The Business Case for Client/Agency Relationship Management
A formal relationship management program between client and agency is good business. The key benefits of having a relationship management program are greater efficiency, greater speed, better communication, better work, and improved ROI. Speakers from the 4A's and ANA showcased results of a survey on client/agency relationship management programs.
In the context of advertising, relationship management is the supervision and maintenance of relationships between a company and its external partners. More simply put, relationship management is what guides the over-arching client-agency partnership.
For more on this topic, see:
The health of an agency/client relationship is built on trust. It is in both parties' best interests to maintain a long-term successful client-agency relationship. Both marketers and agencies spend a great amount of time, energy, and expense establishing a relationship, with marketers having to conduct the initial agency search to find the right partner.
Matthew Kasindorf from 4A's and Greg Wright from the ANA revealed key findings of a survey on agency relationship management (full results are available by clicking the link to the presentation).
Survey respondents were marketers and agencies who belonged to the ANA Agency Relations Committee.
Question: Do you have a formal Relationship Management program in place?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "Yes" (66 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "No" (34 percent)
Question: How long ago was your current Relationship Management program established?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "1-5 Years" (48 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "1-5 Years" (64 percent)
Question: How satisfied are you with the overall effectiveness of your Relationship Management program (scale of 1-5, with 5 being Completely Satisfied)?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "Very Satisfied or Completely Satisfied" (66 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "Very Satisfied or Completely Satisfied" (69 percent)
Question: What key benefits of a Relationship Management program offer the highest level of satisfaction?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "Better communication" (86 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "Better communication" (95 percent)
Question: A Relationship Management program can have a number of different components. With which of the following components do you engage?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "Annual evaluations" (88 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "Quarterly feedback sessions/check-ins" (77 percent)
Question: How often are 360-degree evaluations conducted?
Majority Answer for Marketers: "Annually" (58 percent)
Majority Answer for Agencies: "Annually" (60 percent)
Question for Marketers: Does your company have a separate relationship management team?
Majority Answer: "Yes" (54 percent)
According to Kasindorf and Wright, the survey revealed that a client/agency relationship management program needs:
- Executive support: Enlist approval from a senior executive to drive adoption of the program.
- Credibility: Reach out to stakeholders, whether on the client or agency side, and get buy-in for the program. Their feedback helps to ensure that they will be actively engaged in its success.
- Establishment of clear roles and responsibilities: Determine who will be the key point person for the program.
- Development of KPIs and data standardization: Set a basis for evaluation and know what you are trying to achieve. Make sure that everyone on the agency and client sides are on common ground, making it easier to chart benchmarks year over year.
- 360-degree feedback: The client needs to grade the performance of the agency and the agency needs to do the same for the client. Both sides also need to do their own self-assessments. There should be a two-way, open line of communication between clients and agencies at all times.
The 4A's/ANA whitepaper, "The Business Case For Relationship Management," can be found at www.ana.net/relationshipmanagement.
Source
“The Business Case for Client/Agency Relationship Management.” Matthew Kasindorf, Senior Vice President of Agency Management Services at 4A’s; Greg Wright, Vice President of Content Marketing at ANA. 2020 ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference, 10/7/20.