Finding the right agency partner for your business could be the difference between a good 2025 and a great one. The growth of your business may ultimately depend on the health of your agency relationship – this decision requires thoughtful consideration. Despite this, many agency RFPs continue to go into market without clearly defined goals, scope and service requirements, budget parameters or even key internal stakeholder alignment. These factors combined, have led to a world where agencies and brands are unable to assess if their partnership is fundamentally the right fit. The result? Struggling relationships, missed goals, wasted money and frustration on both sides.
With that in mind, this post outlines the six key steps that B2B marketing leaders can take to build strong, effective and successful agency partnerships. These recommendations are based on Tenx4’s years of real-world experience, as we work closely with B2B marketing and procurement teams to help them identify the right agency partners.
Provide direction
To eliminate resistance across your team that will inhibit your brand’s growth, provide executive direction that you will be finding a new agency partner. This will break down silos and reduce myopic priorities. We also encourage sharing insight into the benefits of a new partnership and your vision to help create cross team alignment. Let your team know how involved you’d like to be in the process and any other upfront expectations.
Give them time
Provide your team with adequate time to run a thorough RFP process. Finding the right partner is not a quick fix, and you should expect a multi-month process. Don’t rush them. Rather, support them by being thorough and thoughtful.
Insist on thorough discovery and scope
Enable your team to share openly and honestly about your partnership needs. During discovery, they should be uncovering your fundamental partnership needs across agency services, global operating, nuanced requirements and also clarity into budgets available for the partnership. This step is essential for success.
Only consider relevant agencies
Your team should only include agencies in your RFP process that fundamentally meet your needs (as they were uncovered during discovery). Encourage your team to vet the agencies to ensure that your scope is an appropriate fit for each considered agency. You want to be a mid-ish size client and to work with an agency that specializes in helping their clients with your exact challenge.
Have the right conversations with the right people
Pitch meetings should not be a ‘Broadway Show’ with charismatic agency actors and generic content. Instead, they should be a specific conversation about your exact needs and challenges with the people who will be working on your business. Create pitch environments that feel more like a working strategy session so that you are having the right conversation with the right people.
Make the final decision with input
Ask your team to provide a final agency recommendation with justification and a cost analysis. Depending on how involved in the process you’ve decided to be, your team’s input will be invaluable when making your final partnership selection decision. Remember that your team will be working closely with the agency selected, so ensuring they are confident in the agency will create the required trust to build a successful agency partnership.
In addition to the above steps, here are some other important considerations:
- Don’t just hire an agency you’ve worked with before. You can include them in your RFP process, but they should be vetted for your current business and your current needs. This will allow you the opportunity to assess if they’re truly the right partner for you and get alignment across your team.
- While procurement is often a helpful ally for marketing organizations looking for a new agency, many CMOs are enlisting the help of agency search consultants like Tenx4. We can bring clarity, cost savings, transparency and efficiency to the complicated process.
- Focus on the value of the agency, rather than the fees. While agency fees matter and need to be reasonable, what the agency does with your money should matter more.
Your organization is likely being asked to deliver results with constrained resources, while executive teams and boards demand greater accountability. Making sure you have the right agency partners matters now more than ever. Take the time to conduct a thorough RFP process, you’ll be glad you did.
If you need help finding the right agency for your business, learn more about how Tenx4 can help you here.
