Phase One: Generating a baseline score

Q1. Client Needs

What ambitions does the client organisation have for your work?

Select most appropriate response

Assets
Client looks for a simple suite of outputs with little strategy or creative development.

Evolution
Evolution, not revolution, of existing creative and strategic approaches to marketing.

Transformation
Client looks for a significant transformation in their marketing.

Q2. Your Offering

What impact is your agency making?

Select most appropriate response

Execution
Mainly delivering tactical tasks.

Expertise
Providing specialised skills.

Strategic Leadership
Agency is capable of holistic strategic leadership for this client.

Q3. Value Attribution

How well can you attribute value/results to your services?
Ranging from brand metrics to sales/business KPIs.

Select most appropriate response

None/Soft
No attribution or evaluation of client/agency relationship.

Brand Metrics
Ability to measure and attribute brand/marketing KPIs.

Business Performance
Attribution model: measures impact of marketing activities on hard business results (NSV, Market Share etc).

Q4. Commercial Capabilities

What is the combined level of commercial capability of both agency and client?

Select most appropriate response to determine your agency’s commercial capability

Basic
An emerging ability to create and manage more advanced commercial approaches.

Competent
Good understanding of the commercial components

Advanced
Sophisticated capability to manage any type of commercial components, good level of reporting and tracking commercials/value.

Select most appropriate response to determine the client's commercial capability

Basic
An emerging ability to create and manage more advanced commercial approaches

Competent
Good understanding of the commercial components

Advanced
Sophisticated capability to manage any type of commercial components, good level of reporting and tracking commercials/value.

Your Baseline Score is:

You have now assessed your client requirements, your role in the client’s overall agency ecosystem, joint commercial capability and your ability to attribute value to your services. These assessments together deliver the overall baseline score, representing the overall quality of the foundation you have to build on.

35+

Exceptional

You are likely to be a transformative agency working with an exceptionally enlightened client - with the means to both deliver and track results. You should encourage maximum commercial innovation.

18-34

Strong

Both agency and client are positioned for the relationship to deliver impact and have strong supporting mechanisms for creative commercial innovation.

10-17

Intermediate

You are in a relationship with potential for growth. You are encouraged to explore some of the more innovative commercial strategies.

5-9

Emerging

You have moved beyond the basics. If you’re willing to take some risks, you can explore some of the more complicated commercial components.

Basic

This relationship needs to be built cautiously. You should not implement any complex components.

Phase Two: Relationship and risk factors

Q5. Relationships

Select the factor that best reflects your approach to the relationship

Select most appropriate response.

Trust

"We are in it together": a full sense of partnership and mentality with permission to challenge the status quo. An understanding of the impact creative has on business results.

Belief

Both parties understand the pace they want to operate at and the expectations of the work. The partnership is fuelled by insights and customer behaviours. The team is recognised as building innovative solutions for the client.

Foundation

Each party has experienced how the other organisation works and a joint vision has been established. Teams work well together but with an "us" and "them" dynamic.

Transaction

When you are building an initial proposal with a new client, in initial negotiations or in the early days of a new relationship.

Q6. Risk

Decide which factor reflects your acceptance of risk

Select most appropriate response.

High

You are willing to experience a high degree of risk while servicing this client. You can be coming out of a pitch and are very excited about its future potential or have a long-standing trusted relationship where you can both be entrepreneurial.

Normal

You are willing to accept "skin in the game" for equal and proportionate returns. Most ongoing or established agency/client relationships are likely to fit within this category.

Low

Little risk is acceptable in servicing this client. Either you know the client and have some concerns about the relationship, or you just might be fresh from the pitch and are not sure about the commercial partnership.

None

You have concerns about the relationship - particularly the commercial part. Your goal is to ensure you specify your deliverables and establish a straightforward commercial arrangement.

Phase Three: Creating a commercial score and framework

Assessing Risk and Relationship enables you to make the commercial score relate to the reality of both the relationship and your overall affinity for risk. Together, these factors can guide you to choose the right commercial components.

Your Commercial Score is:

The higher your score, the more likely you are to implement the more complicated components successfully. This graphic should give you a guide to help you understand when you are ready (and should look to) innovate within the commercial relationship, but also make you aware of the risks of implementing components that are too complicated.

Exceptional

60+

Value / Equity

Business Performance

Strong

40-59

Creative service menu

Intermediate

20-39

Production menu

Emerging

10-19

Licensing / Subscription

Project team

Basic

<10

Commission

Retained team

Your Comments

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Phase One: Generating a baseline score

Q1. Client Needs

Q2. Your Offering

Q3. Value Attribution

Q4. Commercial Capabilities

Your Baseline Score is:

Phase Two: Relationship and risk factors

Q5. Relationships

Q6. Risk

Phase Three: Creating a commercial score and framework

Your Commercial Score is:

Your Comments

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