As a PPC agency Manchester we quite often sit down with our clients to get feedback on how happy they are with our relationship with them, and if there is anything we can do to make them happier. In this post we are going to share some of the things that we have spoken about with them so that you have some idea on how to make sure your agency is meeting your expectations.
Even if you aren’t working with a pay per click manchester agency, these are still point’s worth noting as they may apply to any relationship you have with a client or stakeholder of your business.
Biggest Mistakes Agencies Make
Over-promising
The initial stages of a project is where the tone of the relationship is set, so it is vital that your agency tries to exceed your expectations right from the start. One of the best ways for them to do this is to set reasonable expectations for you, rather than over-promising. Some of our clients have found that in the past they have been talking to an agency sales team during the sales process, but then when the contract is signed and they are handed over to the account management team – the account management team are not always able to deliver what the sales team has promised. Rest assured this will never happen at SEO MCR.
No time for On-boarding
When we go into a new relationship with a client, it is a bit like going through the process of hiring a new employee – and the success of the relationship depends on the level of effort that is invested in getting them on-board. We need help from the client to be able to understand their business well enough that we can truly become their strategic partner and therefore give them useful advice. As we won’t be working directly at the client’s office, we won’t be absorbing knowledge about the company the way a new employee would, so time for on-boarding needs to be built into the process.
Starting work during a critical period
Because of this need for our agency to learn about your business it is best that we don’t start during a critical period for the company. For example, in e-commerce Q4 is critical as it is the holiday period when most of their sales happen, and so spending time getting an agency onboard may have a negative effect on their results. We therefore need to make sure we are taking any critical periods for your business into account, ensuring there is adequate time for us to make necessary changes before the busy period for our client starts.
How We Build Trust with Clients
Meet in person at least once
One of the most important things we can do is to build up a personal connection with our clients, and although we may not be able to meet in person regularly, we try to meet at least once at the start of the project in order to break the ice and build up clear and open lines of communication. It just makes sense, when you know the people behind a company, you have a more personal connection, a better level of trust, and we treat each other as people rather than faceless corporations.
Remember why they came to us
Knowing exactly why our clients came to us is vital for us to deliver a fantastic first quarter for them. Usually they contact us because something isn’t working – it could be:
- Not hitting their KPI’s
- Feeling their last agency weren’t delivering enough value
- Experiencing rapid growth and don’t have the manpower to keep up with growing demands
Whatever the reason, we make sure we are clear on what it is – and we start to tackle that before we do anything else.
When it comes to PPC Manchester, we know our clients have lots of options to choose from – they can choose from thousands of agencies out there, or even build their own in-house team However, by following the points we have mentioned above, we not only keep our existing clients happy but are successful in taking on new ones as well.
