How to pick the right agency for your credit union
You pick us!
Ok, now that that is out of the way, selecting a credit union advertising agency, marketing agency or design agency - is a tough decision for any credit union. Making the right choice will lead to trackable results for your credit union. Making the wrong agency selection will not only be a waste of your budget but also make your life miserable.
Too many credit unions take a strange approach to this super-critical decision; they may get lucky, or they may get screwed.
Being a CEO of a credit union marketing agency AND having to make this decision from the other side, here is my advice on HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT CREDIT UNION MARKETING AGENCY.
Gather up the usual suspects
Pick Your Starting Line-up
Make a list of agencies to evaluate. The best source in compiling this list is referrals from colleagues or even credit union associations like MAC (The Marketing Association of Credit Unions), CUES, Everything CU and CUNA. Never grab your copy of the Yellow Pages. It is too random and a waste of time. Start with at least 5 solid and reputable agencies to investigate further, but no more than 10 otherwise it will all blur together.
Do your Background Work
Use the internet to check out the agencies on your list and eliminate any obvious klinkers. If you are looking for an agency to do your website, obviously those with a marginal site should be eliminated. Thats not saying you have to love their site, but you should be able to appreciate the effort and technologies that were used to create it. Stick with agencies that know the landscape. It eliminates some of the back and forth (that is billable) for things like disclosures, logos (EHL, NCUA) and so on.
Since you are looking at agencies that specialize in credit unions, you may want to check their client list to make sure that they dont work with a competing credit union. While this has never been an issue for us, some people feel a little wobbly on this one. The great thing is that because of computers and telephones, you can pretty much work with any agency in the country. I have clients in town that I see less than my clients in Los Angeles. Make sure each agency includes the services you need among their core competencies. The goal in this step is reduce your initial list down to three to five agencies for further consideration.
Put it in Writing
Write up your request for proposal (RFP), a request for information (RFI) or a request for a quote (RFQ). The goal is to collect some specific information from each of the agencies on your list, whatever you want to call this. Other sources will tell you that agencies hate RFPs. This is typically because people ask a bunch of questions and create a bunch of scenarios that have nothing to do with the work that will actually be performed.
Remember that you are trying to establish a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with a marketing agency, so 1) respect their time, It could take 20 hours to write up everything for an RFP knowing that it might just end up in the round file. So make sure your RFPs are simple and direct. and 2) don’t just ask questions. Give the agency enough information about your specific needs and brand to determine if there is a fit from their perspective. If you are a “Green” credit union and the agency has no experience with “Green” causes then they should know that they aren’t a good fit. Maybe you need a new website for your credit union and they have little to no real web development experience. That would be good to know.
Reach Out and Touch Your Marketer
Call each agency that you are considering. Introduce yourself and your credit union, and tell them you’d like to include them in your RFP process. This is a win-win for you and the agency:
- It lets the unqualified agencies (like I described above) to opt out of the RFP right away without wasting anyones time.
- It lets you speak directly to the right person at the agency and begin establishing a relationship. Just because they might not be right for this project doesnt mean that you can’t use them for a DIFFERENT project.
- It gives you a chance to “Match Personalities”. Evaluating an agency is like a first date. It is a chance to see if you have the same goals, interests and passions. If it is a match then it could lead to a full on marriage, kids and a dog. If not, it is a warm handshake and a “I’ll call you sometime”.
- It gives you a chance to tell the person how many agencies will be receiving the RFP. You don’t have to give up the specific names of the other agencies you’ll be contacting, but should let them know. I am more likely to respond to an RFP if I am going against 3 or 6 agencies than I am 100 agencies because you posted it on some website.
Dont be afraid to “Step Out”
The best agency for you may not be local. Like I have said before, we are in the boonies because it keeps our overhead low. This means I can pass along a competitive price to my clients. If it were up to my wife, we would be living in San Diego where the cost of living in significantly higher. If you do include out-of-town agencies on your list, be prepared for them to ask for or expect at least partial reimbursement for their travel expenses if you invite them to give a presentation. I don’t mind flying out to the east coast to present, but I also have actual projects that I need to manage. It is the whole “a bird in the hand” axiom at work.
Another option, now that we are all techie and electronical genius types, is to do video conference presentations or web presentations. Since this is the “First Date” you are really just trying to get a feel for the person and this doesn’t have to happen in person. Be flexible. The best choice might be thousands of miles away!
“Peruse” Means Read Thoroughly
Evaluate the RFP responses, eliminate the agencies don’t fit your needs. Trim down your list of agencies to at least two, but certainly no more than three). Ask yourself:
- Are you comfortable with their experience?
- Are you comfortable with their size and resources?
- Are you comfortable with their with their approach to your objectives?
- Are you confident that your account or project will be large enough to be important to them?
- Are you impressed by their past creative work?
- Do they have solid references? Ask references if the agency consistently meet specified timelines? Do they stick to their quoted prices or are they always coming back for more? Are they easy to work with? Do they deliver what they propose?
A Second Date
Arrange for follow-up presentations from each of your finalist agencies. By this time your questions can be more specific. You have done your background work and checked their references. If the reference said something that might be a little off (like they missed some deadlines or there was a problem with a past project) give them a chance to give you their side of the story. You never know what kinds of obstacles popped up that the referral might have forgotten about.
The most important element at this point is chemistry: are you comfortable with the agency’s team, leadership and are they people you look forward to working with and entrusting with your credit union’s promotional activities?
The Credit Union Marketing Godfather
It is Time to Gather The Five Families
By this time you have likely narrowed it down to one or two agencies. It’s time to make your final selection. Get the CEO, Marketing team, CIO VPs and whoever else is going to have to depend on this addition to your little family. Discuss the merits of the competing agencies as if you are all equal and have equal say in an open and free discussion. The CEO will likely not be dealing with the agency directly so it is important that the other heads of departments can work with the new group that you are bringing in. But since the CEO has someone to answer too, they need to feel confident that all the wheels of this machine will work together.
In a perfect world, you would all agree on which agency was the clear winner; in the real world, compromise will likely be necessary on someone’s part. That’s why the open discussion is critical; if your CEO or CMO ultimately makes the final decision, at least all of the facts and opinions of the team have been aired so an educated decision may be made. There have been times where, i know it’s hard to believe, even I did not win over a CEO even with the CMO and marketing department supporting me internally. Someone has to make the final call though and a decision needs to be made.
It is time to to get married!
Inform the finalist agencies of your decision. Because the rejections suck (giving AND receiving), I suggest getting these out of the way pronto. If possible, let the agency know why you went with the “Other Guy”. We tried to land a “Whale” once. We did not get the account because, even though we had more experience, and better portfolio and a charming, fearless leader – they felt we were too small for their account. That sucks to hear but it is a valid and reasonable reason to pass up on our genius. Unfortunately they fired that other agency after a few months so there goes the “Bigger is Better” philosophy.
Then, call the winning agency and give them the good news. That is the fun call.
Best of luck with your marketing and agency selection process!
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Hi Tony,
Great post. Expanding on your intro in regards to creating an initial candidate list: Use a resource of your credit union marketing peers such as EverythingCU to get some recommendations. While the final selection process needs to be tailored to your own CU’s unique situation as you’ve outlined so nicely, it’s helpful to start with a great list of agencies that have had success with other credit unions.
In fact, there is already extensive conversation on this subject on EverythingCU, and any CU professionals are welcome to add to it at any time:
http://www.everythingcu.com/discussion/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewtopic&DiscussionTopicID=5402