The Colab Brief: 005 - Swipe Right for Agency Success: Matchmaking Tips for Long-Term Love

Happy Saturday! Today we’re talking about how to hire an agency partner - with insights from inside the agency walls. For those of you that are new here, this is The Colab Brief - a weekly newsletter covering all things comms. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, reach out.

Read Time: 3 mins

As a comms pro, you can pretty much tackle everything. Internal crisis? Handled. Marketing messaging? No problem. Executive statement? Easy. However, there comes a point in time when you might need a little external boost. Enter: hiring an agency.

Hiring an agency is sort of like dating. 👩‍❤️‍👨

There’s the initial conversation. 💬

The up-front chemistry check. 🔥

Then there’s the courting period where you really try to amp up all your best qualities, but you’re aware you’re both still seeing other people. 🔍

Once you decide to go steady, there’s the honeymoon phase. Everything is great; everyone is aligned. 💕

After the honeymoon phase, all bets are off. 💣

Hopefully, you’ve chosen a great team of people who are able to help you achieve your goals. But sometimes, things go awry, and the engagement just doesn’t pan out the way you expect.

We’re here to try to help you prevent the latter situation. And there are a few key questions you can ask up-front to assist with picking a solid, long-term partner. We’ve worked at agencies, and internally hiring agencies, so we like to think we have a bit of unique expertise on this topic.

#1: Who is my day-to-day contact?

We like this question because instead of getting the runaround that you’ll be working with a senior partner, it helps you determine who you’ll be working with the MOST, which is really the key. Most senior execs that are brought into close business only stay in an advisory role (if at all), meaning your other team members are the ones who will be leading the charge. It’s important you know who those people are up-front, and that you can work together on a day-to-day basis.

#2: What do we need to provide (time, resources, etc.) in order for you to succeed?

Most agencies need something in order to do their job effectively - whether it’s data, visual assets, or time with executives. It’s good to know those requirements so you can determine whether or not the internal team has the capacity to support them. And if your agency’s answer is “an exciting product with tons of news,” run the other way.

#3: How will we know if we’ve been successful?

And the follow-up question - tell us about another client who has been successful working with you. Having a basis for success and understanding what success looks like from the agency's viewpoint is critical to determining whether your goals are in sync.

#4 - Where does our engagement size rank compared to your other clients?

Are you going to be a big fish in the agency pond, or are you overreaching with your partner choice? If the agency minimum doesn’t offer a structure that is conducive to meeting your goals, it might be good to look at other options and build up to where you want to be. It’s never an ideal situation to be the smallest account at the firm - despite what the agency might tell you. Simple economics dictates that the most talented workers are put on the highest-priority accounts. In our experience, it’s better to be a mid-sized account at a smaller firm than to compete for attention at a big one.

Honorable Mentions

• How long will it take for us to start seeing results?

• What is the typical ramp-up process and timeline?

• How will we communicate as a team?

• How often do you report on your activities/successes/misses?

• What is your agency culture like? What is your turnover rate? (Important that you’re not seeing new faces on your account team on a regular basis).

• (Internal) How do we expect this engagement to support our overall business efforts?

Agency dating is all about landing on the right questions and establishing clear expectations from the get-go. Just like finding your perfect match, it’s not always an easy journey, but if you take the time to understand your agency's unique qualities, creative style, and dating history (aka track record), you'll increase your chances of finding that dreamy, long-term partnership that'll make your business heart skip a beat. Here’s to finding the one who'll sweep you off your spreadsheets!

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