Below the Line

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Carl Smith, nGen Works

For the last in this Friday series of agency/client relationships, I've interviewed Carl Smith, owner of nGen Works in Florida. nGen has created a guide for clients to explain how they work. What a great idea!

Q1 Name: Carl Smith

Q2 Location: Florida

Q3 Website: nGen Works

Q4 Bio:

Carl Smith is a founding member of nGen Works, a design and interface development team that has been building some of the world’s finest hand-crafted websites since 2003. Carl has made a name for himself in the web world by always defending the needs and wants of the end user. He has led teams that have been awarded the New York Art Directors Award For Interactive Development, The Hospitality Industry's Best of Show Award, two National C.A.S.E. awards for Educational Web Development and has also been featured in Kelly Goto's best-selling book Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works. Carl spends most of his free time complaining about sites that say “click here,” chasing his daughters, and praying they never make Spiderman 4.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Agency

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Complete openness and honesty when the relationship begins. The good, bad and ugly. Like any relationship what you tell someone from the beginning is what they expect from you. That's why it's critical to explain everything about your process and procedures. We actually created a guide for clients so there would be no questions about how we work. It's been brilliant. Also, when things get tense, keep it light and let the client know you are in control of the situation.

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

Collaborate at every opportunity and realize that while the client may not understand things you do, they know things you don't. Make no assumptions and over communicate. Most importantly communicate in the client's language. Ultimately if clients think you are driving the process and things are progressing they will feel comfortable and things will be smooth.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

Absolutely. Ultimately we decided to have a meeting with the client and list all of the issues we saw. A big one was lack of trust. We basically spelled it out that if we couldn't trust each other we couldn't create great work. We offered to package up the work and help transition it to a new team if they thought it was in the best interest of the project. After a few tough hours of reliving some of the moments that led to the distrust we started laughing and realizing there was a series of misunderstandings that had built up to a point that both sides avoided communicating.

Q9 What do you wish clients understood about agencies?

That the agency is as concerned with creating great effective communication as they are. Money is important to the agency, but the opportunity to create great work is generally what led most of us to the profession.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

By continuing to communicate clearly and explain the rationale behind the choices being presented. If the client understands why decisions are being made they can explain it to their stakeholders. That type of empowerment creates a strong bond between the client and agency.

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

By understanding their business and communicating it clearly to the agency. If the agency understands the audience they are trying to reach and the triggers to their behaviors then they can make good decisions the first time and save hours and money.

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

With interactive agencies there is a big push for more and more transparency. We are very open with how we run our business and when we make mistakes. We're also very up front when we think a client request is going to work against the goals of the project. I think it lets everyone we work with understand we're human and it shows we care about the end result.

Q13 Which past agency or client was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

Now you're going to get me in trouble. I would say the best past client was actually an agency. We partnered with GSD&M in Austin, Texas on a project for Students of the World called "See Change". We had similar processes and an appreciation for each others approach. Because of the mutual respect, we accomplished more in a shorter time period than any other project I've ever been associated with.

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Lee Roberson, CKR Interactive

With tools like Skype, web cams, web conferencing, IM and e-mail, how important are face-to-face client meetings? Lee Roberson thinks nothing can replace an in-person meeting. Due you agree? Read my agency/client relationship interview with Lee and let me know your thoughts.

Q1 Name:Lee Roberson

Q2 Location: Headquarters are in Cupertino, CA with several other offices. 

Q3 Website: CKR Interactive

Q4 Bio

Lee Roberson is the Co-founder and Vice President of CKR Interactive since 2001. Lee has over 15 years' sales, marketing and business development experience in Silicon Valley. Immediately prior to CKR Interactive, he was Director of Sales and Business Development with CareerWorkStation. Lee has a BS in Business Administration/Marketing from California State University, Sacramento.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Agency side

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Several things come to mind: mutual trust, treating the agency as a partner and a virtual extension of the recruiting department, including the agency on all recruitment media discussions and negotiations; and then on the agency side, there is honesty and ethics, providing excellent customer service, being a consultative organization to the client, thinking strategically, having outstanding creative abilities, the list can go on and on. 

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

There are so many, but to boil it down to just one thing that agencies can do to build and maintain a good relationship, I would say visit your client on a regular basis. Phone calls, emails and web presentations are not enough. Regularly scheduled, in person meetings will cement a good working relationship with the client, as well as uncover ongoing recruiting needs and challenges where we can respond.  

If I can cheat and add a second tip, I would say to push for an annual strategic review of the account, which will lead to a thorough recruitment marketing plan. A strategic plan is essential for the agency to be proactive and not reactive, and to enable the most efficient use of the recruiting budget.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

There was a situation with a large client who had worked with us for a few years then had a new person come in to the decision maker role. That individual decided to make a switch and work with another agency, really just for the sake of change. I truly believe we had been doing an excellent job with this client. After working with the other agency for only two or three months, everyone in the client’s large recruiting team missed working with us and the level of service we provided. So things worked out well in the end, as we got this client back and they now have a better understanding of the quality of work we provide.  

Q9 Agency-side: What do you wish clients understood about agencies?

I would like clients to understand the amount of time involved in what we do. A client may see one concept mounted on a board and presented to them, but behind that one concept there are two to three weeks of work, involving competitive research, brainstorming, demographic research, doing research on the client and their website, refining ideas, copywriting, and so forth. Also, we provide a great deal of value added services for which we do not charge our clients; I think they are not always aware of that. Media research, reviewing best practices, attending industry conferences, analyzing recruiting opportunities and new technologies, providing layoff information, these are just a handful of examples of areas of expertise we provide to our clients.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

A good agency adds tremendous value in many areas. We eat, drink and breathe recruitment advertising and employment communications, so we can be an outstanding consultative partner for our clients. We can help an organization with all aspects of internal or external employment communications – creative development, technology, strategy, metrics, you name it. If anything, I feel clients sometimes under-utilize us, as we have expertise in so many areas that they may overlook working with us on a given project.  

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

In addition to the points I’ve mentioned previously, I would say let us know what works and what doesn’t. Providing good information to the agency will allow them to refine the tactics used to achieve the client’s goals. 

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

More clients are utilizing, or at least exploring, a retainer based financial model.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Lisa Cooper, Elisa Tucci Contemporary Art Gallery

Lisa Cooper is the next interviewee for the Friday series on agency/client relationships. She thinks agencies and clients are still looking for an integrated marketing model which works. Have you found one? 

Q1 Name

Lisa Cooper

Q2 Location

New York

Q3 Website
 
LinkedIn

Q4 Bio

Lisa has spent the last 20 years growing, evolving and innovating in the areas of online, direct and integrated marketing for some of the world’s leading consumer brands, including Mercedes-Benz, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, MCI and Rite Aid.

In her management roles, Lisa has leveraged all communications and media channels, from PR to Relationship Marketing to interactive and new media, to create innovative and award-winning campaigns that have generated greater awareness, interest and sales.  

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

I have worked on both the Agency and Client side.

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Understanding each other's needs and bringing forth the best, most creative, strategically sound ideas to meet those needs. As a Client, you want to make sure the Agency makes you look good with great creative and strategic ideas. And especially, in today's world, you want to make sure that you're able to be accountable and see tangible results for the work. 

I also believe a great Agency relationship gives the Client ideas beyond just what they asked for. I think it's also important for an agency to take a client beyond the "comfort" zone - creatively and strategically.

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

Like any relationship, listening, responding and slowly step by step, building trust. There must be mutual trust and respect to make the relationship work at its highest level.

Q8 How can agencies add value for clients?

By continuing to stay attuned to new trends, insights and technologies and ensuring that these are brought forth on an ongoing basis to the Client. I think it's critical for the Agency to keep educating the Client.

Q9 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

- By making sure they have strong, well-thought out input briefs at the beginning of any project.
- By listening to creative ideas and concepts that push the envelope.
- By thanking and acknowledging the Agency team for a project well-done.

Q10 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

I believe both sides are still looking for an integrated marketing model which works. I think it is still challenging for traditional advertising (TV) to let digital or direct agencies take the creative lead. The bottom line is often impacted so it's challenging when multiple agencies are asked to work together in an integrated fashion.

Q11 Which past agency or client was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

I've experienced great Agency relationships with both Critical Mass (interactive) and Rapp Collins Worldwide (direct).

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with George Bounacos, Silver Beacon Marketing

The Friday interview series continues with George Bounacos from Silver Beacon Marketing who says that "few understand the intersection of art and science and why agency fees run at the level they do"...

Q1 Name

George Bounacos

Q2 Location

Chantilly, Virginia

Q3 Website

Silver Beacon Marketing

Q4 Bio

Online professional since the mid 1980s, specializing in startups and small businesses. Past successes include early stage exec at Carfax.com, lead generation services and Silver Beacon Marketing.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Both.

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

There must be trust and a compensation structure that equally involves both parties in risk and reward.

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

The small business segment in which we specialize requires considerable relationship building which eventually builds trust to the necessary level for both to succeed. This isn't a tactic, but must be a way of life for your agency. We've found that hunters for new business and farmers for successful retention are absolute musts.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

While running a lead gen business, a client called to cancel because their site and campaigns had been neglected over time. The client quickly made multiple legal and financial threats, and the relationship was teetering on the brink of costing us both too much money. After almost daily calls and hours of working together, I took personal charge of the account and changed their business within two months. They eventually grew too big -- and asked us to slow down because they decided they had grown just big enough. The sweetest part was when they offered a written testimonial for our site and trade show booth as well as offering to be a referral to others in the same market or category.

Q9 What do you wish clients understood about agencies? What do you wish agencies understood about clients?

From the agency side, knowing that clients understood that the best agencies don't throw campaigns against the wall in the hopes something will stick would be wonderful. Any time any agency starts talking about creative, everyone else in the room becomes an expert, but few understand the intersection of art and science and why agency fees run at the level they do.

As for agencies, we are always conscious of our client's cash flow. Working with small businesses, we make a commitment to fund future growth from our efforts in generating profit, not clicks or calls or even revenue. But every client we work with has at least one story about an agency that burned them financially and almost took the business down. Agencies must understand that we are on the brink of being hailed as heroes or vilified as the sleaziest businesspeople ever -- and the choice is ours based on our actions.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

Most clients in our small business space are great at doing one thing: offering a product or service. By helping them understand concepts like product development, segmentation and sometimes even finance, we can help them bridge the gap of living month-to-month to signing long-term retainers.

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

Clients should be up-front with their expectations for agencies and then insist upon written metrics that are configured to the client's specifications and deal with profit. For either business, everything but profit is secondary.

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

As search engines become more ubiquitous in every facet of a client's typical workday, the familiarity seems to lead clients to believe they understand more about the search world than they really do. The proliferation of free tools coupled with that knowledge is a very dangerous thing. More clients are also asking about metrics that are defined by the free tools or analytics packages, rather than the metrics that change their business.

Q13 Which past agency or client was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

StopPoliticalCalls.org was generating an amazing amount of media attention during the 2008 presidential primaries, but their potentials sometimes got lost when finding the site. We helped brand the site (developing the domain name) and ran geo-targeted campaigns throughout key primary states as robocalls invaded consumer homes. Working with the organization was great because they were active in social media and knew traditional marketing, but also laid out a budget and told us to jump into PPC. To work in such a dynamic environment where one candidate suddenly changes and targets a new city and getting that intelligence from the client was a fun challenge to solve. And since the client understood marketing, but wanted to focus on other efforts, we were able to quickly communicate results without having to educate or explain. That made both organizations more nimble and effective.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Ondina Chiru, Vodafone Romania

This week, I've interviewed Ondina Chiru of Vodafone Romania for the Friday series on agency/client relationships. She thinks that it's the agency's responsibility to keep a good agency/client relationship. Do you agree?

Q1 Name

Ondina Chiru

Q2 Location

Bucharest, Romania

Q3 Website

LinkedIn

Q4 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

 Client side

Q5 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

A pitch proposal makes a good start – the agency simply falls in love with their client. The beginnings of the relationship are marked by love and hate – excellent creativity, tight deadlines, the inevitable spelling mistake that had to be solved while printing... then slowly accommodating with each other, the relationship evolves into a dangerously "agreement phase". The client understands that constant work under pressure cannot guarantee the best creativity, the agency starts to measure proposals in ROI and other indicators... to keep a good relationship it's mostly on the agency side - and I'm saying it from a client position  – there will always be deadlines, and budgets, and sales objectives, and indicators... The agency needs to find the right balance between creativity and fresh ideas, and the requirements of the other party. On client's side, all that it needs is a common sense, open minded and decision ready marketeer.

Q6 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

 If you're the client - don't conclude long term contracts - the shorter the contract the higher the creative input; if you're the agency - there is always a way to make your proposals happen.

Q7 What do you wish agencies understood about clients?

The agency is commonly exposed only to the bright side of the company - people who understand their thinking and can talk the common language. They should start learning the other languages a company uses - in order to build the best alliances with their counterparts at the client, to sell their proposals.

Q8 How can agencies add value for clients?

A good agency is a source of wealth for the client. They can keep you informed on what the competition does, on where the market goes, what are the trends on different other markets and if they have access to information, they can be of real help in seeing things from a different perspective, sometimes, a client perspective even.

Q9 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

Involve them - let them think, ask them to think for you, when they got it wrong let them go back and re-think, when they got it right - ask them to re-think again. and when you, the client, have "the big idea", still ask them to think of their own.

Q10 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

The most recent trend, since the beginning of 2009, is that an agency is supposed "to please" the client. I personally, would prefer an agency that is annoyingly challenging ideas so that the best outcome may result.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Sean Cheyney, AccuQuote

I'm continuing my Friday series on agency/client relationships with an interview with Sean Cheyney from AccuQuote. One tip that he mentions is that clients should share their data with their agency. This can really help your agency adapt their thinking, present new ideas and ultimately get better results for the client.

Q1 Name

Sean Cheyney

Q2 Location

Wheeling, Illinois

Q3 Website

www.accuquote.com

Q4 Bio

Sean Cheyney is the vice president of marketing and business development for AccuQuote. He is responsible for spearheading the overall growth and direction of the company's marketing initiatives, brand strategy, strategic partnerships, and customer acquisition through both online and offline advertising.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Client side

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

A good client / agency relationship starts from an alignment of philosophies. It’s important from the beginning that everyone involved is speaking the same language and focused on the same objectives. 

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

-    Set expectations from the beginning
-    Be open and honest in all communications
-    Share data with your agency. If they don’t take the data and help you optimize, then you have a problem.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

We had an SEO/SEM agency several years ago that couldn’t figure out a way to speak our language. We are always focused on closely managed ROI goals, but the agency wanted to focus on the brand building aspects of SEM. They couldn’t understand why we were upset when large budget allocations were being spent on keywords that performed poorly. They felt that the reach into the target audience made the keyword spend a great strategic move, which was completely out of line from our business objectives. Ultimately, we found another SEO/SEM agency that spoke our language and consistently manages toward our goals. 

Q9 What do you wish agencies understood about clients?

Agencies need to understand that clients have objectives that don’t always translate into making the most amount of money for their agencies. 

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

The biggest value agencies can offer is to listen to their clients and to be proactive with opportunities for helping their clients reach their goals.  

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

As a client, you need to clearly communicate your goals, campaign objectives, business philosophies, and your team culture. In addition, frequent communication is necessary to transform your agency into a true extension of your team.

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

I’ve been noticing a trend of agencies trying to be everything for everyone. The end result is that the agencies end up losing focus on their core, which ultimately suffers. 

Q13 Which past agency was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

Underscore Marketing

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Tricia Ryan, The Marketing Chefs

I've interviewed Tricia Ryan for my series on agency/client relationships. I agree that digital has caused some confusion as to who does what - particularly among larger clients who work with multiple agencies. What do you think?

Q1 Name

Tricia Ryan

Q2 Location

Toronto, Canada

Q3 Website

www.themarketingchefs.com

Q4 Bio

Tricia is a registered dietician with an MBA, which probably explains her love of healthy cooking and marketing. She has spent much of her career building brands for online and offline businesses in the food, beverage, OTC drug, financial and hospitality industries. Tricia is renowned for her research and problem-solving skills, and she parlayed this strength to launch a variety of products for Berry Health, Boots Healthcare and Wrigley Canada, as well for a number of not-for-profit organizations.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side? 

Agency side, although I have worked both.

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Trust, knowledge, understanding, communication, organizational skills

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

Like a marriage there is a romantic stage, power struggle and then real love and flow.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

Client does not like the creative expression – stuck. Go outside for new ideas and redo the work.

Q9 What do you wish clients understood about agencies?

How much time and effort and planning is really part of the business particularly online.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

Be an extension of their team and marketing departments; understand the business better than the client.

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

Acknowledge, include and compensate.

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

Digital has caused clients to be confused who does what. Clients also have no understanding of online tools (traffic generation and traffic conversion) they think it is display ads and social networking. 

Young staff with no strategic skills making decisions.

Q13 Which past agency or client was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

Wrigley Canada and US.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Ian Anderson, greenlight brand agents

I interviewed Ian Anderson for my series on agency/client relationships. He believes the traditional business model of agencies is antiquated. It will be interesting to see how things evolve during and after the recession.

Q1 Name

Ian Andersen

Q2 Location

North Carolina

Q3 Website

LinkedIn

Q4 Bio

Seasoned Director of Account Management and Strategic Planner with Fortune 50 and 500 successes. Some Brands served: Volvo, Lowe's Home Improvement, Whirlpool, Duke University, Bank of America.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Agency

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

TRUST and clear communication.

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

Find clients/agencies whose values and objectives match yours. Don't force the fit. It's like dating - if the first date is a disaster, imagine how the marriage would be!

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

Of course! Succinct and clear communication mixed with a healthy amount of documentation often keeps people honest (and improves the professional attitudes of others).

Q9 What do you wish clients understood about agencies?

I wish more clients understood the creative process, and that the reason they hire agencies is to find the silver bullet. We don't do well when art directed and force-fed strategy.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?

Deliver on what they really need vs. what they're asking for.

Q11 How can clients get the best out of their agencies?

Trust them, and hire ones that have the capacity to do great work...don't just look for 101 case studies of great work done in the past, look for the spark to create great work now.

Q12 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

Trust is declining. Agencies are fighting to retain the traditional business model that's clearly antiquated.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Adam Kleinberg, Traction

This is the second interview in a series about agency/client relationships. If you know someone who should be interviewed, please have them drop me a note at interview(at)devoninspiration.com.

Q1 Name

Adam Kleinberg

Q2 Location

San Francisco

Q3 Website

Traction

Q4 Bio

Adam Kleinberg is CEO of Traction, recently named the #1 interactive agency in the U.S. by BtoB Magazine. He has been a pioneer in social media and creating rich digital experiences since he started his first blog in 1997. Since co-founding Traction in 2001, he has built a 30-person agency that has serviced great brands including Adobe, Virgin Mobile, CamelBak, Clos du Bois, Sun Microsystems and Alibaba.com.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Agency

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Two things. Trust and communication. Trust is essential because clients come to agencies for leadership in their area of expertise. Without trust in their agency being able to deliver, the relationship is doomed. Communication is critical as well because unless expectations are consistently set and everyone is on the same page from the start, trust will soon erode and fingers will start to point.

Q7 What's your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

I'd say there's three main things you can do to maintain excellent client service levels in an ad agency.

The first is having processes in place that ensure communication between the client and agency are crystal clear (and that both the account team and client understand those processes). At the root of nearly every client relationship that I've ever seen go bad is poor communication. Conference reports aren't a waste of time. They avoid miscommunication. Creative briefs should be rigorously crafted and should leave no room for misinterpretation.

The second may sound obvious, but it's hiring good people. We always have a handful of account people in mind that we may want to bring on months before we need them. That way, you never have to settle when a new account comes in and we need to hire someone fast.

The third: be willing to walk away. I mentioned above that the #1 reason agencies and clients break up is miscommunication. The #2 reason is that there's just not a right fit. When my agency was 4 people and worked out of the spare bedroom of my apartment (7 years ago) we had a different cost structure than we do today at 30 employees. If you want to be great, you have to add process as you grow in order to maintain the quality of work. It's important to honestly ask "are we a good fit?" and if not, to just walk away. Otherwise, you're putting your client service people in the position of having to justify your agency cost structure again and again. And that's almost guaranteed to lead to a bad relationship.

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

Anyone who tells you they've never been in a difficult agency/client relationship is a liar. Like any relationship, you are bound to hit your rough patches along the way. The solution is to embrace candor and address.

Q9 What do you wish clients understood about agencies?

We can't be an effective partner unless we're reasonably staffed. And there is a cost associated with that. However, with that cost there is value you will achieve and have a right to demand.

Q10 How can agencies add value for clients?
 
Being proactive about educating clients. Providing opinions and strategic insights.

Q11 Have you noticed any recent trends in agency/client relationships?

Clients need us to do more with less. That's ok. We just need to be candid about setting expectations and not grab at dollars just to flow money through the agency. Agencies must act like true agents and guide their clients to the best investment decisions of their marketing dollars.

Q12 Which past agency or client was the best to work with? (Past relationships only, please.)

We loved working with Bonny Doon Vineyards. There was a shared creative vision that we wanted to inspire and delight their hard-core fan base of customers—and be smart about their business at the same time. It was a formula for  very successful, award-winning work that we had loads of fun producing.

Related Posts:
Adversarial Agency/Client Relationships
Partnership Agency/Client Relationships
Confused Agency/Client Relationships
Integrated Agency/Client Relationships
Imbalanced Agency/Client Relationships

Agency/Client Relationships: an interview with Gary Walker, Diretto Ltd.

I've conducted several interviews with people around the globe about agency/client relationships and will be posting the interviews each Friday for the next few months. If you know someone who should be interviewed, please have them drop me a note at interview(at)devoninspiration.com.

Q1 Name

Gary Walker

Q2 Location

North East England

Q3 Website

Diretto

Q4 Bio

Having spent a number of years working for Direct Marketing companies and following much consideration, I decided to set up a Direct Marketing Consultancy, Diretto.
My main focus and area of expertise is Direct Mail and Integrated campaign management including; data, print, fulfillment, postage, contact centres and general campaign management.

Q5 Do you work on the agency side or client side?

Agency

Q6 What makes a good agency/client relationship?

Effective Communication!

The methods of communication used should be suitable for the information being communicated. In order to choose the most appropriate method of communication between the two organisations, a number of factors are taken into consideration:

•    What needs be communicated?
•    Who does it need to be communicated to?
•    Is the communication urgent?
•    Is feedback required?
•    Is a record of the communication required?

As Fill (2006) states “the quality of communication between the two main parties is critical to the success of the overall campaign and to the length of the relationship between the two organisations” (p.384)

Q7 What’s your best tip for building a good agency/client relationship?

To develop a good client/agency relationship both parties have to devote patience and commitment to making it work. Although both parties should meet at the beginning of any campaign/activity, regular update meetings should be scheduled in order to discuss the progress of the campaign and update on costs and timescales. As Sims (2005) highlights “The client–agency relationship is a dynamic organism which needs nurturing and sustaining in times of growth, change and adversity” (p. 160)

Q8 Have you ever been in a difficult agency/client relationship? If so, were you able to improve the situation? How?

Yes, problems will always arise. The most important thing about any Agency or Supplier is how they deal with problems. You need to rationalise and stand back. Concentrate on the best methods to resolve the problem, or better still how to turn a negative into a positive. Far too often problems are accepted rather than resolved and more energy is invested into identifying who is to blame rather than how fix things.

Q9 How can agencies add value for clients?

Agencies can provide objectivity and access to expertise and experience gleaned from numerous activities and apply it to a client’s requirements. Most importantly an agency can allow a client to concentrate on it’s core business activities.

References:
Sims. M. (2005). Working with agencies an insider’s guide. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Fill. C. (2006). Simply Marketing Communications. Essex: Pearsons Education Limited

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