Today turned into a “vendor relations” day for me, as I took phone calls and had onsite meetings with several agencies and partners that my company is currently working with or has worked with.

As my interactions varied with each vendor, it became very obvious quite quickly what the best outcome could be for a vendor during one of these conversations: to get me excited about what could happen if I worked with them even more.

Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

The problem is that an agency’s presentation and conversation doesn’t always sync up with this ideal outcome. They might think they’re getting you excited, but their action communicate that their actual goal is something different.

With that said, I give you the following list:

10 Signs of a Good Marketing Agency

1. They know when someone does something better. Just last week, I was ready to give some business to a partner that has been managed by a different partner. It’s an area where both vendors have higher degrees of expertise, and it made sense to me to simply consolidate. However, when I brought this up to the favored vendor, they quickly let me know that they actually thought I’d be better off sticking with the other partner. In other words, they turned down easy business. What they also did was multiply how much I trust in them. Honesty does wonders for ongoing business.
2. They tell you when they disagree, and they can explain why. If I’m hiring an agency, it means I recognize a need for more expertise than I currently have at my disposal. So I expect some of my ideas to be off, and I expect my vendors to call me on it. If you can tell me why you disagree with me in a way that makes sense (don’t wax poetic on me), then I can relax knowing I’ve got an expert who can save me from myself. That’s valuable.
3. They don’t get blame-happy. It’s one thing to know your stuff and let me know that I simply haven’t followed your advice and that could be the reason I’m not getting the result I want. It’s another thing to proactively blame my co-workers, or situations, or whatever. It’s only a sign that you know something’s not right. I’d rather pay you for suggesting solutions than magnifying (or inventing) problems.
4. They can justify their value. Next time an agency is pitching you on spending tens of thousands of dollars on a website, ask them why you shouldn’t just get a web designer and build a site on WordPress. If they fumble, then you just found a cheaper alternative. If they take it in stride and then give you a smooth answer, then you at least know you’ve got someone who knows their value proposition. Ask tough questions like this when it makes sense. How they answer will tell you a lot more than the answer itself.
5. They can properly focus on you. The risk with a big agency is that they can’t focus on you enough; you’re too small. The risk with a small agency is that they might not have the experience or firepower to make an adequate difference. With that said, always err on the side that gives you more attention. Ideally, you want a small-to-mid-sized agency with experience either in your industry or in the channel/tactic you need support in.

At the end of the day, good agency partnerships are like any relationship: it comes down to chemistry. And remember, that’s a two-street. While I’ve harped on what to look for in an agency in this post, I daresay most agency/client relationships fail because they are poorly managed by the client.

Similar Posts:

• World Domination and Your Business
• Baby Lessons: Tweaking
• No News is NOT Good News