[AGENCY EBOOK]

WHY YOU GET FIRED

The Most Frequent Breaking Points in the Client/Agency

Relationship & How to Avoid Them.

HubSpots Partner Program

CHAPTER ONE

[AGENCY
EBOOK] OF A
THE IMPORTANCE
WHY
YOU
GET FIRED
CLEAN
WELL-LIT
PLACE
The Most Frequent Breaking Points in the Client/Agency
Relationship & How to Avoid Them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

VET THE RELATIONSHIP 5

/
DONT BECOME AN ORDER-TAKER / 8
CLOSE THE LOOP / 10
CONCLUSION / 11
MORE RESOURCES / 12
AFTER I DO, WHO DOES WHAT? 5

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 2

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE

THE
BETWEEN
THEMARRIAGE
IMPORTANCE
OF A
AGENCY
AND CLIENT
CLEAN WELL-LIT
PLACE

A MARRIAGE / INTRODUCTION
The relationship between marketing agencies and their clients is a lot like a marriage. You
meet, you court, you fall in love, you get married. Then, like all good marriages, you enjoy
a honeymoon. It could be a few weeks or a few months.
After that, like any marriage, you come to a fork in the road. You will either go on to live
happily ever after or you will experience the business equivalent of a divorce you will
get fired. Dumped. Canned.
It all seemed so good, so promising. You signed a contract, they were paying their retainers (and on time, at that!). You were optimizing their SEO, ghostwriting their blogs, tweeting, posting fabulous things for them on Facebook, and doing the things their business
needed done to generate more traffic and drive more leads.

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

Then, one day, your normally hyper-responsive client doesnt return the emails or texts
you sent. You left a voice mail, but that wasnt returned the same day as they usually are.
When you finally do connect, that enthusiasm in their voice is gone. You werent feeling
the love. You soon get that one-line email that says, Can you send me a copy of our
contract? Your gut tells you those retainer checks wont be coming much longer.

HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20

You should have seen it coming, right? The last-minute canceled meetings, the questions
about what it is that you do exactly, the way they no longer look you in the eye. Then, they
pull the trigger. Youre not really providing any value, theyre not seeing the results they
expected, they can do this themselves. Youre fired. Adios, amigo.
So, where did you go wrong? You didnt hit Reply All when you thought you were just telling your co-worker you thought the outfit the client wore at lunch today was inappropriate.
You didnt post a picture of them at the Christmas party on their Facebook page or yours.
After studying more than 500 of these breakup conversations, weve learned that its

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 1

almost never is a major screw-up that

leads an agency to getting fired; its a lot
of little things that add up over time. You
know, just like a marriage leaving the
toilet seat up, saying things like Youre
not planning to wear that, are you? or
answering Do I look fat in this? the
wrong way (which, by the way, is a trick
question; theres no right way to answer
that one).
This ebook discusses the most frequent
breaking points in the client/agency
relationaship so that you can avoid them.

VET THE
RELATIONSHIP
You wouldnt marry someone you just
met. You have to get to know them first.
Date awhile, and see what it is youre
getting into. And in the same way, you
cant just leap into a relationship with
a client without vetting them. There
are four key areas in which you should
qualify the relationship:

Budget, authority, needs, time (BANT)

covers the fundamentals of any agency-client relationship. Nothing moves
forward with these items being addressed.
With the basics taken into account,
you next need to look at the long-term
issues, the goals, plans, challenges,
and timelines (GPCT) that will shape the
relationship.
Too many agencies tend to overlook
whether they and their clients are a
good fit in terms of each organizations
culture. This isnt some big screen
romance where love conquers all, its a
business relationship and its important
that you share common values and attitudes about how to achieve your mutual
goals.
Finally, you need to have the resources to do the job, the personnel, skills,
and technology. And, the relationship
has to fit within the framework that is
contemporary life. Say what you will, but
geography matters, time zones count. Be
sure you have the people to do the job
and you understand the limitations time
and distance impose if those are going to
be part of your relationship.

1. B.A.N.T.
2. G.P.C.T.
3. Culture
4. Resources & Logistics

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 2

VET THE BANT & GPCT

Of the four qualifying areas, address these things first: budget, authority,
needs, and time (BANT). If you cant get past this, the rest doesnt matter.
Budget - What you do is valuable and it costs money. If they have no budget, either for
you or the things you recommend they do, theres no point in going any further.
Authority - It may sound obvious but make sure you are speaking with the
person who has the authority to hire you.
Needs - Understand what your client needs. Itll come in handy later when
you determine whether your agency can fulfill those needs.
Time - Are they ready to begin work now or are they still kicking the tires?
Once you know their timeline, you can plan accordingly.

Too many agencies tend to overlook whether they and

their clients are a good fit in terms of each organizations
culture. This isnt some big screen romance where love
conquers all, its a business relationship and its important
that you share common values and attitudes about how to
achieve your mutual goals.

Knowing a clients goals, plans, challenges, and timelines (GPCT) will help you flesh out
where this relationship is headed.
Goals You cant meet their goals if you dont know what they are.
Plans - Do their plans to meet their goals include inbound marketing? If not, why are
you there at all?
Challenges - Determine which challenges are keeping them from meeting their goals
so you know if you have the solutions they need.
Timelines - Inbound marketing usually shows results pretty quickly. But getting results
and meeting goals are two different things. Make sure everyone has realistic expectations of the timelines needed to meet the goals you set.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 3

VET THEM VERTICALLY

Youve already looked at your potential clients goals, and compared them with your own.
Now its time to see what else you share in common. In a marriage, its important for a
couple to share mutual interests: liking similar movies, reading similar books, enjoying
similar hobbies, etc. Its very difficult to keep a relationship going if the two of you have
nothing in common.
Similarly, before you embark upon a professional relationship with a client, its important
to make sure theres a vertical fit: that youre compatible in not only goals, but the things
that lead up to it: things like strategies and priorities. Does your agency have a niche, or
particular area of expertise? What type of company do you prefer to work with, and what
fields are you most experienced with? Does this potential client fit within that niche? The
more things you share in common, the more effectively youll be able to communicate,
and the better youll ultimately be able to meet their needs.

Think back on the clients you enjoyed working with and try to find those types going
forward. You can be as creative as you want, but there are certain realities every agency
faces. You must have the resources necessary to meet this new clients needs. Otherwise, in order to maintain that client, you may end up pulling resources from another
client, and risk jeopardizing your relationship with both of them.
And then, of course, you must have the inevitable, Do you want kids? conversation.
What is your client expecting out of this relationship, and are you prepared to give it to
them? And simultaneously, what do you want, and can they provide it?

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 4

This includes not just results, but how

you get there. Are they expecting you to
be on-call for texts, emails, and phone
calls anytime they want? Every day?
Nights and weekends?
Whatever you decide is fine as long as
you decide it together and everyone is
clear about whats been agreed upon.
Many clients are unfamiliar with all the
moving parts involved in creating and
sustaining a successful inbound marketing initiative. If your client(s) are
among those uninitiated in the ways of
inbound, set aside some time to give
them at least a fundamental education
in the basics of inbound marketing. It
will make the rest of the relationship go
more smoothly as you execute various
stages of the strategy.

AFTER I DO,
WHO DOES
WHAT?
Like a marriage, agency-client relationships often end because both parties
arent clear about what to expect from
the other. Like everything else in the
Internet age, agencies need to be
transparent with their clients if the
relationship is to succeed.

If your client(s) are among those uninitiated in the ways

of inbound, set aside some time to give them at least a
fundamental education in the basics of inbound marketing.
It will make the rest of the relationship go more smoothly as
you execute various stages of the strategy.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 5

1. REVIEW THE AGREEMENT

Its not enough to have a contract. Ask any lawyer and youll
find out there are plenty of ways to interpret the exact same
words in an agreement.You may think the contract means
one thing while the client thinks it means something else.
Or, the client may place more emphasis on one aspect of
the agreement that you considered to be minor. And in turn,
you dont emphasize it when you execute the work for them.
Sit down with the client and go over the agreement orally
several times. Try to find different ways to repeat the terms
of the contract and how you will execute it so that everyones expectations are the same. Some clients may say
they dont care about such minutiae, but it bears asking
them to hear you out. If they dont understand what youre
doing, why youre doing it, and how you will get it done, they
arent as vested in the relationship.

And, if they dont find value in what you do, sooner or later
you will get fired. Try to find little things they can do to be part
of the process. Ask them for blog topics, enlist their help getting staff photos for Facebook posts, something that engages
them in your work together.
Even if they ask to be kept out of the loop, strive for at least a
30-minutemonthly meeting to go over goals and what youve
accomplished. If one partner doesnt understand whats it like
to have to do the dishes every night and the other has no idea
whats involved in keeping the yard presentable, neither has
an appreciation for the other partners efforts.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 6

2. DEFINE DEFINITION
Famously (or infamously, your call), during his
impeachment trial, former President Clinton
said, That depends on what the definition of
is is. That may be a bit of overparsing, but we
were surprised to learn how many people who
fired their agency did so because they didnt
fully understand the terms of the contract and
the definitions within them. Some of the more
common terms, conditions, and arrangements
frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted
include:

COMMUNICATION
Communication is the key to any healthy
relationship,
romantic
or
professional.
Establishing the lines of communication
from the beginning is essential to your partnership, and defining those lines up front
is equally essential. Work out with your
client how often they will hear from you and,
as appropriate, how often, you expect feedback from them. Will it be a daily call? Weekly?
Monthly? Will it be one thing at the beginning of
the relationship and something different down
the line? Make sure everyone is clear about
your communications arrangement.

ACTIVITY & RESULTS

Although you may not be able to promise
specific results, you can identify the activities
and services you will provide and the goals you
will target on the clients behalf. An example
might be: The agency will provide three blog
posts per week (Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday), between 500 and 600 words each
with a goal of increasing readership by 100
percent within 120 days and lead genration by
15 percent within six months.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 7

COSTS

CONTRACT LENGTH

Nobody likes surprises on an invoice. Be

clear from the start what charges your clients can expect. If there will be Web or
application development charges, marketing software licenses (such as HubSpot), ad placement charges, or any other fees, let the client know what to expect
and, as best you can, how much.

Go over what you expect the client to do,

when, and for how long. If you signed a
six-month agreement, payable on the 1st
of the month, late on the 10th, be sure they
understand they are liable for six months
of payments due on the 1st of every
month.

DONT BECOME AN ORDER TAKER

Even if the client understands the terms and definition of your contract, even if theyve
bought in to why they need to be actively engaged with your agency, there is still the
possibility of the relationship souring.
It often starts with a simple request, for example, putting together an infographic or
looking at a couple of paragraphs in an email blast the client intends to send on their own.
Your gut reaction is to think, Cool, more money for us. The truth is, the client just niggled
their way into taking control of the relationship in ways that can hurt you and them. Why?
Not because these things may be outside the scope of the contract per se, but because
they may be outside the scope of the strategy you and the client agreed on.
If you help with an email, if you create an infographic, if you tweak their keywords for
SEO, you may start bringing the scope of your work out of alignment with the goals and
strategies you agreed to. From there, its a slippery slope to the client questioning why
theyre paying more but not seeing more or better results. And before you know it, you
and your client are a couple no more.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 8

SIDEBAR:
WHY I FIRED MY AGENCY
Look at Brian Signorellis blog post, Why I Fired My Marketing Agency. He offers the
following three tips for agency owners and managers:
1. Dont Forget Why You Were Hired. Keep sight of why you were hired. Keep sight of the
goals, pursue them relentlessly.
2. Challenge (the Hell Out of) Your Clients Assumptions. Chances are your clients have
a good reason for wanting to figure this social media thing out or why they need a new
website. But maybe not. Ask Why?, and dont move forward until you understand why
theyre needed and how they tie into the strategy and goals youve set.
3. Measure Your Impact on the Clients Business. Measure. Analyze. Then Repeat. If you
want those retainer checks to keep coming, you need to demonstrate your impact on the
bottom line. Solid, credible analytics are your best friend. Really.

If you want those retainer checks to keep coming, you

need to demonstrate your impact on the bottom line.
It all comes down to staying focused on the goals and the strategies behind them. When
a new request comes in thats outside the parameters of your goals and strategies, try
asking these questions:
Why do you think doing this is necessary?
What is our goal in doing this?
How does this new goal align with our previous goals?
What results are you expecting when we do this?
Asking these questions demonstrates a genuine concern for your clients. Your client will
appreciate your sincerity, knowing you are not someone who just blindly accepts tasks to
make a buck.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 9

CLOSE THE LOOP

Not everyone can see the big picture, or in this case, the whole picture. For many clients, inbound marketing is an entirely new way of thinking about marketing. Its essential that you illustrate, then demonstrate, the way inbound marketing works from first
click through the sales funnel to buy and back again.
Show the client how you got them found, persuaded prospects to take an action, give you
their information, to buy, and then perhaps share their experience with someone in their
social network. Show them how you monitor and then analyze the results of your efforts
and use those metrics and analyses to improve their bottom line.
Then, do it again and again. Youve got to reinforce the mechanics and strategy of how
closed loop, inbound marketing works for clients several times at least before they get it.
Taking the clients through the inbound marketing process reinforces the strategy you
have created for them. It also provides you with a natural conversation around next
steps, every time you reach the analysis phase.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 10

THE END IS THE BEGINNING

Dont, however, fall into the trap of using analysis as the final act. Metrics are
merely the means to an end, reaching the clients goals. And, those goals,
you recall, are why you were hired. That sets you up to continue the
relationship, time and again.

CONCLUSION
To keep any marketing agency-client relationship alive and sustainable,
youve got to think like a client. Every time you send an invoice, conciously
or unconsciously, your clients are asking themselves a bunch of questions
like: Why did we hire these guys? Do we still need them? Is this worth what
were paying them? Are we making progress? Are we seeing the results they
promised? Are these the best guys for the job?
Remember, its usually a lot of little things that add up to the decision to terminate an agency relationship. If you are aware of, and address, those things
from the start and keep focused on them throughout the relationship, youre
in a much better position to sustain the relationship for years.
Focus on:
Keeping your clients engaged in the inbound marketing process
Making sure they understand what you do and what they do
Making sure theyre clear on the terms of the deal
What it takes in resources and commitment to get the job done right
Closing the loop keeping your agency and the client focused on the
goals, strategy, and process that enables those goals.
Not every client is destined to be a life-long business partner - but if you follow the tactics above, both you and your client will be set up for a happy and
productive relationship.

WHY YOU GET FIRED | 11

MORE RESOURCES
Our Inbound Marketing Specialists help hundreds of online services agencies
understand how the Five Core service offerings of inbound marketing can
help them earn more retainer clients and grow their business. Request a
Strategic Consultation to Learn How Inbound can Help your Agency Grow.
http://bit.ly/HS-PARTNER

A Publication of

HubSpots Partner Program

www.hubspot.com/partners