How to make the most of working with a creative agency

While the majority of start-ups attempt to DIY every aspect of their business to reduce costs, it can be beneficial to invest in outsourcing your creative work to an agency. If you have absolutely no idea about branding, marketing or design, how can you create an exceptional logo, marketing strategy or branding concept for your business?

It doesn’t matter how great your product is, if you’re let down by your creative your potential customers won’t give you a second glance. The creative aspect of your business tells the story of your product and allows customers to connect emotionally with your brand personality. If these terms don’t make any sense to you, or if you’re already looking to invest in your creative, working with an agency may greatly benefit your business. Agency fees aren’t cheap, so take note of the following three tips to help you make the most of your relationship:

Commitment

1. Commitment

To get your client / agency relationship off to a great start, ensure that you show your commitment right from the get go. You want the agency to be working hard for your business, so showing you’re committed will increase their motivation. It is both your responsibility and the agency’s to maintain and develop relationship values, so make the first move and lead by example.

By empowering your agency, you are showing that not only are you committed, but that you trust them with your business. It is important to negotiate space for risk-taking and to agree on which aspects the agency can be pro-active, without running every minor decision past you.

Another way to display your commitment to the relationship is to follow industry standards and provide adequate resources for the task. To fully capture what you’re looking for, the agency will need as much information as you can give them in regards to specifications, concepts and the direction of your business. Agree to levels of service before any further steps are taken, so that you can both ensure that you have realistic expectations of what will be involved.

Also, make sure that you value the agency’s work. Free pitches devalue creativity and opportunism destroys trust. Stay away from both of these and your relationship will garner much more respect.

Communication

2. Communication

The worlds of a start-up business and a creative agency are very different and it’s important that you both understand this. Your relationship will benefit from increased interaction, so reply promptly to emails and sign off on projects within a reasonable time frame.

Whilst you may feel that because you are paying the agency that your word should be taken as gospel, you also need to be open to hearing the truth (within reason!). Your agency knows what they’re doing and most likely has a portfolio of successful work and years of experience, so take a step back and listen to what they have to say.

It’s also a good idea to instigate two-way appraisals, so that you can both ensure that you’re providing what the other needs to do their job more effectively. If you’re constantly complaining that your agency is delivering work late it might be because you are taking far too long to sign off on things, leaving them unable to move forward. This sort of constructive feedback is really beneficial and will keep you both working well together.

Expectations

3. Expectations

There is nothing quite like unrealistic expectations to ruin a relationship, whether that’s in business or in your personal life. Whilst working with an agency you need to be clear about your expectations and also manage expectations if something unexpected does crop up. When having initial talks with the agency about your ideas, ensure that your brief and their predicted output are aligned. This will help make sure you’re both on the same page and prevent any unwelcome surprises down the line.

A given, that will significantly benefit your relationship, is transparency regarding costs. As a start-up business you are likely to be keeping a close eye on your budget, so hidden costs may cause tension and stress. Be up-front with the agency about your budget and request that any additional costs be signed off by you before the project moves ahead. This will benefit the agency too, no one likes chasing clients for money, it can get very uncomfortable!

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