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123Chapter 9: Hiring Help for Your Marketing Program

ߜ Detail your timeline. Ask the CEO to confirm within a certain number of
days whether the agency will participate in your agency search. State
the day by which you’d like the agency’s capabilities summary submit-
ted to your office (allow agencies a few weeks to prepare this response).
Give the dates on which you will be scheduling interviews, along with
the day that you will make your decision and begin work with your new
agency.

ߜ Provide the name of the person to contact initially and throughout the
agency search process.

Here’s what not to do when requesting a proposal:

ߜ Don’t get overly prescriptive as you describe your needs. Tell what you
want to accomplish through the agency relationship but not how you
want to accomplish it. Leave room for the agency to bring its point of
view and expertise to the task.

ߜ Don’t ask the agency to submit speculative work (in other words, free
sample solutions). It isn’t fair, and it isn’t a good indication of an agency’s
abilities. Agencies work with clients, not for them. If you want to “sample”
the firm’s style, propose a small-project budget and be ready to play
your role as the client — working with the agency on a solution to your
marketing need.

ߜ Don’t withhold information. If an agency asks for the names of others
being considered for your account, share your list. If they ask what you’ve
done in the past that has and hasn’t worked, provide a brief summary.

Keep track of how you feel about the way each agency interacts with your
company, even during the preinterview period. Your impressions will be
useful as you weigh the issues of chemistry and compatibility.

Agency presentations and interviews

The agency presentation and interview is the final step in the agency selec-
tion process. Follow these tips:

ߜ Name your agency review committee, being sure to include the person
who will be working most closely with the agency once it is selected.
The agencies deserve to know who will be making the decision, and the
process will go more smoothly if you confirm the selection participants
in the beginning and then stick with your decision.

ߜ Choose one member of your review committee to field queries from all
agencies. Doing so helps ensure that all agencies get the same informa-
tion and also helps you compare agency styles as interpreted by one of
your team members.