I ended a discovery call after about ten minutes. It was our fourth call with th
By Immichaelmaher · November 4, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
I ended a discovery call after about ten minutes.
It was our fourth call with this brand. Why I agreed to a fourth, I honestly don't know.
I asked why they wanted to leave their current agency.
The CEO cut me off. "Why are we talking about this? You should be pitching me."
Then someone else on the call started to explain to me how to grow a brand on Amazon.
So I said, "Sounds like you already know what to do with Amazon. Why are we having this call?"
Call over. 😂
I won't pitch anyone until I know what's broken. Anything I suggest from the outside looking in is just a guess.
A lot of brands come to us with what I call agency burn. Their last agency made big promises, took their money, and didn't deliver.
When I hear that, here's what I do:
1. Say, "Man, I'm so sorry. Tell me more about that."
2. Stop talking and listen.
3. Say their problem back to them, in their words.
4. Once they agree, say, "All right, let's do a deep dive on what's happening in your account and run an audit."
5. Then pitch them on what we're going to do and explain the plan.
People buy from the person who understands their problem better than they do and can say it clearly. You can't do that if you skip straight to the pitch.
Greg Potts and I talked about this on The Longer Game. Link in comments.