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Home » Did you Resolve to Fire your Agency in 2023?

Did you Resolve to Fire your Agency in 2023?

  • 8 min read

Or end a contract with a supplier? Jump to a new distributor? Resign your business with a retailer? Evaluate other partners for your craft beverage business?

Resolutions image for fire your agency post

The Holidays are often a time to personally reflect on the previous year. While the team at Market Your Craft doesn’t put stock in New Year’s resolutions (does drinking more water count?), we understand for some the end of a chapter can mean a fresh new start to the next. So they celebrate the wins, highlight the challenges and put it out into the world that they’ll be healthier, exercise more, get a new job, travel…outcomes they didn’t achieve in 2022.

Some may even stick with it past January 😉

2023 road ahead image for fire your agency postLess common during this time is giving yourself the headspace to professionally reflect on the good, the bad and the downright ugly of last year; size it up and give it a name like, “lagging sales,” “traffic decreases” or “increase competition;” and plot a corrective course for the new year. This is a healthy, objective way for your business to close out 2022 in favor of a bright, shiny 2023. Especially if you are transparent with your team about the results.

Interested? Grab a beverage and read on, because we’re about to give you the blueprint for firing your agency.

Wait, what? Why would Market Your Craft, an agency, suggest such a dramatic action? Two reasons:

  1. Evaluating agency performance and fit is something we know intimately – the criteria can be similar for partners in other areas of your craft beverage business.
  2. For some, 2023 is going to be a make-or-break year. Best to start the year as streamlined and efficient as possible (with reserves in the tank).

If it helps, treat this like a worksheet for auditing your current roster of vendors and services, identifying the stars you carry forward with you into the next year, and the dogs you leave behind (it’s a metaphor – we ❤️🐶s).

expectations

Expectations versus reality street sign for fire your agency postWhether an internal employee or an outside resource, having performance expectations paints a clear picture of success. What goals and objectives did you give your agency at the start of the project, for example a packaging redesign or targeted advertising campaign? The more specific you are setting expectations at the start of a project, the greater your ability to objectively evaluate delivery at the end. Conversely, vague success measures make it extremely difficult to hold agencies or partners accountable. Avoid the, “but he’s such fun to work with,” and, “she always brings the best donuts,” success measures by documenting shared expectations in a scope of work that can be referenced throughout the project.

If you haven’t already, consider printing this out to help commit thoughts to paper. List below your current [agency] partners, your performance expectations and timeframe:

Agency/PartnerExpectationTimeframe
ex., social media30 posts/month, 50% video content, surpassing 10,000 Facebook page likesby the end of 2022
   
   
   
Agency/PartnerExpectationTimeframe
ex., social media30 posts/month, 50% video content, surpassing 10,000 Facebook page likesby the end of 2022
   
   
   

Man with you're fired sign for fire your agency postSometimes performance is very black and white: your agency did or did not deliver an outcome. And that may in fact be enough to fire them. For example, if they met only 3 of your 7 expectations, either your expectations weren’t realistic or they’re not the right partner. Pretty straightforward. But what if they met most but not all your expectations? How about the grey area between strict performance measures and “fit” with your company? For that we consider a set of criteria for a high-performance partner capable of supporting your craft beverage business during this challenging time.


criteria

There are a number of downloadable scorecards available to help with mid- and end-of-year evaluations of your partners. In the case of agency evaluations, we like a couple:

Problem is, they don’t go deep enough into the capabilities and outputs relevant to your business and what’s needed to stand out RIGHT NOW. An agency or partner may excel in an adjacent or unrelated industry, but struggle in craft beverage. The below scorecard focuses attention on those areas most important to driving traffic, building engagement and capturing new sales for your business:

CapabilitiesImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., local market knowledge43
Demonstrated success in craft beverage  
Desired skills I can’t find internally  
Experience with marketing, advertising, public relations  
CreativityImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., understands brand story or will help define it52
Examples of creative problem solving across media  
Budget-conscious and hyper-efficient  
On-trend, contemporary thinking  
Ideas based in sales and competitive data  
Process and ExecutionImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., collaborative process, autonomous execution55
Clear understanding of operational impact  
Part of the team, used to remote working  
Responds with a sense of urgency  
Expert project management  
OutputImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., ability to create campaigns versus individual ads41
Respects the TTB and advertising code  
Strives for first-mover advantage  
Intimate understanding of customer wants and needs  
Timely and relevant  
Performance and ROIImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., provides transparent, actionable reporting23
Shares insights specific to the craft beverage industry  
Always delivers value (quality exceeds price)  
Offers consistency and predictability  
Level of effort aligns with schedule  
Totals: sum the values from each column  
CapabilitiesImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., local market knowledge43
Demonstrated success in craft beverage  
Desired skills I can’t find internally  
Experience with marketing, advertising, public relations  
CreativityImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., understands brand story or will help define it52
Examples of creative problem solving across media  
Budget-conscious and hyper-efficient  
On-trend, contemporary thinking  
Ideas based in sales and competitive data  
Process and ExecutionImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., collaborative process, autonomous execution55
Clear understanding of operational impact  
Part of the team, used to remote working  
Responds with a sense of urgency  
Expert project management  
OutputImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., ability to create campaigns versus individual ads41
Respects the TTB and advertising code  
Strives for first-mover advantage  
Intimate understanding of customer wants and needs  
Timely and relevant  
Performance and ROIImportance (1-5)Score (1-5)
ex., provides transparent, actionable reporting23
Shares insights specific to the craft beverage industry  
Always delivers value (quality exceeds price)  
Offers consistency and predictability  
Level of effort aligns with schedule  
Totals: sum the values from each column  

Hands together photo for fire your agency postHow did your agency score? If you’re on the fence about them meeting your shared expectations above, then perhaps a favorable score will nudge them forward. However, a lower score could eliminate them from consideration this year. Remember: this is an example of how to add objectivity to the evaluation process to ensure you have the right team in place for the challenges ahead in 2023. It’s important to evaluate yourself as well! A lower agency score in a particular area could mean your team isn’t providing the support or resources necessary to succeed.

How does the team at Market Your Craft stack up against other agencies? You’d have to ask our clients 🏆 But we definitely hold our own, with a unique set of skills supporting the beer, wine, whiskey and non-alcoholic beverage industries.

an agency perspective

Just as your company may be evaluating current partners for performance and fit, agencies go through a similar exercise with their current client roster. While the scorecard from an agency perspective has different performance measures (i.e., growing team members and building capabilities), criteria such as communication, support, culture and others go both ways. And just as you have to make the tough decision to part ways with an agency, so too could the agency decide to resign your business. If that happens, it’s understandably difficult for both parties: the brand must find a new partner, and the agency must replace that revenue. And quickly. Because the speed of craft beverage won’t slow down to allow you to collect yourself.

If you find yourself in a situation where you’re on the giving or receiving end of that breakup note and would like some support – even if it’s recos on where to start or who to contact – just reach out. We’re happy to help connect you with your next high-performance partner!

MailChimp archive:
https://mailchi.mp/2e62ae7baf3f/230102_fireyouragency?e=bd76eedb35
Download:
https://app.box.com/s/c17xam2bu9k9uklj2r45fzxakzcedqgd