One of the most important—if not the most important—part of an agency/client relationship is communication. Especially early communication, when establishing expectations from the very beginning.
It’s important for an agency to listen to their clients and learn about their needs and how they define success. This will allow the agency to listen to their client and learn about their needs and how they define success. This will also allow the agency to know exactly where they stand and what’s expected of them.
If an agency is unable to meet their client’s definition of success or achieve the stated goals, it’s best to part ways—sometimes even before work begins on their account.
It’s really important that any new agency/client relationship is a good match—for both parties. Early communication is vital from the outset to make sure success can be achieved and the client is happy.
As a matter of fact, we think it’s so important that we have a list of expectations that we review with new clients during the initial onboard call. I want to share some of these items with you.
Please keep in mind some may sound a little abrupt or harsh, but better to have the uncomfortable discussions early on rather than later.
Without further ado, here is a list of the items we discuss before adding a new client.
#1 – Google Ads Is Just 1 Marketing Channel
Most companies don’t—and shouldn’t—rely on one marketing channel. Rather, we manage your Google Ads, but attention and focus should be weighted appropriately for all the other marketing channels, such as organic search, referrals, social media, Yelp, email marketing, etc.
#2 – We Do Marketing, You Do Sales
For lead gen accounts (as opposed to ecommerce) Google Ads is the marketing engine and we’re responsible for squeezing as many qualified leads from those marketing efforts as possible. However, we can’t close the sale for you. That is your responsibility internally, where you and your sales team have a solid follow-up strategy and convert leads to sales.
#3 – Someone at Your Company Will Need to Track and Report Sales Data
This one kind of piggybacks off of #2, but while we do a great job of tracking and reporting leads on our end using conversion tracking software and monthly entries on a spreadsheet, we do not know what happens after those leads come in. It is vital to keep track of your own sales figures. Without them, it’s impossible to gauge success or determine ROI.
#4 – Google Ads Takes About 4 Months to Build a Pipeline
Having 1 or even 10 leads is not enough. These days, you need a lot of leads. Leads come with time, and you need to reach a point where leads catch up to your average sales cycle. A lead may not become a sale for 1 month, 2 months, or longer, so the first 4 months or so is building a full leads pipeline, as sales take longer.
It’s not uncommon to go into the red—losing money—for the first one to three months before achieving breakeven or better—making money. Google Ads is a marathon and not a sprint.
#5 – First Month Is Mostly Set Up
We have a lengthy list of onboard tasks that cover everything from conversion tracking, setting up Google properties, keyword research, and launching your first campaign. For some clients, we also do custom landing pages. The first month is mostly set up.
#6 – We DO NOT Take Calls from Your Google Ads Representative
I don’t want to get too involved with explaining this one, but they are mostly offshore representatives who look at your account and go down your Suggested Recommendations. Not only are these often not in your best interests, they likely won’t lead to better performance. Instead, they can be less relevant and cost you more money.
Plus, they call too often! Here is a message board that talks about this further.
#7 – Do Not Make Any Changes or Do Work in Your Google Ads Account While We Are Managing It
It can be confusing and create a conflict if you make changes while we are managing it. We’ve had very hands-on clients in the past who will go in and tinker with the campaign or account. Don’t do that! We always know by referencing the edit history.
Conclusion
This is not the complete list of expectations we establish in the beginning, but it does include some of the most important ones designed to have agency/client expectations in line with each other to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Hope you found this helpful and insightful!