Editor's Note: This post was contributed by Matt Heinz, President, Heinz Marketing.
I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel of B2B marketing agency leaders last month at the 6Sense InMarket Conference in San Francisco. Among several interesting questions, one that intrigued me the most focused on the role agencies should play with their digital clients.
This goes beyond simply following the work order or achieving stated, measurable objectives. That’s table stakes.
But what roles separate good agencies from great agencies in the digital age? What leadership elements make some agencies true, trusted advisors well beyond the tactical work?
Reflecting on the great agencies (both B2B and B2C) I’ve worked with in the past and get to interact with in our work today, here are six roles I find most helpful and differentiating:
Six Helpful and Differentiating Roles You Should Expect From Your Digital Agency Partners
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Listener
Mediocre agencies start by telling the client what they need. Great agencies listen first, and listen often. They ask good questions, listen to what the client needs, then continue to ask questions – of their client, of the client’s customers and partners, of the direct and channel sales teams and more. Listening alone can unlock ideas, opportunities and other advantages that other agencies will completely miss.
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Challenger
Great agencies challenge their clients – to think differently, beyond what they’re used to or comfortable with. They challenge convention, challenge the status quo. They push the limits of what’s been done before. They do this not from a position of arrogance or power, but from insight and trust and respect. Not unlike smart sales professionals do in the Challenger Sale model, great agencies create value in every interaction, including well before that first piece of work is formalized.
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Teacher
If your agency keeps their intellectual capital completely to themselves, they’re making it clear they don’t trust you. They’re making it clear they don’t trust themselves either. If you aren’t teaching your clients to do better, to be better, to know and leverage what you know to their direct advantage, you are failing to create trust, credibility and loyalty. Great agencies foster an internal culture of learning that keeps their insights ahead of the rest of the market. That makes teaching a constant, ongoing opportunity.
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Quantifier
Awkward word but important concept. Measurement alone isn’t as valuable as measuring what’s most important. Your agency should be proactively accountable for their efforts and results. Great agencies don’t hide between fluffy presentations with lots of flash and little quantifiable substance. Great agencies let the metrics speak for themselves, even when the story is less than ideal, and put focus on how to make them better.
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Integrator
This includes integration of processes, of internal teams, and of other agencies. It is incredibly frustrating to clients when agencies treat each other as competitors, fail to share information, constantly play political games to maneuver themselves into better positions for future business. Counter-intuitively to those short-sighted agencies, the great ones lean in. They teach other agencies to be better (either directly or by their actions). They proactively seek to integrate teams and systems and consultants to serve a greater purpose, to be greater than the sum of their parts.
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Innovator
Great agencies aren’t afraid of failure. They know that the path to innovation, the very act of innovating, is paved with failure and “bad news” for the client on occasion. But great agencies leverage the advantages listed above to earn the trust, credibility, respect and permission necessary to innovate in ways that put their clients ahead and constantly in positive territory.
I’d love to hear what roles your agencies have played to make them great. What roles has your agency prioritized that differentiates you from competitors?
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