Oct 12, 2026 · 33 min · 14 segments
***Summary:*** Most agencies sell the prospect to their best people, then hand the account to someone far less experienced. Matt Slaymaker saw that bait and switch firsthand and decided to build his…
Matt SlaymakerGuest
Sean LangHost
Man, so much to unpack there, and I feel like you, uh, you read the first three or four questions out of my brain that I was going to ask you as follow-up, so kudos to just such a, [laughs] a detailed intro.
So first off, I've obviously, you know, heard from a lot of, um, both agencies, but more importantly brands about, about the bait and switch, but I've never actually heard of it being so, like, intentional before.
That must have felt, that must have felt really icky for you to be, like, a part of that.
Yeah, it just, it just feels very, uh, dishonest, and I, I get why they do it, because they want that business, and they aren't going to lead with the talent that they feel like isn't going to, uh, sell the, the, the agency as well as it possibly could.
And to them, they'll make that argument of, oh, well, this person will be involved in the account in some way, and sometimes that is the case.
But the level of involvement, uh, very quickly shifts when another bigger brand comes in-
... and now they want that talent focusing on that next new shiny object and one that they see greater potential on.
Uh, and yeah, I was, I was just very shocked to see, uh, some of the teams that would be assembled on some of these accounts where I'd a- be asking, "Hey man, you know, great to meet you.
How long you been doing marketing?" He's like, "Oh, I just graduated college.
I've, this is, like, my second month." [laughs] I'm like, "Oh my gosh, and you're handling an account that's spending, like, 500,000 a month," you know? And obviously they're gonna make those common mistakes that e- they're bound to make, and it's not their fault.
They should have never been assigned that much responsibility, and they've never done this before, right? So, um, i- and from the perspective of the agency, they're trying to bring on talent that's a little bit cheaper.
Um, but to your point, it, it feels icky, and, and it's not a sustainable business model really, because those cl- agent, those, uh, brands that come in aren't gonna stick with you for the long term.
but that brings me actually to the other thing that is also icky about that, is that these agencies will lock those brands into contracts, right? So a contract, they'll sign on, sell them with all the best talent, and now you're stuck with them for a year.
And even if you don't really like the talent that's associated with your account, it's like, well, we've got another nine months, 10 months to, uh, keep this brand around, and then we'll just focus on getting the next client that comes through-
... rather than actually investing in that relationship and trying to keep them around for years, right? Um, so that, that was the other piece, and a sign that we also do as well is, like, no contracts.
Man, so much to unpack there, and I feel like you, uh, you read the first three or four questions out of my brain that I was going to ask you as follow-up, so kudos to just such a, [laughs] a detailed intro.
So first off, I've obviously, you know, heard from a lot of, um, both agencies, but more importantly brands about, about the bait and switch, but I've never actually heard of it being so, like, intentional before.
That must have felt, that must have felt really icky for you to be, like, a part of that.
Yeah, it just, it just feels very, uh, dishonest, and I, I get why they do it, because they want that business, and they aren't going to lead with the talent that they feel like isn't going to, uh, sell the, the, the agency as well as it possibly could.
And to them, they'll make that argument of, oh, well, this person will be involved in the account in some way, and sometimes that is the case.
But the level of involvement, uh, very quickly shifts when another bigger brand comes in-
... and now they want that talent focusing on that next new shiny object and one that they see greater potential on.
Uh, and yeah, I was, I was just very shocked to see, uh, some of the teams that would be assembled on some of these accounts where I'd a- be asking, "Hey man, you know, great to meet you.
How long you been doing marketing?" He's like, "Oh, I just graduated college.
I've, this is, like, my second month." [laughs] I'm like, "Oh my gosh, and you're handling an account that's spending, like, 500,000 a month," you know? And obviously they're gonna make those common mistakes that e- they're bound to make, and it's not their fault.
They should have never been assigned that much responsibility, and they've never done this before, right? So, um, i- and from the perspective of the agency, they're trying to bring on talent that's a little bit cheaper.
Um, but to your point, it, it feels icky, and, and it's not a sustainable business model really, because those cl- agent, those, uh, brands that come in aren't gonna stick with you for the long term.
but that brings me actually to the other thing that is also icky about that, is that these agencies will lock those brands into contracts, right? So a contract, they'll sign on, sell them with all the best talent, and now you're stuck with them for a year.
And even if you don't really like the talent that's associated with your account, it's like, well, we've got another nine months, 10 months to, uh, keep this brand around, and then we'll just focus on getting the next client that comes through-
... rather than actually investing in that relationship and trying to keep them around for years, right? Um, so that, that was the other piece, and a sign that we also do as well is, like, no contracts.
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