The history of client and agency relationships date back to the early days of marketing and advertising and was ever since under constant transformation. The continuous fragmentation of agency types and ongoing pricing pressure from big procurement lead client organizations are just only two of many challenges this industry faces. No wonder this results in an industry average for the length of a client-agency relationship of only 3,2 years. Especially for big brands and agencies it is vital to find long lasting partners as the formal pitches are huge and cost immense time and resources (on both sides). So what options do they have to make their relationships last longer?
What is relationship management?
Client-Agency Relationship Management is a formal management process that aims to create a beneficial environment for both parties in which they can flourish and strive for higher performance. A recent report on this topic by the American Association of Advertising Agencies defines a program doing that as:
It is a process by which all key aspects of the client/agency relationship are identified, periodically reviewed, and openly discussed, with the intent to clarify expectations, raise issues, define success, and optimize the working relationship.
So at the core is an open feedback dialog between the two parties where issues can be addressed and solved on a regular base. In the center to create foundation for discussion is some sort of evaluation or voting system that is conducted on a regular bases. Just in the idea as the management guru Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”
How do I start?
The heart of every relationship program should be a frequent conducted survey to collect feedback. There are plenty of simple solution for that out there like surveymonkey or a simple Google form. This will get you started but if you want a more sophisticated solution and also follow the advise of the 4A recommendation to use a 360° solution, you should take a look at our product REALationships.
The main difference to a simple survey software is, that it offers a 360° view on the topic and also goes beyond just receiving the survey result every now and then. Our solution is designed to support you through the entire workflow of a relationship program with the survey at the core but also with a tool to keep track of your optimization tasks and assist you during feedback session with client/agency.
Furthermore, we as a consultancy also support clients and agencies actively when it comes to resolve problems, conflicts and other issues that stand in the way of getting the relations back on track.
What I get out of it?
The main benefits of a relationship management program are especially better communication, better work, and improved ROI, as well as greater efficiency and speed. For for details on what to expect from such a program, have a detailed look at the 4A’s report below:
Still not convinced if a relationship program can work for you? We offer a 14 days free trial (no credit card required) to test our REALationships tool in detail. You can also send unlimited survey requests in that time-frame and use full functionality.
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