend more ...
But what is the recommendation relying on?
That additional sales will remain profitable?
That stock will arrive on time?
That the reported sales represent demand the brand would otherwise have missed?
Those assumptions matter. So does knowing when they stop holding.
“We recommend a controlled increase, provided contribution stays above the agreed threshold. We’ll review after two weeks and reduce spend if the additional sales don’t justify the cost.”
That gives the client something to assess.
A reason to act.
A boundary.
A point at which the advice changes.
Compare that with:
“We’ve seen this work before.”
Experience is useful. The client still deserves to understand why it applies here.
For agency leaders, this is a useful standard to develop across the team.
Can someone explain the recommendation without hiding behind a dashboard, a tool or the founder’s authority?
Can they describe the alternative they considered?
Can they acknowledge what remains uncertain?
And can they recognise evidence that their original advice was wrong?
There is no need to turn every routine decision into a dissertation.
The depth of explanation should reflect the money, risk and commitment involved.
But a team that treats reasonable questions as criticism will struggle to build a consultative relationship.
A client challenging your recommendation may have information you are missing.
A colleague questioning the assumptions may prevent an expensive mistake.
Confidence should make that conversation easier.
If your team cannot explain what would change its advice, how will it know when to change course?