Quick Takes: Lauren’s Advice for Working With An Agency & More
It’s impossible to partner with CCA and not get to know Lauren Herrington, our Vice President of Client Services.
At the helm of our client services team, Lauren is as outgoing, supportive, and personable as they come. When she’s not meeting virtually or in-person with a client, she’s thinking of them. When she’s not taking ridiculously copious notes or managing her team, she’s… still thinking about our clients. “On time and on budget” is her middle name and she isn’t afraid to say “no,” as you’ll read below.
Get to know Lauren with her Quick Takes:
Your college & major:
SUNY Oswego, Communications (minor in European History)
SUNY Albany, Master’s in Communications
How many years doing what you do:
15
What you love about working in higher ed:
The constant need to think outside the box. You can not set it and forget it in higher ed; you need to adapt to the changes, which are constant. I love how much I’m always learning.
Favorite conference you’ve been to:
The AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in Las Vegas. I presented a session alongside our clients at Siena College, which has been a goal of mine since I attended my first AMA conference in 2005.
Biggest client services misconception:
That we’re “Yes Men”. Some think that client service team members are there to follow the orders, and that’s so far from the truth. In fact, we do a lot of the opposite! Our job is to listen carefully and come back to our clients with solutions that will best meet their goals—that’s the point of having an agency in the first place.
Special client memory:
Oh my gosh, I have SO many! If I had to pick one, I’d have to say being in the art studio at Alfred University when a student was given a pair of EnChroma glasses—special eyeglasses invented by an Alfred alumnus that correct most forms of color-blindness. The student was able to see colors for the first time in her life. I squeezed my client’s hand and let the tears roll. It was amazing.
What makes CCA’s client services team rock it:
We have each other’s backs and jump in whenever help is needed, regardless of whether or not it’s “our” client. I can always count on this team no matter how big or small the need is!
Advice for higher ed marketing teams who are new to working with an agency:
Communicate, communicate, communicate! Agencies don’t know what they don’t know, so make sure you are acting as their eyes and ears and giving them the full picture of what’s happening so you can benefit from their expertise and ideas.
Most memorable professional advice you’ve ever received:
Don’t lose on the small stuff.
Last book you read:
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
How would you describe the CCA team:
We never, ever give up. Not on our clients, not on our work, and not on each other. It is truly remarkable what we have been able to accomplish together—and we have a lot of laughs while we’re doing it, which is such a bonus!
How the CCA team would describe you:
Oh man, I don’t want to know! Probably loud, energetic, passionate, efficient—anything to do with someone who is overly extroverted and also over the top when it comes to taking notes. And I cry at the drop of a hat.
Fun fact about you:
I really wanted to go to school to be a dance choreographer but my parents didn’t think it would be a good career path, so I settled for being on the dance team at Oswego all four years and majored in communications instead.