I’ve been working in digital agencies for 20 years. In my experience, consistently, the biggest causes of client frustration are:
Over-promising during pre-sales, and then...
Descoping or cutting corners during the project, often leading to egregious tit-for-tat confrontations.
It’s easy to see how one begets the other. And it happens more often than it should. I get the sense experienced clients are wising up to it.
What’s the answer? Well, if I were a client I’d consider 3 things:
I’d make sure the principal consultant proves to me they understand what a successful outcome truly means and commits to delivering that, not just a list of abstract ‘deliverables’ from a dry SoW. If the objective is to reduce TCO, How? By how much? Will any compromises need to be made? If it’s to increase ROI, same thing - gain consensus. Get commitment.
I’d avoid hiring any agency with large ‘onshore’ production teams. There’s always an exception, but as a rule, I can’t think of a good reason to pay 50 to 100% more for designers and developers just because they live near London or a similar city.
I’d hire the right size of agency. If my budget is less than 10% of their revenue, I probably won’t be a priority. That might be ok, but it’s certainly pause for thought.
If this makes sense to you, maybe we should start talking.
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