Working With Agencies #ecomchat – Key Points

This week’s #ecomchat was on Working With Agencies – no, not the sequel to Dances With Wolves but a chat discussing the trials and tribulations of selecting and managing business partners for ecommerce.

The chat was based around 3 key question as usual and below is a summary of the key points and discussion threads.

There were lots of comments and some brilliant discussion threads, so thanks to everyone who took part and apologies we didn’t include every single comment in this write-up. What’s interesting is there were common themes from most chatters and these were:

1. Treat your agency as a valued partner to get the most from them – don’t allow a Client vs. Agency mentality to creep in.
2. You need to have clear requirements and a structured approach to finding an agency.
3. Make sure you test the waters to find out each agency’s core skills and knowledge based – don’t assume they know everything.
4. Put clear communication at the heart of the partnership – being transparent and honest helps build trust.
5. Incentivise your partners to deliver above and beyond the core targets.
6. Make sure you measure what’s being done and hold agencies to targets so there is a clear structure and expectations.

Question 1 – How do you select the right agency (separating the wheat from the chaff)?

• @ahmed_Khalifa suggested it’s useful if the agency has experience of working with ecommerce sites before as well as other industries for a broad-based experience.
• @aattias recommended having a good brief and/or tender, giving the potential partner as much insight in to your business goals and challenges.
• @therustybear commented that the first question you should ask is “”What do you think we need?”.
• An interesting point from @magique83 is that the business needs to have at least some understanding of the work being carried out. If not, it should enlist the support of an external specialist. @LALYdesign agreed that projects can go wrong if the Client has no idea what is possible or what they’re trying to achieve.
• A good suggestion from @aattias was to speak to each agency’s Clients – not just the testimonials but other Clients who you can approach direct and ask about tangible results.
• @s1m0nc also raised an important point – you should actively seek out agencies that are willing to challenge Client ideas constructively e.g. an idea that will be detrimental to the Client’s business and customers.
• @montsecano raised the issue of resources – you need to ensure that the agency can deliver so assess them based on capability to deliver according to your required timescales.
• Some wicked cunning from @magique83 – he has set-up tests before by asking for something that is clearly not best practice and evaluating the response.
• @redstar_digital recommended you make sure the agency is guided by people, not technology.
• @jamesmdoman raised an interesting point about the type of agency you need to work with. It’s really important to define this – do you need a specialist, a generalist, T-shaped, technical, design etc. Be clear upfront on the type of agency that best matches your needs.
• @leebenecke has been asked the question before, “Should a client meet whole agency team before appointing them?” His answer – ABSOLUTELY.

Question 2 – How do you ensure successful relationships e.g. effective communication/managing issues?

• @ahmed_khalifa suggested making sure that both the agency and client have project plans where they could work side-by-side to meet the Client’s goals.
• @aattias recommended agreeing responsibilities/line of coms at start of relationship and using collaboration tools/ticket systems e.g. Basecamp, Sharepoint. He also recommended looking for evidence of good project/account management skills. Without them, you’re doomed to fail.
• @redstar_digital explained that a partnership approach is a must with agencies – so open communications, regular updates and meetings are important.
• @magique83 agreed that you must treat one another as partners and not as a client/agency (read parent/child) relationship.
• @therustybear suggested having each party take turns to chair the weekly meeting gives a different perspective to the campaign.
• @leebenecke made an interesting distinction: from a brand perspective, the client has to be clear on what they want but the agency has to lead the strategic thought.
• An interesting question from @danbarker was “How about when working with overlapping agencies (eg. seo/ppc/ecommerce platform) – any useful practices there?” Dan has worked with some Clients who have occasional ‘all agencies’ meetups that seem to work well.
• @melaniemackuk agreed that the best solution is multiple specialist agencies who share at “all agency” meetups, without negativity.
• @james_cornwall added Clients must take control and set the models by which all agencies work by. Integrated approach is key.

Question 3 – What can you do to ensure your agency partners deliver results?

• @kieronhughes suggested making sure the expectations are set in stone from the outset, avoid any potential disconnect in perceived results.
• @danroche27 explained that you need to set reasonable/achievable targets. Nothing worse than trying to hit a pie in the sky target from an agency perspective.
• @magique83 suggested that goals must be clearly defined, unconditionally understood and set out prior to any work starting.
• @blowerknows explained that wo way communication is vital. SMART KPI and objective setting, evaluate together what did / didn’t work, repeat.
• @willdymott recommended structuring their fees so at least part of it is paid on results. Either bonus or commission.
• A great point from @danroche27: work with the agency and not against them; if there is a problem, find a solution, don’t jump the gun.
• @walkerama said that for effective communications you need single point of contact, but they need to be more senior consultant level than just ‘account manager’.
• @magique83 suggested that if things aren’t progressing as they should then the client needs to ask what THEY can do to help instead of just shouting.

Thanks again to everyone for joining in, we hope to see you next week.

James & Dan.