In any relationship, if you don’t communicate openly about problems and issues, trouble is just around the corner.  Too often, clients dance around performance issues they have with their agencies, and vice versa.

This fact is confirmed by agency leaders themselves.  In a February 2009 survey of agency leaders (including 106 in Canada), agency respondents said that 61% of their clients do not “openly discuss their concerns about agency performance and make an effort to find solutions before the client ends the agency relationship.”   In fact, open feedback from clients is one of the few areas where Canadian agency leaders are more critical of their clients, in comparison with European and U.S agency leaders. Being too polite, human nature for most Canadians, can sometimes kill a relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

When marketing -communications clients are sizing up prospective agencies, we hear comments like … “they’d be a good fit”, or “I like their style”, or “I don’t feel a connection.”  These are all valid emotions when going through a highly subjective experience.   Finding a cultural link between client and agency is important, but it shouldn’t be the first step.

You might find an agency that you click with, but they won’t deliver the goods if they don’t have the functional capabilities and skills to meet your organization’s needs.  In fact, narrowing your agency criteria to about five measurable capabilities should be the first step in any agency search. Read the rest of this entry »

In February 2009, we asked marketing and communications agency leaders to share their perspectives on the role of clients in client-agency relationships. I guess you could call it a client quality report card conducted by agency CEOs.

AgencyLink conducted the survey in Canada as part of its strategic affiliation with SCAN International, author of the study, A Global Voice for Marketing Agency Leaders.  We believe this is the largest body of client-agency relationship research ever conducted to simultaneously compare Canada’s views with the US and Europe.  Historically, client-agency surveys have only focused on the client’s perspective, but today more clients recognize that they are equally accountable to the partnership. Read the rest of this entry »

This month we ran an “expectations workshop” for a client and its newly-appointed agency that was refreshing for all of us.  Why?  Because in our day-to-day experience, we see too many clients that have expectations that are not aligned with their agency’s view of the world.  

In the workshop, we spent a lot of energy helping the client and the agency to emerge with some highly-refined processes.  That was the day’s primary focus, because it’s these sweaty tools that … if not established at the start of a relationship … often lead to breakdowns later.  And we’re talking mental and financial breakdowns.   Read the rest of this entry »

When conducting an agency search, clients should be cautious when selecting the best agency to represent their business.  We have heard too many horror stories about how clients have sat through impressive presentations delivered by senior consultants to only find out that the more junior person — who said nothing in the meeting –  will be the one leading their account.

It is risky for marketing agencies to only introduce their A-Team, especially if the plan is to assign more junior account co-ordinators to the business after the deal is closed. This approach is doomed if the client falls for the agency’s top guns at a pitch meeting.  Whoever, junior or senior, will be active on the account should also be active in the presentation.   Read the rest of this entry »