TIP #4 – BE ACTIVE IN YOUR PARTNERSHIP
While it’s true that you are hiring an agency to do a specific project for you, it is still very important to realize that for there to be good work, there needs to be a good partnership established. The partnership between client and agency functions at its finest when both parties are proactively working on making the collaborative process run smoothly.
Address issues now, not later.
Speak up when you don’t understand something. The creative industry, like just about every other industry, is riddled with jargon that can be difficult to understand. Sometimes clients like a mockup but when it goes into development it isn’t what they thought it would be. Make sure you have common check-in points with your agency and with the decision-makers at your company. We always recommend having multiple eyes on your project to make sure everyone is on the same page. It is always better to pause a meeting or shoot your agency an email about a disconnect or a larger concern. Later down the line, it is much more difficult (and time-consuming) to resolve the issue.
Challenging each other is a good thing.
Sometimes being a good partner means pushing back against one another. Your agency is committed to doing the best work they can, but you also have requirements that need to be checked off your list. Your agency will be as accommodating to your needs as possible, but you both have insights that may change the direction of the project and it is worth sharing and discussing.
Understand the workload.
Hiring an outside agency is not only a monetary investment but a time investment, and the workload that also comes along with it is incredibly overlooked. More often than not clients are not prepared for just how much work they also have to put in to get the results they want. This isn’t to say that your agency shouldn’t be doing most of the work, but along the way, you will need to attend meetings, and provide consistent and detailed feedback as well as content for projects including logos, staff photos, and your company mission, etc.
