Motivating agencies
From a recent 4A’s, ANA and Advertiser Perceptions study on the cost of pitching, we learned that clients (marketers, procurement leads and agency relationship leads) cited the number one reason they start an agency review is that a new agency is highly motivated to deliver. Threatening to lose business rather than being open with communication on the needs and expectations is now considered more motivating. This is concerning, as agencies are often being treated poorly with the situation continuing to worsen, thus having an increasingly negative impact on the talent needed to deliver the work.
Clients want the best talent for their business. During my time as an agency CEO, clients would tell me they wanted their business to be the destination account in the agency—the most desired to work on. I always reminded them of the actions required to be the sought-after account.
Here’s what it takes to be a true partner that we can all work and live by each and every day:
- Be human: Treat others with respect and empathy.
- Be transparent: Frequent communication that treats the team as an extension of your own with consistent feedback.
- Be fair: Provide reasonable compensation and terms.
- Be decisive: Ensure clarity on the key decision-maker, budgets and deliverables.
- Be vulnerable: Open up about where you lack experience or knowledge and ask questions to learn.
- Be candid: Own your issues and acknowledge organizational challenges.
- Be bold: Lean into innovation and get comfortable taking risks.
- Be curious: Embrace the power of creativity to produce business-building solutions.
More recommended reading: Jared Belsky, CEO of Acadia and author of the recently published book, You Get the Agency You Deserve, provides thoughtful guidance for clients on how to get the most from their agency partners. He explores 20 practical and emotional lessons to maximize agency and partner relationships.
No respect means no trust and no trust means it will be challenging to achieve business goals. If the client does not respect the agency, they will not trust your work—a signal that it’s the right time to move on.
We urgently need better behavior, but we’re past the point of trying to get clients to consistently understand the situation. It’s time for an industry code of conduct to ensure people within agencies are treated appropriately.
