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Why Did My Marketing Agency Pass Me to Junior Staff? The Hot Potato Problem Explained

ByDan Olson

A long while back, I waited 30 minutes at a coffee shop for some tea (I’m not a coffee drinker). The place was slammed because the corporate office rolled out a new breakfast sandwich initiative without properly training or scheduling their staff. The employees weren’t rude, but definitely overwhelmed. For instance, the person at the register refused to admit their answer for the question of the day was wrong, I’m assuming because they needed to control something that day. 

Bad customer service is everywhere, or in this case I’d call it a bad customer experience. But let’s talk about what happens when you’re a B2B business paying tens of thousands of dollars to a marketing agency, and you get the “Hot Potato Treatment”.

The “Corny” Customer Service Problem

At one of my previous jobs, I was on the leadership team implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) on our own. It was a fantastic learning experience. Part of the process is defining your core values. While poring over what made the company special, we kept circling back to “customer service”. Now, conventional wisdom says to avoid generic core values. You’re told to pick something distinctive or something that differentiates you. Customer service isn’t really one of those things…at least you’d think it isn’t.

But our founder was adamant. Customer service was part of our DNA; this was a non-negotiable.

Some people on the team thought it was hokey (I was one of them). Every company claims they have great customer service. It’s right up there with “we’re passionate about excellence” and other meaningless corporate speak. Except it wasn’t meaningless there.

When Customer Service is Actually Real

The customer service at this job was not like anything I’d ever seen in all my years of business. The amount of “doing the right thing” that went on was unreal. People stayed late to get orders out. Shipping items overnight was commonplace. In fact, there were several times when someone would personally drive an item to the airport to get it on a plane. 

That founder wasn’t putting inspirational quotes on the wall. He set the standard, and everyone else followed suit.

It struck a chord with me in my then young career because I’d worked a number of jobs since I was 14 years old and had never seen that level of commitment to making things right for customers. Not even close.

The Flip Side: Being the Client

Fast forward to when I was the decision maker at a company managing our agency relationships. Unfortunately, I’ve had agencies pull the rug out from under my feet more times than I can count. I’ve had scopes changed and sob-stories told. Unfortunately, that didn’t help me when I was held accountable for someone else’s poor timing or estimating.

The worst customer service experience I ever had was with a custom ERP implementation. The agency oversold and under-scoped it. And when they were over-budget we could either pay more OR get a junior talent on the project. 

Hence, the hot potato treatment.

We kept getting passed around to different developers. We’d get someone new every month, so they could try to salvage some profit margin instead of having someone who actually knew what they were doing get the job done efficiently (and likely quicker).

On top of that, their project manager was downright terrible when we pushed them to explain what work had actually been completed. It’s nearly impossible to track when you’re constantly being handed off. 

Here’s a tip to anyone reading this. Transparency matters.

I didn’t need perfection, miracles, and definitely not sob stories. I needed someone to tell me the truth. If something isn’t going to be done, just tell me when it IS going to be done so I can tell my boss. Don’t hide behind junior staff, and don’t make me chase you down for answers.

Why Agencies Play Hot Potato with Clients

There are three reasons agencies do this with clients (there might be more, but let’s stick with these three):

1. Money. A salesperson sold the project based on promises from senior staff, only to realize they couldn’t make money delivering at that level. So, they hand you off to the most junior person they can, hoping you won’t notice or complain.

2. Lack of Expertise. They don’t have the talent on the team to actually do the work that you need done in your timeframe. It’s really just overpromising the project and dovetails with the first reason, because senior staff time is expensive. 

3. No Accountability. When five different people touch your account in six months, nobody owns the outcome. There’s always someone else to blame. A lack of a project manager typically spells disaster.

What Customer Service Actually Looks Like at SANscript

Our founder, Susan, worked long nights to get projects done for her largest client, 3M, years and years ago. When a project needs to be delivered, we’ll do our best to get it done.

I know that sounds like an overpromise. I’ve been told my entire career to “underpromise and overdeliver.” It’s in our nature to overdeliver at SANscript. And that’s not a part of my sales pitch; it is just because the work demands it.

The work just needs to get done. It’s 11:30 PM on a Sunday as I write this post, juggling all our other work (including family life).

We handle emergencies. If someone’s website breaks before a big event where they need to register attendees? We go in and make changes. 

We go outside our scope when needed and within reason. I’ve done things that a typical agency wouldn’t to ensure the client got what they needed. And if I can’t do it myself, I have a whole network of people who can.

We actually overdeliver on tangible things:

  • Deep dive training sessions that go beyond “here’s how to log in”
  • Creating manuals when clients need documentation
  • Recording video tutorials so teams can reference later
  • Sending thank you cards post-project (small thing, but it matters)

The Real Definition of Good Service

Customer service isn’t corny. What’s corny is claiming you have it when you don’t.

Marketing agencies with good customer service will follow this recipe (or at least these main ingredients)

They are transparent. They tell you what’s realistic, what’s going sideways, and when things will actually be done.

They own their projects. You work with the people who sold you the work. No hot potato handoffs to junior staff trying to learn on your dime when you’re in crunch time.

They believe in the Golden Rule. I know I’ve been a frustrated buyer dealing with agency BS. I remember what that felt like. We don’t do that to our clients.

Is it sustainable? I don’t know. It’s 11:30 PM, remember?

But it’s right. And from day one, SANscript has been about getting things right for the client.

So yeah, customer service might sound corny as a core value. But when you’ve been passed around like a hot potato by agencies optimizing for profit instead of your success, you start to appreciate the companies that actually mean it.

 If you’re currently stuck with an agency that’s not being straight with you, let’s talk about what actual transparency looks like.

Let’s Talk!

The primary driver is typically profit optimization. Agencies sell projects based on senior-level expertise, then realize they can’t maintain profit margins delivering at that level.

By handing clients to junior staff, they reduce labor costs while keeping the same retainer or project fee. It’s a deliberate choice to prioritize their bottom line over your results.

Red flags include: frequent changes in who you’re working with, inability to get straight answers about project status, junior staff who seem to be learning on your time, difficulty reaching the people who sold you the project, and vague explanations when you ask about completed work.

If you feel like you’re being passed around and no one owns your outcomes, you probably are.

Ask who will actually be doing the work and not just managing it. Get specific names and titles. Ask about their process for client handoffs and whether the team selling the project will be the team executing it. Request transparency about how they handle projects that go over budget or off-timeline.

That said, there are times where other staff members may work on your project. However, you should have consistency and the ability to have questions answered professionally.

Good service means transparency. Agencies should tell you what’s realistic, what’s going sideways, and when things will actually be done without making excuses. You should interface with decision makers within the agency. When emergencies happen (broken website before an event, urgent content needs), the agency should treat your business like it matters, not like you’re interrupting their schedule.

Transparent agencies will explain delays honestly instead of hiding behind jargon. They will tell you when something isn’t working before you have to ask. They will provide clear documentation of what’s been completed and what’s in progress. And critically, they admit when they’ve made a mistake or under-scoped something, then tell you how they’ll fix it and not present it as your problem to solve.

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