The client service provided by your agency has some major advantages - are you using them to their full capacity?
Whether you are running a small business or a multi-million Rand organisation, you have the same objectives at the end of the day – to make money. The only way to reach this objective is to get customers. That’s the formula – get customers, make money. And marketing your brand, product and services is just about the most important way of staying top of mind of existing and potential clients.
What happens to brands that stop advertising and communicating to their audiences? Well, they lose market share, interest and eventually sales. In the article on AdAge, they ask the readers to imagine a world without advertising and how much it would cost, and the results are scary!
Without digressing too much, we need to consider the absolutely pertinent role your client service team can play in your business - if you are using them right they can add tremendous value to your business and ultimately ROI.
1. They have experience
It’s one thing to come up with a fantastic idea, it’s quite another to execute it. Your client service team no doubt has been around the block a few times and by now they know what is doable, where to go, to turn your idea into reality. They are also in a position to tell you whether you have completely lost your marbles or actually add the cherry on the top of your grand plan. Their experience will definitely count in your favour.
2. They are the relationship people
The great thing about client service people is that they have great relationships within the industry. Using your client service team to reach out to suppliers on your behalf will not only save you time and money. You don’t have to go out and try to find suppliers yourself and it will also give you the confidence that your project is in the right hands, which leads us to the next point...
3. They have the skills required to execute your project
As you are well aware, there are various disciplines within the marketing realm, each with it’s own required skills and expertise. Your client service team will take the responsibility of allocating and managing the talent you require per project. Sometimes you may require a specialist in mall activations and other times you may need a fine-artist; it is up to them to find you the right skillset at the right price and within deadline. All you need to do is sign off at the end.
4. They are the owners of efficiency
Your client service team is responsible for making sure that your marketing efforts deliver results. Watching and learning and reporting on each project will ensure that the bottom line is at the forefront of every execution no matter the size or value of the project.
5. They are affordable
There is a lot of merit to outsourcing your marketing team instead of going directly to suppliers. First of all, you pay for what you need and your client service team will ensure that you only pay for this. If for example, you only need a designer once a week for a couple of hours – they can ensure that this is what you get, instead of hiring a designer to sit at your office five days a week, for eight hours a day. They also save you time in that they can go directly to the source of your requirements, get what you need to get done and finish the project. Negotiating the best deals for your brand within the budget you have allocated is one of the main competencies of a great client service team.
6. They are objective
Every marketing manager or business owner knows that sometimes they can get a little too close to their own brand or idea. The job of your client service team is to take the objective role by taking an outside (sometimes unemotional) view at your brand. They are able to see what will work for you and what won’t and advise you accordingly. Objective thinking also give them the opportunity to explore new, creative ways of your brand can stand out instead of just the run-of-the-mill marketing that could be a bit stale.
7. They provide relevance
The rational thinking of your client service team will often save you from mistaking importance for relevance. It may seem appealing to acquire the services of an “important” influencer to talk about your brand. This person might have millions of followers and they might be very active on social media BUT they may not be relevant to your brand, therefore they will offer zero value to you. Your client service team will know where your efforts are best spent and where your brand will be most relevant as well as which media you should be using.
8. They are dedicated to making magic
Client service pitbulls are generally very competitive by nature, which is an absolutely phenomenal advantage to have because you can be guaranteed that they are first to know about a new trend, technology and new route to problem solving everything. Wasting time on one aspect of a project may mean that their competitors may get to the goal post first. Wasting man-hours flogging a dead end campaign will mean that executions happen #LastMinuteDotCom. And understanding your market and brand profile is their biggest prerogative, even more important than breathing sometimes.
9. They are your partners for life
When everything is said and done, your client service person is your partner for life. They will fight the price-fight, they will burn the midnight oil, and seek out opportunities and sometimes they even become your closest friend. They do it because they want to, not because it’s just a job, but because it’s in their blood.
Your client service person is more than just a brief pusher - they build a bridge between you and creative and suppliers and more. If the Agency you’re with in client service is not providing you with an empathetic dual-minded client service team or person, you should probably be looking elsewhere.
Gaining maximum competitive advantage in the industry can be done by implementing the right metrics to measure your activity by. You are on your way by using your client service team as mentioned.
Contact us if you need more information on the benefits of a client service team.