Last week we talked about how to tell if you have a lousy B2B agency, and the many reasons for this. As with dryer fires and global economic collapse, the key is prevention. Here are five tips for not getting stuck with an agency that sucks at B2B.
1. Get a Seat at the Grown-Up Table
If you’re stuck with a crummy agency, make sure you get in on the next agency review. Be obnoxiously vocal about the shortcomings of the existing agency and chances are they’ll invite you to the review just to shut you up. ( Or you will insult someone’s nephew, they will fire you and you won’t have to work with the sucky agency). If you can’t get to the table make sure B2B is in scope on the RFP itself. Seriously. If you think your colleagues in B2C Land even considered business marketing when they scoped the RFP, you are drinking too much Nyquil. I can tell you from bitter experience that B2C marketers never think of stuff like this. But P-Cubers do so be thankful if one is on your side.
2. Ask for specific evidence of B2B expertise
This applies whether you are part of a larger RFP or looking solely at B2B agencies. All agencies will tell you they specialize in B2B. They will tell you it’s a core strength, it’s a passion, it’s a way of freaking life. And then they will give you a neatly typed list of companies they claim as B2B clients. Remember, they are doing what the rest of us do when asked for a customer list. We proudly throw our most prominent customers into RFPs and web pages even though: a) we did only a very small project; b) did it years and years ago; c) screwed it up and haven’t had the nerve to ask for more business since.
What you want are real customers, not former customers or occasional customers. They need to be companies that still exist and for which the agency has generated measured results (anyone can do measurable). Ask to see the creative, the media buy and evidence that it actually went ahead and got measured. Agencies love to haul out speculative work or rejected campaigns, confident you’ll never admit to not having seen the work and are too lazy to check the reference.
3. Actually Check the References
We wouldn’t dream of hiring someone for 90K without a reference check, so it amazes me how many companies hand over ten times that or more to some agency on the strength of a pretty presentation. I recommend calling not just the references the agency has provided but some of the other names on the customer list to find out how it really went. Things to ask:
- If they aren’t your current AOR, why did you part ways?
- How many revisions did work typically require?
- How quickly did they ramp up on your business and your markets?
- Did they include KPIs in their activities as a matter of course or did you have to ask?
- Was billing accurate and on time?
4. Ask for resumes of your account team
In some agencies the B2B gig is an entry point; in others it’s a checkpoint before a promotion; in many it’s a strong hint they can’t afford to fire you so they’re putting you someplace you can’t hurt yourself. None of these are the people you want on your account. Insist on at least two adults: one should be on your account management team, ideally it should be your account manager but if that won’t work your program manager or whatever they call the person who makes things actually happen. The other needs to be on the creative side. It can be an art director, writer, designer or producer but it needs to be someone with more than 20 minutes of experience, with enough influence to get horrible creative stopped before you have to look at it and who lacks a substance abuse problem. Keep pushing until you get adults. Make sure they have had actual jobs creating real B2B work.
5. Ask to meet the social media team early
They may call them the social activation team or the digital engagement group. If they were honest they would call them the things-we-just-don’t-understand group. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “full-service” agency. There are a few that come close but most agencies have a couple of core strengths and they wing or outsource the rest of it. My experience with traditional agencies is that social media is a weak spot and the sole qualification for being on the team is that you are too young to remember George Michael. You can prevent awkward conversations with earnest Millennials by meeting them early and grilling them about B2B, your brand, and their ideas for it. If you don’t like what you are hearing, insist on a different team or remove social from the scope and find a specialized agency.
Related Posts
Dos & Don’ts for Agency Reviews
Why Your Agency Sucks at B2B
BizMarketer is written by Elizabeth Williams
I help companies have better conversations
Drop me a line at ewilliams@candlerchase.com
Or follow me @bizmkter
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.