Chapter 8 – It All Starts With The Brief
Invest the time in the brief
If you want your agency to deliver quality work, this isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. Some of the content will be straightforward. However, depending on the nature of the engagement and what’s required, the brief may be more involved; it may require supporting documentation and data to ensure the agency has everything they need. If you don’t have a template and a process for creating a brief, ask your agency—they probably do.
Tell the agency what your budget is
Stop being coy about it, open your mind, and trust that the agency will come back to you with the best value they can offer within your budget rather than simply pitching you solutions that max out your budget. There is nothing wrong with telling the agency what you want and the budget range you want them to keep to in their proposal. They will thank you for it.
Pay for performance, not hours
This means paying them a base fee for doing the work—nothing worthwhile is free—but also giving them an opportunity to earn more based on the results they deliver. This will require coordination between you and the agency. There needs to be some math behind the targets the agency will be asked to hit, and you need to know what success looks like and what KPIs you’ll be using to measure it.