Agency/Client Tensions
There is a tension that exists between an agency and its client. An agency is meant to serve the client’s needs, but we are also hired to bring expertise that our client might not have in-house. Serving their needs might be simply an executional thing, doing something for them they don’t have the time to do themselves. Or, filling in because they have a headcount limit, and can’t hire someone for that job. But it’s the expertise that is generally what they hire us for. They need a skillset they don’t want to hire for, and feel that it’s more efficient all around to tap an agency partner.
So what are some of the “tensions”, and how does an agency approach these hurdles to create a productive working relationship?
Tension 1
Client - I need the skills you bring to this job, but once I can figure out how to do it myself, or bring others in to do it in-house, leveraging what I’ve learned, I’ll be moving you along.
Consideration - This is understandable, we agencies get it. It’s called cost control. But, if a client is looking to gain knowledge and then make us redundant are we going to be transparent about our process? Are we going to share our secret sauce? No. And we shouldn’t. However, the issue that could arise from this scenario is that the agency is constantly on guard, protecting its IP and interests, and the working relationship may not flow and flex as it might if there was more trust.
What we do - This can be a hard one. We do need to protect our IP and our contacts. BUT, we also need to trust the relationship. Generally, the way to mitigate this scenario is to bring our best ALL the time. And to keep learning. The more NEW, relevant ideas and solutions we can bring to the job, the more they’ll need us, and continue needing us. So, in many ways, one of the most important actions on our part is to stay relevant through active learning.
Tension 2
Client - I have a job to be done, can you scope it out so I know what to budget for, please?
Consideration - I’m not sure about other agencies, but we tend to love our clients and always want to give as much as we can. That makes it hard sometimes to draw a line helping them help us do a scope. Generally, agencies want to make it easy for clients to continue hiring them, and while we don’t want to go broke, we also don’t want to price ourselves out of the running for a job. It’s always hard to find the balance between being paid fairly and helping your clients meet their budgets.
What we do - We look to price our work as fairly as possible, and most often over-index a bit to keep a layer of “goodwill” in the mix. We know that our clients are often under tremendous pressure to get a lot done for a reasonable price. And even if they are flush now, a day of reckoning could be right around the corner. We don’t want to be the agency they can’t afford. However, we do our best to maintain boundaries so we aren’t getting taken advantage of. That isn’t good for anyone.
Tension 3
Client & Agency - I like you. Let’s be friends.
Consideration - In the client/agency relationship is there room to be friends? One of my employees once said, and I quote it often: They call it work for a reason. Yes, it’s awesome if you and your client have a friendly relationship where mutual admiration and respect can thrive. But work is work, and work can get messy. Especially where money is the key driver for why you’re together in the first place. On the agency side I’ve found one pitfall for becoming friends is that at some point the client starts to feel a little cheated when they have to pay you. That’s oversimplifying it, but having good boundaries tends to protect your valuable working relationship.
What we do - I’ve always told the people who work for me that our clients aren’t our friends, and we need to maintain healthy boundaries. With that said, clients CAN become friends, that has certainly happened for me. Still, if our relationships are going to flourish we need to make sure that we are conducting ourselves as professionally as possible. The last thing we want to do is derail an awesome work partnership because we’ve allowed it to be too familiar.