Probably, in every agency or freelancer, at least once in their life, everything does not go according to plan. And no matter how hard you try, nothing sticks together. We are not an exception, and we are ready to boldly admit it.
Our client was a local well-known in its region brand. It all started at the stage of concluding a cooperation agreement. This process dragged on for three months because the business side believed that all the responsibility should fall on our shoulders. Although they are not fragile, that’s not how it should be. To clarify a little, let’s give an example: even if the client delays replenishment the advertising cabinet, and because of this we do not have time to achieve the set KPIs, the agency receives fines. Despite the difficulties, we made all our efforts: spent dozens of hours of negotiations, made a discount for the first month of promotion, took on additional commitments and finally got the desired client. Why desirable? Because we understood: if it becomes our case, it will bring new customers from the region.
As in the vast majority of domestic enterprises, there was little input data, and we started work on the SMM strategy. At first everything was calm: competitors, work with the target audience, but already in the first week we received an urgent task to create banners. And although this was not included in the contract, we always play on the side of the customer, because we have taken up with him. There were other, no less “urgent” tasks after that. Because of this, we did not have time to complete the strategy on time, we had to postpone the presentation for a week and a half. This was followed by a portion of powerful criticism in our direction.
The time to produce content had come. In order to meet the deadlines, we categorically refused any additional tasks. The client has received and agreed to all technical tasks, scripts and treatments. It would seem that after this there should be no problems. But it turned out differently at the end: the client considered the content disgusting, and the shooting very expensive, so the production stage will be paid for only 30%.
After all, we agreed on the content plan and started implementing the strategy. For the targetologist, the main task was the generation of leads, but at the stage of the presentation of the strategy, all wishes regarding the product were rejected. We tried to convey that in the market that has already developed, it is necessary to win back a customer from a competitor, therefore the product and its price are of crucial importance. ACs performed excellently, the price for the lead did not exceed the threshold, which was discussed before the start of cooperation. But, as we said above, we lost a significant part of the orders at the moment when the customer was familiar with the product. Accordingly, we received unfavorable feedback about the quality of the leads.
It turned out that the problem was much more global than we imagined. There was a significant outflow of loyal customers due to the support being unable to handle the large number of negative claims. To solve this situation, we created and integrated a chatbot. But there was no action from the business side to improve the product even a little bit after numerous complaints from users.
It became obvious that cooperation in this format could not continue for a long time, so we ended it. But we made valuable conclusions for ourselves, which we want to share with you:
– It is necessary to sell a service, not a discount;
– Clearly, down to the smallest details, write down all the details of cooperation in the contract;
– Provide the client with comprehensive information about each stage of work;
– The chances of effective long-term cooperation are significantly increased when the agency and the customer play in the same team;
– It is not enough just to have a brand and a good picture, you need to be able and willing to work on the product.
A small strap. There are no good or bad customers, there is a psychology of relationships. We are fully aware that with our constant concessions we ourselves have formed such a model of client behavior. And our main mistake was that we were strictly guided by the rule “The customer is always right.” But in practice, sometimes it turns out differently, especially when it comes to promotion.
We hope that our experience will be useful to you, and you will be able to build a healthy customer-contractor relationship, avoiding conflicts and unpleasant moments.
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