Companies of all sizes depend on outside agency resources. If you work for a larger organization, you probably juggle multiple projects with multiple agencies simultaneously. You are paying these firms, like Harvest, for their time and expertise. Knowing how to maximize these relationships is crucial to saving time, money and headaches.
Obviously, all agencies (web design firms, ad agencies, branding firms, etc.) are different and all of us have our own way of doing things. Differences aside, you will see improvement in your agency relationships by applying the below tips to all of your agency projects.
- Provide sufficient information for a written estimate and always require a written estimate. When Daniel and I first started, we would take on projects without getting a written estimate signed by the client. We learned our lesson. After a few unfortunate miscommunications, we now put everything in writing so that we are all on the same page about the project requirements, services to be provided, final deliverables, timeline for the project, project fee and how the fee will be paid. Any reputable firm will welcome the opportunity to provide a written project estimate. This helps us avoid misunderstandings that lead to disputes.
- Designate a project lead. If a firm is trying to communicate with four different people that all have their own direction, you’re in trouble. This will, without a doubt, lead to miscommunication, errors and frustration on both sides of the table. Group presentations and concept reviews are great for gathering input from your entire team. It’s a good idea to get everyone in a room to hammer through concepts. You definitely want to expose your team to the raw concepts and initial campaign pitches. However, ongoing communication and final approval/direction should always come from the designated lead on a project.
- Provide a detailed creative brief. Yes, you have already come to terms on a written estimate, but that document usually doesn’t contain specific creative direction. Taking the time to produce a creative brief will limit revision rounds that waste time and money. Specific creative direction gives your design partners more time to focus on concepts that are on message.
- Let your partners shine. If you micromanage too much, you’ll end up with a less-than-spectacular creative product. Provide a thorough, creative brief and then allow your agencies to show their stuff. If you act like a dictator, all of your creative product is going to look like it came from a communist country. If you allow some creative freedom, you’ll benefit from the excitement of people taking ownership in their new ideas that push the envelope. In the end, everyone will enjoy the collaboration and innovation that creative freedom breeds.
- Provide detailed and prompt feedback. Thorough and precise communication is the key to everyone being happy at the completion of a project. Any experienced design team will expect revisions.
You may be a seasoned executive laughing at the simplicity of these steps. I agree, everything above is simple. Before you write them off as obvious and irrelevant, test your project managers. See if they can walk you through the steps of properly outsourcing a project. I’m willing to bet some of them struggle. If they can’t provide you a step-by-step guide…shoot them a link to this post. We haven’t given them all the tools, but these guidelines are a good start.
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