Third-party fall-guy: when to fight back, when to jump on the grenade, when to be a silent martyr.

As an agency, a ‘third-party vendor’, we hold a unique position to the companies we support: embedded and engaged enough to have a comprehensive understanding of company policy, mechanics, ethos and culture, but not actually sharing the same halls, cubicles and water-cooler discussions as the bona fide, health-insured, employees. There are advantages to this arrangement, for both sides, just as there are disadvantages. One tricky phenomenon for the external vender to be aware of is that, since we are not actually in the room, it’s easier to be fingered as the source of discrepancy when problems arise. Sometimes, of course (although never for MLC) it’s accurate, but sometimes it’s just an easy, tempting way for someone else to avoid taking the heat. Either way it’s a challenge. How to know when it has happened and how to know how to respond.

I tend to err on the side of martyrdom, especially when I am privy to, and involved with, the discussion. For example, conference call, something is missing, or has been overlooked, I’ll protect my immediate contact (on the client side) by voluntarily accepting the onus, along the lines of: “That might have been in our court. Let me look into it and make sure we get that to you right away.” The reasoning being that usually nobody cares that much about the item in question anyway, accepting responsibility is a positive and memorable trait (certainly INFINITELY preferable to pointing fingers) and you’ve done something to protect your immediate contact, which will endear you to them and, hopefully, make you more valuable to them in the long run.

On the other hand, there may come an instance when you get fed to the lions behind the scenes, when there’s clearly been a big misunderstanding or disconnect, something failed miserably, and your group has become, unfairly, the target of blame. What to do then? Do you marshal your troops, gather your exculpatory email trail, and demand to be heard before the highest court? Or do you go to your immediate contact and try to fix it from the bottom up? Or do you step back, lick your wounds, and wait for the storm clouds to pass?

I do not have a good answer for this. Do you? Please share your anecdotes and war-stories below.

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