Written by Fani Sánchez
On March 20, The Inbounder was held, an event that brought together renowned personalities such as Rand Fishkin (Moz), Bas Van Der Beld (State of Digital), Aleyda Solís (Orainti), Fernando Maciá (Human Level Communications), Lisa D. Myers (Verve Search), Gianluca Fiorelli (ILoveSEO) and César Camisón (University of Valencia).
We picked up the chronicle of The Inbounder in an extensive post and now it’s time to echo the presentation of our CEO Fernando Maciá for the occasion. Here it is!
Fernando Maciá Domene
Fernando Maciá dedicated his speech to talk about the factors to establish a harmonious relationship between online marketing agency and client. There are many variables to manage and maintaining the balance can be difficult at times. Fernando brings back all his knowledge as CEO to help us have a complete perspective and avoid making certain mistakes.
Fernando compares the relationship between client and agency to the phases of a love story:
- Are we compatible? First, we choose our partner (our agency). It is not unusual for a customer profile (media, travel…) to attract customers of the same type. In this way, we position ourselves in a sector.
- Let’s meet: the input path of a request for quotation speaks volumes about that relationship. Does it come with references from other customers? Do they come from the web?
- Do we have chemistry?The success of a project often depends on something that is much more related to human sensitivity: that the client and agency interlocutors have a “feeling”.
- We fell in love: we unfolded our charms, like peacocks. We talk about our résumé and our skills, but we must be very careful about what we promise so as not to generate expectations that we cannot meet. Objectives can be missed both because they are ambitious and because they are inconsistent.
- We tell each other things: after the “peacock” phase we have the “let’s get to know each other” phase. It is very important to have transparency. Obscurantism does no good to our profession or to our relationship with our client.
- We commit ourselves: distribution of tasks and closed budget. We will each perform the tasks to which we commit ourselves. It is a matter of collaboration on both sides, and even more so if it is agreed that the budget will be variable.
- Exclusivity: if the client demands exclusivity in the contract, he should be the one to specify the limitations as much as possible. In addition, as an “affected” party, we would be entitled to receive compensation for the fact that we are losing customers.
- References: before getting married, your client may want references. Try to maintain a good relationship even with clients you don’t already work with. It costs you nothing and can bring you many benefits.
- We agreed on the work site. Are you willing to do this with such conditions and risks?
- We accept the resources and propose objectives: these must be realistic, specific, coherent for the client (aligned with its strategy), and delimited in a time frame.
- We know your family: the client never comes alone, he comes with his entourage and his team. You must know who developed what, who will implement what changes and how to have a left hand with each one. Let’s not hang medals at the expense of confronting the customer’s team.
- Sometimes we have children together (and sometimes they are included): sometimes web projects are born from our recommendations and their demands. But other times, clients already have their own websites, and we have to pamper them as if they were our own.
- Inspire, involve, train, attribute, help and thank: we must be able to coordinate and team up with the customer. Share information with them, help them improve, give them support, implementation alternatives and be grateful.
- Maintain the passion: there are numerous tools to continue researching and providing value to the customer. Don’t stop at the obvious. Keep the passion alive
- Separate…in a good mood: if the objectives that both parties were pursuing are not met, leaving the relationship does not have to be traumatic.
