Three Tips to Managing Multiple Agency Partners

If my 20 years in this industry have taught me anything, it’s that pharma marketers have a high-stress, complex job. Physicians are harder to reach, value chains have become more nuanced, and patients are playing a bigger role in their care decisions than ever before. Simultaneously, technology and data accessibility have raised the bar on what consumers expect.

The demands on today’s pharma marketers are only growing. To deliver on those demands, many of them rely on external partners. But it isn’t as simple as hiring a single agency; a complex digital landscape requires an equally complex ecosystem of partner agencies.

Managing these multiple vendors requires extensive coordination, and can result in frustration when communication falls apart. These three practices are key to navigating today’s multiplayer agency landscape-and getting more value from each of your external vendors.

Be direct with expectations

Working with multiple vendors means that there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen. If you want to avoid confusion-induced project delays, be frank about expectations with your marketing partners from the get-go. Whether you’re working with two vendors or five, you can avoid conflict by giving each of them access to critical information.

• Your organizational structure. Provide vendors with a visual operating model that shows who on your brand team is responsible for what, from creative concept to production.

• How you’ll work together. Get everyone in the same room and outline how internal and external stakeholders will partner. Distribute an agency collaboration model that clearly illustrates the realm of your brand team, agency of record (AOR), digital production agencies, and specialty partners. 

• Who has the final say. If there’s duplicative expertise at the table, avoid conflicts of interest by naming a product or initiative leader as the final decision-maker.

• Roles and responsibilities. Make sure everyone is apprised of clear guidelines regarding who’s going to do what (and when). Don’t forget to define interdependencies.

Clear the air

When you’re managing several marketing vendors-not to mention your own direct reports and relationships with other team members-it’s easy for wires to get crossed. Implement best practices in project communications with the following steps.

• Identify a source of truth. Multiple stakeholders reporting on project status make tracking progress difficult. Designate a key channel, such as your project management collaboration platform, as the single source of truth. Require all contributors to report progress through that channel in real time.

• Create a communication protocol. Help your external partners understand the communication chain of command, including escalation paths and final decision-making authorities. Define a standard workflow for how team members communicate with clients.

• Don’t delay when the direction changes. It’s common to want to delay communicating changes in the project timeline or scope to outside partners before you have everything cleared internally, but when the stakes are high, the sooner you get everyone on the same page the less room for confusion and chaos there will be.

Get real about metrics

Establishing measures of success before you sign on the dotted line is essential. Not only will you learn what metrics and data your vendors and partners are capable of communicating, you’ll provide a more concise picture of what you expect them to deliver.

• Create shared goals. Agencies are rarely siloed by channel; for example, your AOR, digital production agency, and media buying agency may all play a key part in reaching your digital display ad goals. Ensure that all vendors are working toward the same business priorities, and determine how their success will be measured. 

• Provide transparent insight. Timely feedback is essential for all stakeholders. Determine key reporting benchmarks, who is responsible for each, and set deadlines as to when they should be reported. 

• Think about the intangibles. To ensure a successful engagement, go beyond the numbers, setting the standards high by sharing your organizational core values. When your agencies and vendors have an understanding of your company culture and values, it gives them a clear picture of how you expect to do business. 

Justin Grossman is CEO of meltmedia