Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

It depends on the industry, market, and what you are trying to accomplish by hiring a [new] agency.

Ask yourself, "How will we know, after a year, if the agency is the right one?" "What does success look like for our organization and for the agency?" "What metrics will we use to assess the agency's performance?"

Here's an idea: Ask your finalist agencies how THEY suggest you answer those questions, and then compare their answers to the ones you come up with.

If you have a Creative Brief for the agencies, perhaps you can share it with us. That would help us respond to your question. If you don't have one, you SHOULD.

Creative Brief: https://bit.ly/htnXoR

I'd start by going through the agency's website and social media streams. I'd focus on what the people at the agency that you'd be dealing with (or who would be managing your account) have to say about CX: their personal experiences, philosophies, gut feelings, knowledge.

If there isn't a single word or article about customer experience ANYWHERE on the company website, or on their main social streams, or, worse yet, any hint of CX on any of the streams of the agency's top brass WALK AWAY.

Next, I'd want to know what they've done for other clients and I'd want to talk to those people to hear their experiences, feelings, responses, and, more importantly, the RESULTS the agency delivered on. I'd want to talk to those people AWAY from the agency: I'd want to hear directly from them, not through an agency go-between.

Any agency that says they'll move heaven and earth to meet and exceed your goals and then that doesn't deliver, even when given multiple chances to step up doesn't deserve your business.

And I'd want to see and read case studies, reports, and real-world results of the ways this agency in particular changed the landscape. Forget about agencies telling you they'll "move the needle". Someone banging on a desk can move a frigging needle.

You need to know the agency has the chops, the stones, and the wherewithal to make a real difference in people's lives.

Far too many companies say they care about CX and then fail to deliver on even the easiest of items. I'd look for an agency that's shattered records, one that's completely rebuilt real-world expectations from the ground up, and set bold new standards for the rest of a segment to aspire to.