5 Relationship Questions to Help Fix the Client-Agency Dynamic

When it comes to the client briefing process, we are in a place where, according to the IPA, one partner in the client-agency relationship thinks they’re getting it right 80% of the time and the other partner thinks they’re getting it right ... only 10% of the time. Having written clients' briefs as a planner client-side and creative briefs as a strategist agency-side; I can see the view from both sides of the fence. I am a strategic Switzerland, if you will. And I believe that, with a little lateral thinking instead of finger-wagging, we might find new solutions. When the latest data suggests that our relationships are in such dire straits, maybe we all need a bit of relationship counseling to get things back on track. I’ve applied five questions to the client-agency relationship that are typically posed by romantic relationship counselors: How do you both want to communicate? This dialogue is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship. And if communications agencies can’t communicate, well … Of course, there would be no healthy tension if clients and agencies agreed all the time. No one wants to live in a working world with that level of dull consensus. So work out together how you want to deal with moments of tension in the briefing process. To turn that friction into focus, so your brief is ever sharper and … well … brief. Do you share the same life goals? Are you heading in the same direction on the big stuff? In a romantic relationship, these are the biggies: do you want to get married, have kids, where do you want to live, are you in this for a long time or a good time? Be crystal clear on what success is going to look like for both client and agency teams and make sure you’re aligned on that. Super importantly, make sure your whole team on both sides are aligned with that, not just the senior execs. How to Make the Client-Agency Relationship Work What does love mean to you both? What will make you both happy? What are you excited about, why aren’t you already doing it and how can you help each other? If your board’s KPI is to cut A and P by 10%, yet your agency wants to catapult your brand to fame with advertising that requires a disproportionate production budget, there is likely to be a fall out down the line. Get on the same page on what is going to make you both happy. Sooner rather than later and—ideally—before one or both of you is too invested in the relationship. How do you both want to spend and save money? Money is the #1 cause of divorce. What do you both value in terms of how you spend your money? Is it all about production or strategy or creative or media (or all of the above)? How are you going to work in partnership to make the books balance, so that one of you doesn’t feel like the other one is wasting all the money in the joint bank account? Client briefs will only ever be as good as client-agency relationshipsKim Walker Do you both equally value the importance of honesty? Speaking your truth is daunting. It seems from the IPA data that agencies are not being open and honest about what they want out of the relationship (or the brief). It can feel scary to be honest and talk about what you need, but it always gets you closer to what you want. Be brave now and save a lot of tears for both parties down the line. To cut to the chase, client briefs will only ever be as good as client-agency relationships. If we don’t fix the relationships first, we won’t fix the issues with the brief. For those of you who prefer a more Buzzfeed style of relationship advice, I’ll leave you with a list of dos and don’ts for the client briefs you either choose to write or choose to accept: What to do: Be clear about what the problem is. What do you want people to do differently as a result of this?Be obsessive. Agencies want you to be bewitched with what makes your brand brilliant.Be juicy. Everyone likes to work on things that are interesting, so please avoid the generic.Be comfortable with not having all the answers. This is the start of the journey, not the end.Be brief. A brief should be brief, not war and peace. Kill your darlings in the edit. What not to do: Sweat it. If you overthink it, it will get complicated and Frankenstein-esque real quick.Believe your own hype. Expect to be challenged when you’ve swallowed your own Kool-Aid.Think the brief is the answer. At best, it’s just a smart articulation of the problem.Write the creative brief. Agency strategists translate client briefs into creative briefs.Write the creative work. Just give creative specialists permission to go get started. How Agencies Can Retain Clients When a New CMO Comes In