Partnering with an agency can be a great way for businesses to enhance their marketing efforts and grow their brand. The success of this partnership, however, largely depends on the client’s understanding of both their role and the agency’s role in the process.
From the beginning of the relationship, it is crucial for agency leaders and account managers to make certain things clear to their new clients. Below, 14 Forbes Agency Council members outline what they want all new clients to know about their partnership and explain how they communicate these expectations up front.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Focus On The Relationship
Focus on the relationship, and the revenues will follow. You need to recognize that clients are human—they crave confidence and reassurance throughout the branding and marketing process. Always realize that they are taking professional risks when they make decisions. Always be there to encourage, course correct, answer questions, coach, educate and listen. - Tom Silva, Silva Brand
2. Onboard Clients
We ask our new clients to engage in an onboarding process with us so that they can understand how to engage with us and vice versa. Topics we cover include how we tee up projects for success, the formats of our briefs for various kinds of projects and typical milestones (including happy hours) to celebrate what we’ve accomplished together at the end of a project. - Eric Gutierrez, Hey
3. Get The Full Picture
To me, the biggest key to a successful relationship between an agency and its partner is ensuring the agency continues to have a seat at the table, meaning they fully understand the operation of the organization they are partnered with. In my experience, when my agency did not have the full picture, we didn’t have key information to turn a good campaign into a great campaign. - Kathleen Perley, DECODE Advertising
4. Focus On Learning
Our mission is to provide unbiased marketing data insights to inform business decisions. The first step in developing insights is to learn. A team of skilled marketing analysts host onboarding sessions to understand what drives success and identify challenges. These learnings guide the development of a customized measurement strategy, the first step toward delivering actionable insights. - Laura Glotzbach, LGS Marketing Services
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5. Engage, Then Celebrate
When we sign a new client, their mission becomes our mission. In the beginning of the relationship, we attend their internal events, and we invite them to ours. We also make sure that our clients have direct access. We set up a “golden rule” document that both sides sign. Then, we celebrate. We take the time to be grateful and let them know just how much we value the relationship. Engage, celebrate and deliver. - Kim Plyler, Sahl Communications Inc.
6. Articulate Values Up Front
At our agency, we believe working together is human. That’s why we look for a specific set of values in our clients; we articulate these values up front before we even begin work to make sure we’re aligned. Here are the values our clients and partners must possess for a successful and sustainable relationship: transparency, collaboration, an open mindset, drive and courage. - Blair Brady, WITH/agency
7. Review How You Will Collaborate
We review how we work and how we will collaborate together. We rely heavily on templated onboarding processes and briefs to systematize the start of our relationship with a new client. This framework helps us provide early transparency into team roles, goal ownership and feedback channels. - Bobby Steinbach, MeanPug Digital
8. Do A Deep Dive, And Be Candid
Communications partners are business consultants requiring access and information. The best partnerships are ones where both we and the client have the transparency and trust to share openly, disagree productively and provide feedback candidly. From the start, our team dives deep into the client’s world, asking tough questions to understand the industry and being candid about the challenges. - Jean Serra, V2 Communications
9. Tie Actions To Goals
We recommend starting with the questions, “What are your main themes for the quarter or month?” and, “What are your three key goals?” All of the actions then have to reflect the theme and work hard to achieve the goal. We also try to do 80% planned work and 20% off-the-cuff work each month. This helps keep the partnership smooth, steady and strategic. How you set up at the start really sets the relationship up to succeed. - Julia Linehan, The Digital Voice PR Agency Ltd
10. Show How Your Values Impact The Work
We always stress our core value of authenticity and how it impacts our work. We want our clients to see us as partners and to be open to our feedback and counsel. So often, clients need a great deal of education on PR tactics and what works best. If we have mutual respect between us and are open with each other, we will succeed. - Michelle Mekky, Mekky Media Relations, Inc.
11. Make The Day-To-Day Experience Positive
We always emphasize that, just as in any business relationship, what is delivered is important—but the day-to-day interaction and experience are critical as well. We make it clear from the beginning that we adopt our clients’ goals and outcomes as our own, match their pace and provide consistent, detailed responsiveness to make it the best-fit relationship we can. - Natalie Nathanson, Magnetude Consulting
12. Communicate Clearly And Openly
The foundation of a successful partnership with our agency is clear and open communication between both parties. The work we do for clients who meet with us at least once a month, are responsive to things such as approvals, work with us to define clear campaign objectives and take the time to understand the campaign performance are, by far, the most successful campaigns that we have had the privilege of working on! - Amy Catley, Uptime Legal JurisPage
13. Set Realistic Expectations
We like to manage and set realistic and healthy expectations. It serves no one if we oversell the program. We try to promise little and deliver big. This allows us to bring on our ideal clients, who are more interested in working with us because they trust us. All relationships should be built on trust; the client experience should be the same way. - Cedrick Webb, Smart Digital
14. Show Respect And Appreciation
In client-agency relationships, as with life, you'll get more bees with honey than with vinegar. Showing respect and appreciation will motivate others to deliver work and exceed expectations. A partner will always work harder for people who are respectful, kind and appreciative. It’s fair to be driven and to want a lot—but with a foundation truly built on being collegial, everyone will have a better experience. - Emily Porter, Havas Formula
