Creative Agency Evaluation: 8 Main Client Concerns to Pay Attention To

Most agencies already know that it is important to adopt creative development best practices to help build positive client relationships. One thing to keep in mind though is that it is just as important to develop an effective way to monitor and measure results of your work to ensure that your clients have a straight forward way to evaluate success.

If you think that you are doing a good job, but your client has a different opinion, your relationship will not be a long and prosperous one. Always ask your clients to evaluate your creative work and be transparent with the results – it may be a bit scary at first, but it will help ensure that you have happy, long-term partners.

Understanding what your clients think about your agency will give you meaningful insight into what you can do to improve the work, build a stronger brand and strengthen existing relationships. We all know that satisfied clients are more likely to refer your agency (nothing beats word of mouth for organic growth) and buy more, but they are also the most enjoyable to work with!

We recommend that you provide a survey/questionnaire for your clients to answer both during and after a project. The questionnaire doesn’t necessarily need to be anonymous, but you should make sure that your clients are encouraged to provide feedback from all levels of their organization and that they feel comfortable to give their true opinions. Another option, if your size allows, is to hire a third party to conduct surveys and interviews with your clients. If this approach is deployed properly, clients will often open up even more, and the feedback will be very helpful to your agency.

Here we present you with what we believe are the 8 main client concerns that you should pay attention to:

1. Price: Clients will often question the value of your work. Creating key performance indicators (KPIs) can often help quantify value for these clients.
2. Billing accuracy: How accurate is your billing? Tracking time, staying on top of expenses and media buys effectively will ensure that your clients see you as organized and professional.
3. Deadlines and response time: Provide your clients with realistic and real-time schedules or timelines of your projects with them. This should include both agency and client deliverables.
4. Industry/market knowledge: Clients want to be comfortable and assure that you have enough knowledge about their industry. Communication and research is key here.
5. Anticipating needs: Understanding and anticipating client goals, problems, weakness and strengths will increase the value of your client/agency relationships. Providing unsolicited advice based on industry trends, paying attention to details and genuinely caring about your clients will keep you ahead of the competition.
6. Teamwork: A successful integrated agency tends to have a smooth workflow where each department collaborates effectively and keeps focused on the final deliverable. Teamwork is also an indicator of how efficient and proactive the agency is.
7. Communication: How available and flexible is your creative agency? Are you always clear and honest with your clients? Do your clients think you devote sufficient time to them? How often you follow-up?
8. Enthusiasm: Last but not least, you have to show that you are happy to serve your clients and show enthusiasm with your work. Share the creative process with your clients and have fun!

Share your core competencies with your clients, communicate open with them and show them that you care. Don’t just listen to client concerns, show them that you take action and that the relationship is key to your business.

What are your next steps for to capture client feedback? Please your comment and share your ideas with us!

This article was contributed by former Function Point employee, Isabelle Costa Lima de Almeida.