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According to some counts of late, there are over 16,000 marketing and communications agencies in the UK. And as someone who spends most of every business day speaking with, reading about and selecting agencies to be put forward for client briefs, I’m continually disappointed by how many marketing agencies neglect marketing themselves.

I find myself in conversations with clients daily to the tune of ‘Believe me, they’re a good marketing firm with talented people onboard…they just aren’t great at marketing themselves.’ How sad.

Our view is that it’s best to take some measure of risk when selecting a marketing agency.

In ~75% of cases, clients ask that the agencies we longlist for their brief:

• Have prior industry experience
• Be located within an hours’ drive or train ride

Average account longevity stands at a very low 2.5 years. Just about every client we speak with asks that we find them an agency ‘partner’. But what is a partnership? And what steps are necessary for a communications agency or client to form a partnership?

According to one commonly accepted definition of partnership, two firms or partners establish a formal component of shared financial risk or an actual joint venture in which the success or failure of either greatly impacts the other. At times, the clients we work with are generally seeking this type of arrangement—a pay for performance model, but this isn’t universally true. So, what is it that clients and agencies really want to see in one another when speaking of a ‘partnership’?

You’ve submitted your proposal (or RFP response, chemistry check, presentation, etc.) and you’re waiting to hear back from the client firm or intermediary on whether you’ll progress.

Do you:

A) Call or email the main contact 2-3 times a week

I’m not a copywriter. Though a voracious reader (or so I like to think) with an OK vocabulary, my first drafts are often cluttered with tired lines and clichés. And despite drastic editing, one or two trite phrases always seem to creep into my final drafts.

Arguably however, it’s worse for time poor agency-side staff, who write pitch presentations and case studies while suffering from the same problem.

While some of our clients boast decades’ experience, some are new to the industry and unsure of the traditional agency pitch process, or what level of bespoke effort is appropriate to ask of agencies in responding to their brief.

The traditional formal pitch process may look something like this:

• Request for Information (RFI) to Longlist Agencies: We recommend limiting RFI’s to include clients’ 5 most pressing questions,. Limiting the number of questions will increase the chances that agencies will respond personally rather than providing templated responses.
• Credentials (creds) meeting: Ideally a discussion of the client’s needs; agencies should avoid the temptation to speak too much about themselves and instead ask good questions, which demonstrate their ability to listen and truly understand their clients.
• Chemistry check: Whether purely social, or a working session to explore an element of the brief together, this portion of the pitch is to test personality fit. As such, the people who will actually work together on the business (not execs and new biz folks) must attend.
• Briefing: By this point, the number of agencies is trimmed to 3 (+ the incumbent in some cases). At a minimum, client briefs should include a clear statement of the business problem, measurable objectives, a clear budget and timeline. The best briefings will be done in person and allow adequate time for questions.
• Tissue meeting: This is mid-way review of agencies’ progress in responding to the client brief. Ideas are rough, unpolished and are shared only to gain early feedback from the client
• The pitch: Competing agencies present their final responses to the client brief face to face, allowing time for discussion thereafter.