Once the pitch is over and the business has been won now is the time to bed in the business and build a long term, profitable and sustainable relationship. Here are some best practice steps to help you not only get off to a good start but to secure your working relationship for the future.
This could include people from the growth team, the pitch team, the day-to-day account team (if different from the pitch team), or the commercial team. Agree and communicate an action plan covering at least the points below. Make sure the client knows who’s who, and what they’ll be responsible for.
Since that first meeting with the client you’ve gathered reams of information on the client organisation, key stakeholders, team structure, reporting lines, their marketplace etc. Don’t lose this valuable knowledge in transition. Establish a central knowledge bank to be maintained by the client team.
Proactively engage with marketing and other relevant teams (such as finance, legal, procurement) to agree the terms of business. This should cover things like the SOW, SLA, contract, remuneration method, terms and incentives. Always identify the best people within the agency to lead any negotiations.
Where appropriate, work with your direct client teams from day one to establish a channel of open dialogue with procurement. Proactively demonstrate the value of what you’re doing and a willingness to learn how to evolve that in line with procurement’s accountabilities to the business.
Agree the destination before you start marching; this will most likely be a combination of commercial objectives for the business and specific marketing measures that support them. Consult stakeholders to ensure their requirements are built into the KPIs and agreement is reached before work starts.
Document your commitments to one another. Encourage open conversation; make it crystal clear what the client can expect from you on a day to day basis and in return be clear about the behaviours you’ll need from them to create a brilliant working relationship.
Run an induction programme to properly introduce the agency, the core team and other relevant key people to the wider client stakeholder group. Ask for the same in return by establishing a programme of immersion activities and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Have an honest conversation about the best cadence of communications to suit both parties. Start with a plan and agree both the method and frequency of core team communication to prevent potential relationship glitches early on. This includes daily emails, check-in calls through to quarterly temperature check meetings.
Agree what methods you’ll use to audit the relationship going forward and how frequently it should happen. Establish clear KPIs for this (as well as the work).
As well as the forthcoming campaign that triggered the agency review, it’s likely there are ongoing projects that have been deprioritised during the pitch process. Quickly get to grips with everything and set up a timeline of work. Support a sensitive, and efficient handover from the outgoing agency.
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