Flash, inaccessible Ajax, behavioral targeting. Sometimes agencies come up with ideas that are just too creative. They’ll look good and win them awards. But they won’t bring you any more customers. In fact they may well bring you far fewer. The agency’s types are supposed to be the experts. How do you tell them they’re wrong while guiding their creativity to provide what you really need to sell more?
Are they really wrong?
Before starting to make the case that the agency are wrong, ask yourself this question: why are they proposing what they’re proposing? Perhaps you need to give it a second thought. Perhaps they’re on to something. Keep an open mind and listen to their rationale. If nothing else, listening to them will allow you to address the flaws in their thought process.
Don’t speak the agency’s language
One of the most common problems with agencies and freelancers is their inability to speak their clients’ language. That betrays a deeper lack of understanding of their clients’ business. More often than not, it is this lack of understanding that causes agencies to offer wrong concepts.
Make sure to use your own terminology, challenging how each element contributes demonstrably to your KPIs. Don’t be put off by the awkward silence that follows a list of business KPIs that comprises sales and cost per sale as opposed to salience and awards: it’s a sign they’re finally internalising your goals and realizing how wrong their proposals have been.
Remind them you’re the expert
I’ve run out of numbers to count the times even junior staff at Web agencies have come to a meeting with me expecting to see someone who doesn’t know their ass from their elbow when it comes to eBusiness. Agencies somehow assume that nobody that works client-side has ever used a browser, built a website nor sold an item online before. Their attitude can be one of sublime condescendence.
Don’t feel ashamed to stamp that preconception out as soon as it becomes apparent. Remind them you’re the one whose job is actually to run a successful online business. Don’t be shy of naming names: show your expertise -if you’re into usability, a mention of Fitts’ Law tends to work magic; if your thing is technology, a quick run around alternative implementations that would provide better accessibility can have the same effect. Plus, you’re more likely to know the people who run other businesses they’d love to work for, so go on, mention a couple of names.
Make sure all this doesn’t turn into a contest about who knows best, rather an exercise in establishing a mature conversation among equally qualified people striving to solve a common issue. Establishing the relevance of everyone’s expertise is the first step towards a fully fruitful business relationship.
Know when to admit defeat
The short answer is: very rarely. The long answer is sometimes you can make a tactical retreat in order to gain a strategic advantage. If you can afford it, why not ask the agency to put their money where their mouth is and share your risk? How about you pay them based only on the commercial success of their proposal? I have used this argument a number of times and rarely being taken up on it. I still find it surprising how professionals can staunchly defend a flawed proposition just to backtrack when given an opportunity to prove you wrong which includes even the littlest element of risk. If they accept, then go for it. Who knows, your customers may eventually prove them right. Splash pages are reviled the Web over, but I know of a splash page somewhere that increased conversion, sales and cross-sales. Expertise can be rather a drag sometimes.
Miguel Sotillos says
Estoy de acuerdo conti
Miguel Sotillos says
Estoy de acuerdo contigo Rob