I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to make my clients’ lives easier. ‘Client love’ isn’t usually billable, but it’s something that all agencies should take seriously, because it’s far less resource-hungry to develop existing clients than it is to win new ones.
For the agency, it’s essential to build a good rapport and relationship of trust with clients, and of course, to provide a great level of service. But here’s the thing: it’s not all up to the agency. As a client you have a responsibility to bring the best out of your appointed agencies, and to help them to help you. If you want to create an awesome campaign or website, you need to unlock your agency’s potential and create an environment that will encourage them to do great work.
If this sounds like a lot of effort, it doesn’t need to be. Below are my ‘top five win-win tips’ that will make you look good and go down well with agencies too.
1. Invite your agency to share expertise
Agencies, and digital agencies in particular, are usually full of experts of one kind or another: developers, designers, user experience dudes, SEO specialists… the list could go on. In my experience experts are always keen to talk about their field of expertise (this website has plenty of examples). So, as a client, asking a member of your account team to present on the subject of your choice is a great way to boost your team’s own knowledge base and make your agency’s team members feel recognised and important. Everyone’s a winner!
2. Work together on briefs
A clear and concise brief is crucial for any project. You need your agency to understand exactly what you’re trying to achieve, and the best way to do this is to compile the brief together. A solution can only ever be as good as the brief that initiates it, so make sure you hammer down your expectations and requirements, get buy-in from all stakeholders, and then stick to it. Your agency will thank you for it.
3. Make your feedback crystal clear
If you want your agency to respond to your feedback effectively, clarity is king. Saying something like “none of these are quite right, come back with some more options” gives the designer or developer absolutely nothing to work with. Think instead about exactly what you didn’t like about it and how you’d like to see it improved. Try not to get too bogged down in the finer details: it’s most important for you to focus on the business objectives and making sure they’re met. Clear, actionable feedback points will help eliminate rounds and rounds of amends, and help everyone work more efficiently.
4. Ask your agency to work in your office
At key points during your projects, invite the project team around to your place. This is great for the project as a whole, because it will speed up sign-off times and help things progress smoothly. It’s great for the client because it gives you more opportunity to give feedback and influence the project’s direction. Finally it’s good for the agency; offering more face-time with the client, strengthening the relationship and showing how much hard work goes in!
5. Immerse your agency in your world
The best example of this came from a Creative Director friend of mine. Before working on a campaign for a new model of Mercedes sports car, the client took him and his copywriting partner out for a fairly ‘vigorous’ burn around town in the car. What better way to understand the feeling and experience that they were tasked with selling? Ok, so your brand might not be quite as cool as Mercedes but if you want the best creative work, make sure that your agency’s key players are really under the skin of your organisation. Take them to events, let them meet the board (hell, let them join the board), encourage them to be activists. If they get it, and I mean really get it, you’ll see the difference in the work they produce.
So, those are my top tips for getting the most from your agency in a way that suits all parties. But these are, I’m sure, just the tip of the iceberg. Let us know what works for you.
Add a comment