The thing about agencies…

How to find, hire, manage and fire an agency.

Transcript

1. A deck made by the thing about agencies How to find, hire, manage and fire them.
2. I’m Jack Shedd, co-founder of Mess. 
 We’re a digital agency in Chicago.
3. We build a lot of things for a lot of people. That includes branding, websites, applications. People also use our team to augment their own.
5. Personally, I also do a lot. I do dev-ops, design, user experience, development and run a company.
6. I’ve worked for, with and run an agency. I have a lot of opinions on a lot of things.
7. I am incredibly biased, but I’ll be honest. I’m not here to sell Mess, but Mess reflects my opinions.
8. WHAT DO THEY DO? Let’s define some terms.
9. An agency is a service-oriented business that sells you access to the people it employs and produces a deliverable for your business.
10. An agency has 3 functions.
11. Talent. People who are better at what they do than the people who you can hire today. Expertise. People who know more about something than the people who you can hire today. Resources. Lots of people who are available to get to work on something right today, 
 instead of tomorrow.
12. Talent is rare. Hiring great people takes time. You not only need a pool of 
 candidates, but the expertise, and a process to sort out which
 ones are worth your long-term investment.
13. Expertise is acquired. Even if they’re incredibly talented, they may not know enough 
 about your industry, your stack, or your demographics on day one. 
 You’re going to be investing time in bringing them up to speed.
14. Resources are a commitment. As your business priorities shift, so might your staffing needs. 
 Are you willing to bring someone on full-time that you might 
 only need part-time, or for only a few months?
15. There are different styles and sizes of agencies. It’s important to know which one you need.
16. Size usually matters, but not always. There are bargains and behemoths at every scale.
17. Freelancers Single person. Easy to hire, easy to fire. What happens when they get busy, or sick? + +
18. Staff Augmentation Big shops with lots of bodies to throw at your problem. They’re just aggregating freelancers & consultants. + +
19. Studios A small team of production-focused staff. Best for bargain hunters. + +
20. Boutiques Big enough to offer a full suite of services, 
 provide redundancy, while still being hungry. Pay a little more, get a little more. May or may not be independent. + +
21. Big Agencies. Everything you could ever need, under one roof. Pay a lot more, get a lot more. + +
22. Local. Offices you can drive to, staff you can meet in person. Work roughly the same time you do. Remote. Offices you can see photos of, staff you can have phone calls with. Hybrid. Someone you can meet with, but the real work is done somewhere else. Here be dragons.
23. Domestic. People who work when you work, communicate the way you communicate. Cheap labor that occasionally isn’t absolutely terrible, late and frustrating. Offshore.
24. DO I NEED AN AGENCY? The answer may surprise you!
25. Talent. Expertise. Resources.
26. Pick two. Anything less, you should hire.
27. An agency is just people. You can hire people. Not that hiring is easy.
28. Finding the right people takes time. Turning a group of people into a team takes time. And that’s assuming you can find the right people.
29. An agency is already a team. But they’re not your team.
30. An agency is not a replacement for your team. They’re a shortcut, not a bootstrap.
31. An agency is a service. Treat them as, and demand they act like it.
32. An agency can be a predictable cost. Flat fee bids cost more.
33. An agency can run parallel to your team. And run faster.
34. Hire an agency to build a project, not your business.
35. Time and money are expensive in different ways. And the cost of either is specific to your business.
36. Agencies are expensive explorers. There’s no such thing as a infallible expert.
37. Agencies are expensive to micro-manage. Some will bill you like a lawyer. Trust their process.
38. Agencies are expensive to learn from. Who knows your business better, you or them?
39. Agencies are expensive conveniences. What can you do yourself?
40. HOW TO FIND ‘EM When you’re ready to hire.
41. Word of mouth and referrals always win. Ask around. Skip the next four slides.
42. Look at your competitors. Stand on their shoulders. Google (for portfolios, not agencies), LinkedIn, or reach out.
43. Search locally and make a list. Very few cities are bereft of agencies (Chicago has dozens).
44. Search nationally and make a bigger list. Start with projects you like, track to source.
45. Verify everything. Think “used car lot” and precede accordingly.
46. WHAT YOU’LL PAY In time and money.
47. Know what you’re paying for. Cause you’re going to get what you pay for.
48. Agencies are a business. What would you have to pay to hire the same talent? A single developer costs between $75k-150k. A single designer costs between $50k-100k. A producer costs between $50k-$100k. Support staff, office space, insurance, taxes, float, etc.
49. Freelancers Great for fast turn-around and offloading. The great ones move on quickly.
 Even the best require management. $10k-$20k per month. + +
50. Studios Great for one-off projects.
 Can grow with you. Might not grow with you.
 Minimal experience, minimal support staff. $20-$40K per month for the team. + +
51. Boutiques Great for most project budgets. Credentialed, experienced and with room to grow. Might be overly specialized. Might not be a bargain. $35k-$75k per month for a team. + +
52. Big Agencies. Everything you’ll ever need. Plenty of room to grow. They’ll bill you like lawyers. $100k - $1M or more per month. + +
53. A few quick anecdotes. Real world experience across every range.
54. HOW TO PICK ‘EM Who’s down with RFP?
55. Agency searches begin with a request for proposal. Treat every agency the same, even friends.
56. Don’t sweat the document; sweat the process. It’s the agency’s job to learn more.
57. Set dates for the agency and yourself. Accountability and a reason to make a decision.
58. A date the RFP will be sent out. Let everyone know ahead of time that its coming.
59. A date your team will provide answers to questions. Aggregate everyone’s questions into a single document.
60. A date you will expect all responses to be submitted. Try to give everyone at least a week or more.
61. A date you will schedule meetings. Select two or more potential partners, and have a face-to-face.
62. A date you will select a winner. Tell everyone else they lost, and why.
63. Avoid templates. Trying to cram your project into someone else’s structure will frustrate.
64. Err on the side of over-explaining. Don’t assume anything.
65. Focus on the result you’re looking for. Don’t get bogged down in the how. Give the agency room to innovate.
66. If you have a maximum budget, make it known. Treat it like buying a house, and shoot lower than your real limits.
67. Don’t demand free work. Start the relationship by being a good partner.
68. Pay attention to the range of costs. A wide range might point to a fundamental flaw in your RFP.
69. Ask for, and call, references. Pay attention to who the reference is, and how they know the firm.
70. “No one ever got fired for hiring IBM.” Well-credentialed firms are going to cost more, but might be worth it.
71. HOW TO MANAGE ‘EM Getting what you paid for.
72. Pick a point-person. Give them the power to make decisions.
73. Define your stakeholders. The fewer, the infinitely better.
74. Pre-schedule meetings to respond to deliverables. Email chains are the death of good feedback.
75. Document your feedback formally. Phone calls can be chaotic, and things will get missed.
76. Don’t provide contradictory feedback. Resolve conflicts internally.
77. Don’t assume they just ‘haven’t gotten to it yet’. If something is missing, ask where it is.
78. Let the agency respond to feedback. They may have considered something you hadn’t.
79. Schedule in-person meetings or phone calls often.
80. Hold the agency accountable and check-in often. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
81. Ask for access to their internal tools. Basecamp, JIRA, Github, Pivotal, etc.
82. Meet with founders, directors, partners, etc. They’ll tell you more about the agency than the employees.
83. When TO FIRE ‘EM How to know it’s time to walk away.
84. Listen to your gut. Business relationships fail. It’s OK.
85. Check the tape. Review your contracts.
86. Check your expectations. The letter of the law vs the spirit.
87. Don’t throw good time after bad. How will the tomorrow be different?
88. Get a second opinion from someone honest. Competitors might count. Depends on the competitor.
89. HOW TO FIRE ‘EM When things go badly.
90. Be honest, diplomatic and confident. Every agency loses clients.
91. Understand what you’re owed. Demand source code, documentation, layered design files, etc.
92. Avoid lawyers, or mentioning lawyers. Even mentioning legal action is a declaration of war.
93. If you need to lawyer up, commit to it. Let lawyers talk to lawyers. Be prepared for a drawn-out fight.
94. Give the agency an out. Lawyers cost everyone something. Have a compromise in mind.
95. A deck made by Thank you. Questions? Comments?