- The Client – Agency Relationship
- 3P’s of Service: Physical evidence, Process and People
- The Gaps Model of servıce qualıty
- Stages in the client-agency relationship
- How Agencies Gain Clients
- Why Agencies Lose Clients
- The roles of advertising
- Account executives
A. AGENCY–CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Introduction
Nowadays building and maintaining a strong relationship is become challenging for both client and agency. In modern world all reluctantly obligated and contracted under many project. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that project work has become the normal in client-agency relationships.
Customer relationship is an exceptional bond shaped between buyers and a brand as a result of various marketing, sales, and customer service processes. Decent customer relations grow over time and it continue if the consumer-business connections are favourable for both parties. How to build and maintain customer relationships there are few point are given below:
1. Communicate effectively
The mainstream of the problems that arise in a client-agency relationship is affecting from unclear communication. Both the customer and the agency should make themselves available to each other. The client want to communicate with the advertising agency to know how they helping their goals and business overall. Use this time; share all the qualitative and measurable data with clients which helps to understand the progress of campaign working on it. Not ever miss a chance to have these conversations with your clients.
2. Effective customer feedback
Relationships miscarry when client hopes are not encountered and disappointment is unnoticed. In its place of questioning if your customers are pleased with your agency’s services or need any progress, it time to takes direct feedback from clients. This not only helps you evaluate your agency’s performance, but also shows your promise towards confirming a positive involvement for them at every stage.
3. Share information
In maximum cases, the client has taken on an agency to fill a gap in their business and want to see value for money. The agencies most important job is to be the experts’ advice to client. The best advice helps to achieve their consequences and remain an active performer in the market.
The agency then has an obligation to ask all the queries they need to in order to confirm they have took the brief properly. Consuming an open and informative conversation at the commencement of a project means that the client can go away safe in the information that the agency knows what they’re doing.
4. Work in collaboration
Keep in mind that each party are invested in what they do and that keeping a strong relationship will require continuous work on both ends. Agencies aren’t possessions, they’re strategic partners. Clients and agencies are experts in their respective fields, and they should treat each other as equals. Trust, honesty, and commitment are vital elements for the achievement of any campaign and relationship. In collaborative environment of relationship all party must have assurance in the other’s capability.
5. Set realistic expectations
One of the best ways to build a strong relationship with a client is to gain a reputation as an agency that not only delivers results but is willing to go above and beyond. Setting realistic expectations gives you the chance to impress the client and position yourself as a partner. This is especially important when working on behalf of a client.
Both parties need to take slice in this process, to make assured that each knows what’s expected of the other. Agencies may have exclusive methods, but a good degree of transparency is essential. This service creates trust and set realistic expectations.
6. Attempt for nonstop progress
When an agency functions with these principles, performing measured efforts to their clients and determined to not only accomplish but maintain confidence with clients, the phase can be set for achievement with great appraisals, referrals and customer remembering.
B. 3P’s of Service: Physical evidence, Process and People
Introduction
The marketing mix pillars work together to make decisions that will define the further marketing activities and strategies. Identifying these pillars points out what you need, where your company excels and where it can improve.
The original four elements of marketing mix are product, place, price and promotion. However as a service is not tangible that marketing mix for a service has three additional elements are required that is physical evidence, process and people. In its place of just four elements, there’s another three. These three allow for a more complete, comprehensive and updated marketing mix.
1. Physical evidence
Physical evidence refers to the way of product, services and about the company how it appears from the outside. It is about where the service is being delivered from. The sub components of physical evidence are size, shape colour, label, visible signage, design, packaging, display, dress of staff and many more. In the service market, it certifies that the service is successfully delivered or it touches the customer very well.
2. Process
The marketing mix looks at the coordination used to deliver the service. Recognize how you will meet customer expectations. Outline you will do to deliver an excellent consumer experience every time considering producing standard operating procedures to set processes. For example, imagine you ordering food from Domino’s Pizza and you get delivery in 30 minutes at your home.
3. People
An essential part of the any organization is having the right people who care the organizations products and services. Employee the most experienced people can at the best salary organization can give and work to maintain the employee who has proven themselves faithful and loyal to the organization. Encourage team members to work smartly, efficiently and effectively. Involve them in regular internal communication that is transparent and whenever it required include them in decision making process.
C. The Gaps Model of servıce qualıty
Introduction
Service quality is the change between expected service by customer and perceived service provided by the service provider. To examine service quality, Parasuraman has developed comprehensive model called the Gaps Model of service quality in 1985. The model identifies four specific gaps leading to a fifth overall gap between customer’s expectations and perceived services.
Service quality is an evaluation of expectations with performance. The first four are those on the provider side of service and perceived service. These steps is taken towards reducing the gap that is always most apparent to the consumer. The Gap fifth is the gap service between the expected and perceived quality service. These Gaps are as follows:
1. Knowledge Gap
The first Gap is mentioned as the knowledge Gap. It is principally measured as the change in real customer expectations and perceptions of manager about customer expectations i.e. not knowing what consumer’s expect.
For example: In a hospital, the management may consider patients want healthier diet, but patients may be more worried with the care given by Doctors, nurses and supporting staff.
2. Design Gap
The second gap is mentioned as the design gap. It is a change among management’s insight of consumer’s expectation and service standards according to customer experience. i.e. unsuitable service quality standards.
For example: Domino’s Pizza may realize consumer expectations for being served in 30 minutes of ordering, but may not have the resources or the appropriate amount of staff to assure the speed of delivery and service.
3. Performance Gap
Performance Gap is the variation in service design and service delivery which known as the performance Gap. It may refer as the change between quality specifications and service actually delivered to the consumers. It occur because of many reason like communication gap, skill differences, poor technology, poor training received and lack of management in the organizations.
For example: If in a restaurant, if the service provider (Server/Waiter) is not hospitable and up to mark then customer may unhappy with the entire service staff of restaurant. Mostly, customers may set their opinion according to service which he/she get through a particular staff of the restaurant.
4. Communication Gap
In communication gap, there is the change between what is assured to customer, either directly and indirectly? It happens when the organization cannot deliver products or services rendering to the promise. The communication gap arises because of many reasons like over promises, fail to manage and failure in performance. Over-promising is commonly responsible for the communication gap. Each gap has a cumulative effect from the preceding gaps.
For example: A lodging hotel in Mumbai printed on the brochure showing clean and furnished rooms with all necessary amenities. However, when customer visited to hotel it poorly maintained in this case the customer’s expectations are not met with hotel over committed promises.
5. Gap between expected service and perceived services (Cumulative effect of all four Gaps)
Gap five is the total addition of deviations in Gaps 1 through 4 and signifies the change between expectations and perceived service. Moreover, consumers calculate perceived service along five quality measurements. It is also known as the gap model that intended to analyse gaps and problems between company and customers.
D. Stages in the client-agency relationship
Introduction
The client-agency relationship is a professional deal. It starts when a client appoints an advertising agency for making his advertising. If succeeded properly, it can be a pleasing and prospering corporation for both parties involved. However, if succeeded badly, it can make or break a business and disintegrating the reputation of a client.
Marketing successes are mostly depending on a strong client-agency relationship. In direction to make sure that this combination gets to the top, it’s significant to keep the following stages in relationship.
1. Pre-relationship stage
The pre-relationship stage has focussed largely on the criteria used for selecting an agency. The clients seek agencies that offer good creative skills and have a good quality people. It highlights the importance of cost, previous category experience, network and strategic capability.
2. Early relationship stage
Early relationship stage recognises a development stage within the relationship. The nature of this stage within the advertising agency relationship is less understood. It involves the trial and testing of the new agency. Most of the interactions occurring in this stage more focus on improving relationship and learning about the relationship uncertainty.
3. The growth stage
The growth stage involves intensive interaction and adaption between client and advertising agency. The identification of this stage when the agency and client will be developing long term strategic plans as well as servicing the tactical communication needs of the client is a significant one. Hence the nature of work at this stage of the relationship is significantly different at other stages within the relationship.
4. Development and maintenance stage
The development and maintenance stage is branded by client and agency mutual importance to each other where they have made an understood or open pledge to carry on their relationship.
5. The relationship termination
The relationship termination stage is where client and agency end their relationship. The relationship can be terminated at any stage.
E. How Agencies Gain Clients
Introduction
The running an agency is challenging. According to Kerri Molitor, “It’s a well-known fact that acquiring new client costs more than growing business opportunities with repeat clients. Getting client is a big question for anyone thinking of starting a service-oriented business. As an advertising agency getting new clients is easy. Instead of sitting back and hoping some will show up, you need to be proactive, get out there and get the clients you need.
1. Find clients through your place of work
Uncountable small companies have been on-going by working professionals who progressed from being workforces of a firm to being servicers or found a praiseworthy client and run away with them to form their own companies.
2. Let your clients do the work for you (Referral)
Let your clients do the work for you mean referral are remarkable because these front-runners are managed a little or no cost, meaning here agency can allocate more of marketing budget to diverse projects. Referrals are a great way to get clients.
3. Let work with influencers (Opinion leader)
Find industry connected influencers and offer your services to them for free in exchange for sharing you with their audience. Influencer marketing is the perfect way to quickly gain more attention of client. For example on social media one post from an influencer can reach further more audience.
4. Lean on their followers
The influencers come with their own followers, so it is important to build your own network of followers. The more you can depend on interested and promised followers, the easier to get client for your business.
5. Find client through family and friend
If organisation are blessed with family and supportive friends that are always on the side and ready to help if they can. Let sure to tell them exactly what those ideal client you looking for your businesses.
6. Advertise for clients
Advertising for clients is one of the oldest methods to get client for businesses. However, it mostly works very well for small scale industries and businesses.
7. Gain client through social media platforms
The social media platforms give an edge to new relationship in digital world. The best uses of social media platforms are useful to gain more clients for related group and businesses.
F. Why Agencies Lose Clients
Introduction
The working for an advertising agency will know that one of the most distressed feelings in market is losing a client. It goes to that trying to find out the reason an agency loses their client. However, all this is becoming gradually more common in advertising agency.
Agencies lose clients for a variety of changed reasons. Here’s a list of some common reason why advertising agencies lose client or why they don’t want to work with particular agencies and end the businesses with them.
1. Lacking in communication
Agencies prosper with transparent and clear point of contact with a client. The agencies need to control the communication flow from upward communication to downward communication and downward communication to upward communication in the organization. This communication flow helps the client know where to go for help. However, client personal and advertising agencies fail to uphold the level of communication or to cultivate necessary to sustain favourable working relations.
2. Lacking in quality
As agency grows and develop it becomes hard to deliver the same level of quality or time that client experienced in first time. Here’s agencies failed to filling gap which resultant they losing their prospect client.
3. Personality conflict
Employee and professional who are functioning on the side of client and advertising agency may do not have enough understanding to work well together.
4. Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest possibly will come when agencies come together with another agency or when a client is part of merger or acquisition with other company.
5. Poor performance or service
The poor performance and service may riddle the client or ending their relation with advertising agency. It may happened because unskilled or poor performance by staff members in deal with the client problems and issues.
6. Failure in systems and process
What if agency failed to meet deadlines? It comes when system and processes not progressing according to set plans. It needs to sort and plan goals according to the urgency and profits connected with it.
7. Unrealistic demands by the client
Sometimes may it happened when client demands the exceeding amount of compensation and trying to reducing the agencies profitable.
8. Unsatisfied client
The chances of losing a client are higher if they are unsatisfied with the end results. If agency failed to show them satisfactory end results may cause to losing the clients.
G. THE ROLES OF ADVERTISING
Introduction
We know it when we see it. We are exposed to it thousands of times every day. Most of us are reasonably good, although rarely perfect, at distinguishing it from other kinds of messages. It is something that we tend to take for granted, occasional thinking about what it is or how it came into existence. But what is this thing called advertising?
An advertisement is an approach of marketing a brand, a product or a service. Everything needs to be popularized, is promoted by way of an advertisement. Hence, understanding advertising is very necessary. Here are some features of advertisements:
1. Advertisement must have paid form
Advertising is an art, and it requires skills. There are advertising companies which offer advertising services to company and charge them heavily for the services that they provide. However, sometimes companies end up paying billion on an advertising campaign and don’t get effective results in return. Effective advertising is that which generate much more profit then what a company has paid to get the service. Advertising is always a paid form of communication and hence commercial in nature.
2. It is non-personal
Advertising must be a non-personal. Advertiser makes a product to direct a particular group or audience of people. However, it doesn’t mean to direct a message to an individual by advertising.
For example: uncertainty in ad agency of some product, on his own, advertise brand near a specific product, it carry necessary information to the consumers regarding the product but not spending by the seller for advertisements.
3. Advertise have to promote goods, services & ideas
It is directed towards increasing the transaction of the products and services of a business unit. Advertising is aimed at promoting and selling not only tangible and physical goods, but also ideas and services like banking and insurance company.
4. There must be an identified sponsor
Another feature of advertising is that its sponsor can be identified. Whenever we come across an advertisement, its sponsor is easily identified. Advertising discloses or identifies the source of the opinions and ideas it presents. On the other side of the sponsor for publicity or propaganda can remain unidentified.
5. Other role of advertising
- Improved capacities of sales of products & services.
- Make awareness about offerings.
- Encourage trial of a new product & service.
- To help in media selection.
- Encourage trade channels.
- Create insight & assurance.
H. Account executives
Introduction
The account executive in a straight works with and offers services to one or more representative executives or officers of the client company. At work in the advertising, marketing and digital sectors, an account executive make sure the smooth succession of promotions from communicating the accurate information to all participants of the team, to fronting clients and reporting to the head of the agency.
- Account executives are more intent on timely communication is vital in order to complete projects on time and on budget. The roles of account executives in advertising agency are as follows:
- A person who works in the area of contact and communication between the agency and the client is known as the account executive.
- Account handling department Client management, project management, deadlines; all of these things and a few more are handled by the account service department.
- Account planner presenting the promotional ideas and costs to their clients.
- Account planners are specialists in different fields, such as media, art and copy, research and production, and so on.
- Account planners solving the difficulties and making sure that targets are met.
- Account executives are arranging meeting with clients to discuss their advertising needs.
- They are works with clients to utilize their target markets.
- Account executives are working to guarantee that a client’s money is being used as efficient as possible and to make sure that the clients are satisfied.
- Account executives manage with the other departments working on a project. Usually, it’s their purpose to manage a client and their happiness with their services.
- In a large agency account executive could be part of a larger group, which is known as the account service group.
- The most important trying to new businesses for the agencies.
