The Client/Agency Dance
The Agitator has readers on both sides of the dance floor … lots of ‘clients’ and heaps of agencies and consultants.
How many of you have been through the following Kabuki dance?
Client: “How much will it cost us?”
Agency: “How much do you have budgeted?”
Client: “It depends.”
Agency: “Well, give us a ballpark figure.”
Client: “No, you give us a ballpark figure.”
Agency: “OK … $5,000 to $100,000.”
Client: “Hmmm … what if we spent half that amount?”
Agency: “Which half of what we’ve discussed don’t you want?”
And so forth.
Often the relationship never quite recovers from that initial encounter! The client not actually knowing what they can, should or are willing to spend … the agency not wanting to ‘leave money on the table’, or not wanting to get stuck with commitments and expectations that they can’t deliver on profitably.
Gill, blogging at best-laid plans, has been on both sides of the table, and offers to mediate. She’s planning eight posts intended to help clients understand how to “get the best” from their agencies. So far her advice is sound and basic.
Here’s the first post, with Tip #1: Know what you want.
She offers this checklist to cover off before talking to an agency:
Checklist
- What are the project objective(s)?
- Do you need an agency at all?
- Have you sufficient budget to achieve your objectives?
- Can you afford to pay for an agency to help deliver the project?
- Is there enough time to deliver the project?
- What level of agency involvement do you need?
- What are the main project deadlines?
Next up will be: Brief your agency well.
I plan to follow Gill through her eight tips. When she’s through, I’ll probably have some advice of my own, having done plenty of dancing myself as both a buyer and seller of fundraising services.
Tom
One response to “The Client/Agency Dance”
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Thanks for the mention. I think the more we all discuss this issue, the more progress we can make on both sides.
It’s intended to be a guide for newbies so I hope the fact it’s pretty basic is helpful.
Cheers
Gill
(BTW ‘she’ not ‘he’!)