Get yo'self a Lisa.

We had a great client experience yesterday. We love all our clients, of course, but reality is, just like we do things that drive them nuts now and again, they do things that drive us nuts. Sometimes. (No, not you, I mean all those other clients.)

But yesterday with Lisa was pretty fabulous. We’re working on a branding project for a clothing company and we’re doing some phone and in-person interviews with the top marketing people. You know, to get their initial takes on strengths, weaknesses, the competitive arena -- like that. And that's what Lisa is -- one of the top marketing executives.

So it was basically, “let’s talk about the most critical essential truth of [the company]”. Then we just sat back and wrote as furiously as we could, because this woman had it down.

She knew what we were looking for; she was colorful and poetic; she was candid, funny, insightful and, for all intents and purposes, answered our questions before we even asked them. She got it.

In a Previous Life, before I saw the light, I did some time as a newspaper reporter. And the kind of person I always liked interviewing best was somebody like Lisa. Ask a question and get ready to write it down.

People like Lisa make our jobs easier and make the end product so much better. No one-word answers. No having to draw it out of them. No guessing at what they think or what’s important.

So you kids at home thinking about going into the advertising business? Here’s a tip when it comes to finding clients: Get yourself a Lisa.