Forming new relationships comes with challenges, and this applies to B2B relationships as much as other types. In the marketing agency world, it’s especially important for the marketer and the client to forge a strong bond at the outset, and an effective onboarding process is the best way for both parties to do this.
What Is Onboarding?
Onboarding is the action or process of integrating a new service provider with your company or organization. This includes familiarizing them with your products and services, hopes and dreams.
It’s important because for any marketing agency to represent you effectively, it needs to have a clear understanding of how you operate, what your priorities are and how you plan to achieve them.
How Onboarding Works
Successful relationships all begin with agreement, so this process starts with consensus between the agency and your company on issues such as:
- deliverables of the marketing contract, including timelines and pricing
- roles and responsibilities
- your company’s philosophy and core messaging
- target audience and brand personality
- competitors and market positioning
- unique selling points or competitive advantages
Onboarding gives you the opportunity to provide your new agency with access to your business goals and objectives, existing marketing collateral, your corporate design elements and your client and marketing data.
Getting It Right
Proper onboarding is crucial to the success of your working relationship with a new agency. Just as you’re onboarding the agency to your marketing team, the agency is in turn onboarding you as a new client. Learning one another’s processes, strengths and opportunities is required before the agency begins developing marketing strategies to help you achieve your business goals.
If you remember just one thing from this post, make sure it’s this: A sound understanding of your philosophy, products and services will help the agency craft effective communications on your behalf.
How to Get Started
A solid onboarding process usually includes a kick-off call or meeting with a new client to introduce the various people who will be working together to each other. During the meeting, roles and responsibilities are decided and documented, and an initial timeline is either discussed or developed (or a provisional timeline is approved). By this stage, pricing is usually already finalized, but it’s helpful for people involved to understand what the pricing covers and what might lead to increased costs.
Enjoy the benefits of a good onboarding process by choosing a professional marketing agency to work with you. For more insights on creating successful healthcare marketing campaigns, call Wax Custom Communications at 305.350.5700 or visit waxcom.com.