Getting the most out of your agency

Here are some observations from years of either working with, for, or as an agency to ensure you get the most out of our engagement.

I’ve worked as an in-house developer for companies who have used agencies.

I’ve also worked for agencies where I have been the one completing projects or embedding on a different team.

Now, we have our own micro-agency. Here we get to work with clients, as well as sometimes collaborate with other agencies to help support them.

I share that to show we’ve been on all sides of this fence, so these observations and tips should be useful to you.

These will apply if you’re working with anyone, but of course we’d love it if you worked with us.

Some people like to solutionise

Some clients start an engagement with super specific needs, and have already decided on the specifics of the solution. This can be a useful starting point for discussions, but I would caution against it.

When you have decided the solution before you put the team in place, you often won’t get great output.

This is because either the team picked will have too narrow a scope, because, for example, you have already chosen the technology. Or the team can’t bring their full wealth of experience to the table.

Solution

Try and come with problems, not solutions. You work with an agency to take advantage of their experience, the agency will have a lesser impact if you don’t let them use that experience.

If you do have strong opinions on what needs to happen and why, then you’re better off finding someone much cheaper. A lot of our clients, for example, come to us because they’ve already done the work to find a solution and need a single developer or tiny team to execute. There is no point engaging with a larger agency at that point.

Where agencies shine is taking a problem statement and letting their larger organisation think about a holistic solution.

Some people know what they want but not why they want it

Sometimes as a client, someone tells you that need to do something. For example, “add a blog section to the website”. You can hire an agency off the back of that need. They can come in and consider the technical and design issues. The great agencies can organise content audits and content calendars for your team to manage.

In this example no solutionising has happened (see my previous point) but there is some crucial context missing, the why.

Solution

Have an idea of the questions you want answers to.

What question are you trying to answer where “add a blog to the website” is the solution? Depending on the why, the solution might actually be to assign someone a bit more time to post more regularly to your company LinkedIn page (side note: something we’re trying to get better at!).

Knowing the why will allow you to pick the most appropriate agency, or at least have a good agency give you more appropriate options.

Sometimes working preferences aren’t clear

Do you prefer daily standups and in-person meetings? Or do you want a single email after 3 months saying “it’s done”.

Sharing early can help set expectations and allow the agency to deliver what matters to you.

Solution

Be clear on how you like to work. If you have a preference for email over calls, or for how much detail you want in updates, share it early so it can be accommodated.

This is especially important if it is your job to summarise what is happening and share it with another team or person. You can ask your agency to report back in such a way that your life is easier.

It also helps with internal planning, if, for example if you want 30 minute calls every day, the agency can make sure their team can accommodate.

Some people don’t like giving critical feedback

Some people don’t like to give critical feedback until the project is wrapping up. It is understandable, you don’t want to feel like you’re hurting feelings or derailing the project by bringing something up. Trust me, the earlier feedback like that can come the better.

Solution

If something isn’t working for you, let the agency know early! It’s so much easier to course correct at the start of an engagement than at the end.

I was about to give examples of minor and more serious issues, but, if it is something that is annoying you as a client you should say, even if you think it is tiny.

You’re paying a lot of money to receive professional work, if that company can’t listen to and act on feedback, you aren’t getting value for money.

Wider context matters

Some clients are very reticent to share details on overlapping or wider changes happening within their business.

Sometimes this is a need-to-know affair, but more often than not I hear that people didn’t want to overburden the agency or derail the conversation.

Knowing the wider context can allow the agency to adapt.

Solution

Share timely context. Knowing at a high level what other projects are in the works will help the agency understand if there are natural overlaps or things to keep in mind. This can be as simple as “oh we have an ad campaign we’re going to run on a related page” to as complex as “we’re getting a new head of digital and the team structure is likely to change”.

The message can be as simple as “Just a heads up, in 3 months we’re doing X, there should be no immediate impact on your project but thought you’d like to know.”.

To Recap

To get the most out of your agency, have a think about what problems you want them to solve for your business, and the ways of working that would work best for you. Don’t be afraid to offer feedback, and always supply timely context.

If you can do that, you’ll get much more value for money from the engagement than if you don’t.

If there is anything in this post you’d like to chat more about, do feel free to contact us.