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For most marketers (and agencies), the answer to the question, ‘when’s a good time for an agency review…?‘ is likely, ‘never!‘

Yes, sometimes the decision to undertake an agency review is clear:  International alignment.  Competitive conflict.  Regional mandates.  Perhaps even irreconcilable differences. But what if the reasons aren’t so clear yet there’s something gnawing at the back of your mind that an agency evaluation or review is something you should consider?  Those reasons can often point to bigger issues and underscore the fact you’re not maximizing value from a particular agency relationship. So whether you’re contemplating a full agency review or thinking about a formal agency evaluation with agency search consultants, here are ten warning signs that your agency relationship isn’t as strong as it needs to be:

Team members are leaving and retention is becoming an issue

Whether it’s your team or at the agency, poor retention is an early warning sign that the relationship could use a check-up.  If the team members are within your own organization, take extra time with an exit interview and really dig for the underlying causes.  If the team members are on the agency side and you really valued their contribution to your business – find them on LinkedIn and ask for their feedback and perspective on the relationship.

New ideas aren’t forthcoming

When was the last time your agency came to you with a really innovative idea for your business?  I’m not talking about an added service, I’m talking about the excited call or e mail that says, “hey, I’ve been thinking about your business and I’d really like to talk about how this could make a difference to your business…” If you’ve not had one of those calls in a while – why not?

It looks pretty but…

The creative is great and perhaps winning awards.  But is it working?  What do the numbers look like?  What does the tracking study point to?  And how’s the competition doing relative to your share? Are you maximizing real, measurable value from your current campaigns?

Your teams dread agency meetings

If this is the case and you’ve noticed attendance or enthusiasm dropping off, pull some team members aside and ask why.  Is it a time issue?  Are meetings too long or just unproductive?  Or are there conflicts that won’t go away?  Is the chemistry off?  If you see a pattern emerge, perhaps it’s time for an agency evaluation to try and head off issues before they become barriers to your business.

You’re reluctant to bring up agency issues to your management team

If you’re reluctant to bring up agency issues to your executive management team, consider the underlying reasons.  Is it because issues are coming up too often?  Is it results based?  Is it a cost issue?  If you’re seeing a recurring theme in agency issues, then perhaps it’s time to address the issue head-on so your next executive management meeting can be solutions focused on the issues at hand.

Why are we doing this?

If you’re wondering if you’re work is having an impact, or you’re having difficulty extrapolating any kind of meaningful ROI, you need to up the ante.  In today’s multi-dimensional digital ecosystem, ROI calculations have got to make sense – no matter what the medium.  If those calculations aren’t forthcoming, an agency evaluation process can help underscore the importance of an ROI mentality from everyone who works on your business.

Agency costs are becoming difficult to predict

If you dread opening an agency estimate or you’re getting that gnawing “how do they come up with these numbers” question in your mind, it’s a sign there’s more transparency needed in the estimation process.  And that’s ok if the problem’s fixed quickly.  But don’t let the problem linger – because the longer you leave it, the harder it’ll be to change behaviours.

Calls / emails aren’t returned promptly

If your agency is engaged on your business, you should reasonably expect a call back the same morning or afternoon.  Not the next day, not the day after.  If that’s not happening, you need to ask what’s stopping that from happening.  Are your key contacts focused on other business?  Are they too busy fighting fires?  Or is there an underlying issue that needs to be addressed?

It’s too comfy

This is a tough one.  You love your agency, the work looks good.  And you’ve known them for years.  All good, right?  Not necessarily.  Focus on the results and whether you’re really maximizing value on agency initiatives.  When did you last do a 360 evaluation? How competitive are their services?  The communications business has transformed itself in the last five years – has your agency stepped up?  Has your organization benefitted from that transformation?

The focus is on them not you

So the awards are good. And business evolution is imperative. But how much of that change is focused on you?  Are the awards and changes benefiting your business?  Are you seeing growth?  Are you seeing benefits in productivity?  Lower costs?  Better ROI?   In case anyone needs reminding, the agency business is about you – not them. Bottom line:  If you’re getting that gnawing feeling in more than one of these areas, perhaps there’s some substance behind the questions. Like anything else in your business, you’re paying for results.   And if some of those results aren’t being delivered, perhaps it’s time to make a change sooner rather than later.
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Calling an agency review is like breaking up. It’s rarely easy, and it’s usually a last resort. So what typically drives clients to this drastic, last step?

In our experience, agency reviews are generally called for only a comparatively small number of reasons and, for the most part, many reviews could potentially be avoided if the underlying reasons were properly diagnosed and addressed in the early stages of their first symptoms. While that may sound a bit like a surgeon’s health warning, the analogy isn’t far off.

Aside from corporate governance, realignment or conflict, here are our observations on the top ten client / relationship killers – and how to avoid them:

Revolving door

In cases where the agency has a ‘revolving door’ of staff on the account, both the client and the agency should work together to understand why because it doesn’t necessarily follow that it’s the agency to blame. Marketers should ask the agency why resources are constantly changing and be prepared to address feedback that may point to their own organization contributing to the high rate of staff turnover.

Lack of Trust

This is the toughest issue to resolve because it goes to the very foundation of the client / agency relationship. Resolving a lack of trust between a client and an agency can generally only be resolved if it’s addressed as soon as the issue surfaces. The longer the issue is left unresolved, the more likely it is the relationship will be unsalvageable. Irrespective of which side the lack of trust originates, the marketer or the agency must confront the issue with their counterpart and resolve it or resign themselves to the fact they have a terminally ill relationship and an agency review will – sooner or later – be inevitable.

Cost

Ah yes… although cost comes up frequently as a cause for agency dissatisfaction, marketers should actively seek an accurate and independent assessment of what their scope of work should cost in the current market before contemplating an agency change. Costs may be a sore point, but it’s rarely the sole culprit in agency dissatisfaction.

Lack of creativity (or so they think)

If your agency isn’t delivering the creative you want, the key is to understand the real reasons why. While some agencies have stronger creative resources and all marketer creative challenges aren’t created equal, it’s important to understand what role your own organization plays in this perceived lack of creativity. Underlying causes may be in the briefing provided, the lack of insights identified in the planning process or perhaps in the evaluation of concepts when they’re presented.

Performance

Performance is another area where marketers need to understand the real reasons their agency isn’t performing. Identifying underlying client-side business challenges, misalignment of objectives or perhaps media issues unrelated to strategic or creative output could then avert the need for an unnecessary agency search. Determining the true reason behind the performance issue and resolving it can create a far more powerful agency relationship than an agency review ever could.

Material change in scope

When a marketer has a material change of scope, the question is then whether the incumbent is capable of managing to those revised requirements. If the scope is so radically different from before, the marketer must also ask how their internal teams are going to manage that change and perhaps whether an additional specialist agency would be more helpful than a switching out the incumbent.

Seniority – or lack thereof

The root cause of a lack of senior resources on a piece of business is typically that the agency isn’t being remunerated sufficiently to be able to afford to staff with greater seniority. In these cases, marketers should review their scopes of work with their incumbents to define an agreed staffing plan against an agreed (perhaps revised) budget or remuneration plan.

Change

If you’re a marketer looking for a ‘change’, ask yourselves specifically what it is in the relationship that you’d like changed. In most cases, agencies are going to be receptive to requests for change and accommodate them if their clients can be specific about what needs to be addressed – and why. An ongoing, honest dialogue will help create a stronger, long-term relationship and put the ‘grass is greener’ idea into perspective.

Weak Execution

While poor execution can be frustrating, there are many factors at play that should be isolated: Speed, cost, accuracy, quality assurance, lack of process (by agency or marketer or both), or too many confusing change requests can all cause a perception of ‘poor execution’. By being specific about what’s not working, your agency can then be challenged to address the specific concern within a defined time period.

Politics

Politics in any situation can be tough, but if they’re not addressed within an incumbent agency environment, the chances are they’ll spill over into the next agency relationship and resurface. If you can’t address the politics of a situation at an executive level, it may be that you have an underlying organizational design issue that needs to be addressed before you can begin to focus on searching for a new agency.

But…

These aren’t the only factors that kill agency relationships and cause clients to call agency reviews, but they are all irritants that can sour otherwise healthy relationships. And more often than not, it’s rarely one single issue in isolation that causes a marketer to pull the trigger on an agency review process, which is why regular agency evaluations are helpful as early warning signs of potential trouble.

So if you’re contemplating an agency review but haven’t identified the root cause – take time to do some introspection on your own organization and how your teams might be able to work differently to resolve some of the pain points. And if you’re stuck, our agency health-check system can help pinpoint specific issues on both sides within a couple of weeks.

How’s your agency relationship faring? A strained agency relationship can be like a ticking time bomb – so if you need to diffuse the tension, let us know – we’re here to help.

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Last year, the agency review scene resembled a singles mixer on steroids, with more than 150 pitches (that we were aware of) here in Canada alone. So what caused the frenzy of pitches last year – and what can we expect in the year ahead?

While there’s never going to be a single reason for all pitches in market, there are some consistent themes that are likely suspects:

So, what about this year – are we in for another record breaking year of reviews?

It’s our view that the pandemic review thaw is finally over and anything that was delayed because of COVID has now happened. But even if – as many suspect – inflation cools and interest rates dip, marketers are still laser-focused on protecting tight budgets. This, folks, is a recipe for a tinderbox of change potentially as explosive as last year.

Meanwhile, any marketer dreading the prospect of a disruptive search, proactive self-reflection can offer a valuable alternative and a chance to strengthen the brand-agency partnership. Corresponding agencies must be ready to add additional value and resolve lingering remote working challenges, or find themselves defending their turf from hungry competitors.

And if all that weren’t enough, we need to be mindful that a US election is doubtless going to add to the distraction and add to the uncertainty of economic challenges through to the end of November.

And that will will make things interesting.