Why do we make sure agencies get fast, consolidated feedback after a working or tissue session during Mercer Island Group agency reviews?
That’s easy: better agency feedback, delivered in a timely fashion, results in a better agency review for all involved.
Here’s why it’s important and how to do it in your next agency review.
Better agency feedback helps a client see the best of the agency.
Client/agency relationships are not like the Olympics, where the best athlete may stumble once and miss out on a gold medal. Client-agency relationships are complex, filled with ongoing discussions, feedback and frequent changes. The right agency for most clients is often one that learns from feedback and readily addresses that input.
The benefits of timely delivery of clear and consistent feedback are immense: the agencies have a better chance to show their best and clients have a better chance of choosing the right agency. Clients get the benefit of seeing how an agency responds to feedback and if the agency is learning and growing during the review.
A few simple steps aimed at delivering better feedback can help you make your next agency review a better experience for the agencies and more successful for your business.
Few executives are taught how to evaluate an agency presentation and fewer yet are trained in how to deliver that feedback.
Some suggestions follow.
During the meeting: The agency team has worked hard and they really want to know how you feel about their work. Tell them! But tell them using the following approach.
The first job in your evaluation process is to make sure you listen actively and understand the agency’s presentation and recommendations. Take notes. Ask questions. Ask as many questions as you need to be able to assess the process, thinking and recommendations.
Once you are sure you understand the strategy, make sure you understand the creative (or media, PR, etc.) recommendations. Ask more questions!
Once you understand the recommendations, take a minute to evaluate how you think and feel about the work. A disciplined and thoughtful evaluation is important in order to respect the hard work the agency put into your account and in order to be able to deliver effective feedback.
In giving feedback during the presentation, avoid being prescriptive in your feedback and solving any concerns you may have. Instead, frame your feedback as questions. Tell them about your concern and ask questions like “I wonder if there is a way…” and “Is it possible to…”
And, of course, before you wrap the meeting, thank the agency team genuinely for their efforts. They deserve it!
After the Meeting, Consolidate Feedback: You’ve given some high-level feedback during the work session. Now it is time to refine that feedback and to deliver it in one voice with clarity. It is essential that the client team consolidates all feedback into a simple, consistent series of messages. Conflicting and inconsistent feedback makes it virtually impossible for an agency to succeed.
Deliver Consolidated Feedback within 24 Hours: With the consolidated feedback in hand, arrange a call to review your feedback directly with the agency, and follow that call up with written feedback.
At Mercer Island Group, we try to get agencies consolidated feedback the same day if possible and definitely within 24 hours. The agency is on the clock, and the ability to deliver clear feedback within 24 hours both respects the agency’s enthusiasm and investment in your business as well as helps the agency help you make better decisions.
Better agency feedback results in a better agency review outcome.
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.