A client agency relationship feels as simple as handing over tasks, setting deadlines, and waiting for results. But the reality is somewhat different. Many clients don’t understand this until they see a performance gap or deadline inconsistency beyond the control of the agency.
While these issues can arise from either side of the partnership, the agencies often shoulder the blame and the risk of losing the client. However, clients often hold erroneous views of how the partnership should work and create expectations based on those views, which later lead to friction.
For the partnership to work, both sides need to be on the same page. To align expectations, strengthen partnerships, and get the best results, here are a few things clients should understand when working with agencies.
Clear And Transparent Communication Is Essential
Every message a client wants to pass to an agency, whether it’s assigning a new task or changing a project goal, must be handled promptly and communicated as transparently and clearly as possible. Agencies operate based on the information they get from clients, so every delay or lack of clarity affects them badly.
Let’s say a client hires an agency to redesign their website, but only casually mentions in a meeting that their audience has changed, with no follow-up. If their audience has really evolved, then the agency is likely to focus on their outdated audience. This means the client will get results they don’t need, or the agency will have to rework it, costing them more time.
Commitment Matters On Both Sides
Executing a project often requires the involvement of both the agency and the client. For example, an agency working on a social campaign may encounter changes that require it to adjust the budget or edit the audience.
When an agency reaches out to a client for approval of their new suggestions, how quickly the client responds can affect the project’s pace. Delayed approvals or feedback may slow progress or even bring the project to a pause. Timely responses, on the other hand, keep things going smoothly.
Note that a timely response is not enough if it doesn’t address the issue the agency raises. Clients should keep their responses thoughtful, clear, and focused on the agency’s questions. Otherwise, not only will the agency be disappointed, but there will also be more questions, which means more time wasted.
Clients should also confirm that agencies understand their instructions properly by asking simple clarifying questions. It’s possible for an agency to assume they clearly understand an instruction or task when they don’t.
Periodic Feedback Matters
Every good agency knows that feedback is essential to any collaborative effort with clients. Feedback helps them to understand where they are performing well, so they can keep it up, and where they are slipping in quality, so that they can improve. It helps them measure the success of your partnership.
That’s why they need it regularly. Clients should make it a habit to provide feedback on how they perceive the agency’s performance from time to time. Agencies should also occasionally reach out for feedback; when they do, clients should provide clear, actionable feedback to improve the process.
Some clients don’t know how to offer feedback, and while that’s a helpful skill to learn, some agencies make it easier by asking specific questions or providing a form that helps them understand your feedback. Some things that can help clients when sharing feedback include:
- A simple “wins + misses” list where they include what went well, what didn’t, and why
- Clear examples or screenshots showing what should change
- A list of recurring issues to track over time (so patterns don’t get missed)
- A rating scale for key areas (speed, accuracy, communication, initiative)
- A list of things to keep doing, stop doing, and start doing
Note that not all feedback has to wait for set periods. Some feedback needs to come instantly. For example, if an agency is missing your brand tone in their ad copy, it’s best to flag it right away. Agencies might assume you’re happy with the work if they don’t hear otherwise, and when feedback comes late, time has already been wasted, or, worse, your brand may have already been misrepresented.
Timely Payments Keep The Partnership Healthy
Agencies run on payments for clients. That’s how they pay salaries, subscriptions, bonuses, and maintain any infrastructure they operate with. Clients should always prioritize their payment and even keep several months’ worth stashed safely. As long as the agency delivers high-quality results and meets its deadlines, there is no reason to delay its payments.
When clients delay payment, it puts significant strain on the agency. They struggle to pay for their operational setup and motivate their talents. With such a struggle, it’s hard to keep delivering good quality results, and it shows in the output.
Of course, issues arise that can delay payments, and thankfully, agencies understand that. When clients are unable to meet financial commitments, it’s best if they notify the agency well in advance, along with the reasons and a new time frame. With this, agencies not only understand the cause of the delay but can plan around it to keep the project or their operations running smoothly.
Agencies may even offer alternatives, such as budget trimming, to help you get closer to your goal without too much financial strain.
Performance Data Is Essential For Improvement
Suppose a retail business hires an agency to improve its email marketing program. The agency may segment its mailing list, design new email templates, and change the subject lines. However, to know precisely what the results look like, they need to see the performance data.
The details that make up the data, e.g., open rates and unsubscribe rates, will help them adjust their strategy promptly. They don’t need the client to share this data with them from time to time; instead, they need real-time access to it to deliver the best results.
Without this data, agencies are as good as blind, and we all know how a flight will go if the pilot is blind. The agency will continue working on assumptions that may be incorrect. By the time they see the real metrics, they have likely wasted time on a path they should have abandoned days or weeks ago.
Abrupt Decisions Have Real Consequences
Almost everything an agency does for a client requires adequate planning, which demands time. For example, if you need a media agency to edit and post videos on your YouTube channel, they will need to secure talent to source clips, edit the videos, assess their quality, and publish them.
They’ll also build systems to make this process smooth and assign their talents to each project based on availability, skill sets, workload, and delivery timelines. If the client just makes quick, random decisions, they negatively affect structures that the agencies have invested time and other resources to set up.
Just imagine hiring talent for a month, only to have the client pull the project after two weeks. Now, agencies are stuck with committed payroll costs, unused contracted hours, and resources reserved exclusively for that project.
In many cases, they have little or no time to assign the hired hands to other projects. They may not even have other projects that demand the skills they hired for. It ends with the agency taking avoidable losses. This can ruin even a strong agency-client relationship.
If clients expect frequent changes or are unsure about ramp-ups, it’s advisable to start small and scale as they get more data to make an informed decision. Besides, they should keep the agency well informed and work together on solutions.
Final Takeaway: Better Understanding Leads To Better Results
Are you a client who hasn’t been practicing the things mentioned in this article? After reading this, you now know what affects your results and what things you do that give agencies a hard time. Learning and practicing these simple habits when working with agencies will not only improve your outcomes but also your working relationship with them.
Also, if you want more helpful client-related resources, surf our blog. You’ll find help for providing feedback to VAs and making your agency deliver the results you want—helpful for learning how to work with an agency—among other topics.
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