Rankable Ep.11 – The Importance of Relationship Building With Clients

Welcome to episode 11 of iPullRank’s Rankable podcast, where we discuss various hot topics in the digital marketing industry and enterprise SEO.

In this episode, we are joined by Shantel Branch, Senior Account Manager of iPullRank, and Chris Lombard, Senior Marketing Technology Manager at Home Franchise Concepts.

In this episode, our discussion revolved around the topic, “The Importance of Relationship Building with Clients.” We covered many aspects of how to effectively build a healthy relationship between agency and client. Along with the challenges that these partnerships may face and ways to improvise and improve for the benefit of both parties.

If you want actionable tips and tricks on how to more effectively communicate expectations, this is an episode you wouldn’t want to miss.

Video Transcription

Jarrett Thomas:

Hey, good afternoon everybody, we are back! Welcome to Rankable episode number 11. I’ll be your host, Jarrett Thomas, Senior Account Executive at iPullRank. Thank you for all the online listeners and thank you for all first time joiners. So today’s a special episode. I’m joined by two special guests today. I have to Shantel Branch, who is a Senior Account Manager at iPullRank and Senior Marketing Technology Manager at Home Franchise Concepts, Chris Lombard, how are you guys doing!

Shantel Branch:

Thanks for asking us to join. I’m really appreciative. It’s been a while since I’ve been on Rankable

Jarrett Thomas:

I know you are an early newcomer, would like to have you on more, but I’m going to talk about that later, but thanks. Thanks again, both for joining. So for everyone listening today, today’s episode we wanted to talk about is going to be about the importance of relationships, the relationship building with clients, right? So as you guys know, especially if you’re on the AE side, AM side, or even on the buyer side, there’s so many different things to go wrong on the client handoff. 

And what we want to do today is just kind of go over some of those best practices of how do you make sure that there is a seamless transition from sales to the AM, even understand it from Chris’ perspective, right? What are some of the things that you would look at on the buyer side, or what are some of the ways you prefer to be worked with? So I’ll be hoping to come away with some actionable items and I’m gonna start off with the first question is actually going to be for you, Chris.

I would love to know about your experience working with an agency, being on the buyer side, right? Once you have a new partner and start the onboarding process, what are some of the things you look for from a client success team and what are some potential red flags?

Chris Lombard:

When looking at a client success team, a lot of times we are looking to see what kind of experience they have. And if it relates back to us at Home Franchise Concepts, we have four brands. So everything we do is enterprise scale, and there’s so many great agencies out there, but if they haven’t worked with a larger scale client, it can be a little overwhelming and daunting. And so seeing how their experience hands out and how it lays out, you know, it’s a big one for us, with our past clients. 

You know, and I was just saying in general, the other thing that we look for is if we don’t feel the innovative pushing forward in that initial few meetings, it’s kind of a red flag because we are looking for our agencies and our vendors to be an extension of us. They are the experts, we’re using you guys, cause you’re amazing, but we need you to be leading. And if you don’t fill out, initially it can be a little disconcerting because we didn’t want to have to plus a success team need to be successful. 

Shantel Branch:

Right, right. 

Jarrett Thomas:

Totally, and full disclosure because I want it to go into this story before I ask the question, right? So full disclosure, everyone listening, we actually work with HFC. HFC is one of our clients and it’s actually a special account for me. Because it’s actually one of the first accounts that I was able, I was able to work on from start to finish. And everything that Chris is saying is totally true. 

So it was definitely a long process. And I was glad to be able to be in that process to get to know the team and understand their business as a whole. And it was definitely a lot of moving parts and pieces of the deal. And it is actually a good segue for Shantel. So I would love to know from you, like, with this in particular, can you walk us through, what did your onboarding process and what are some of the things that you look for in a client?

Shantel Branch:

Okay. So first of all, I just wanted to make sure, did we make it clear to everyone watching that Chris and I worked together on a pretty regular basis. I lead the client services team for Home Franchise Concepts. I’ve been working with Chris since February. And this was a, I was picking up Jarrett’s baby. He brought you guys on board and to answer your question about what is it like to bring a client onboard, Jarrett and I sat down and talked for about an hour about who you guys were, what you were expecting, what he knew about you guys from a personality perspective, how you’ve met in the past, so that when we came into that conversation, sure. We will talk to you and try to learn more. But at least I wasn’t coming in like, Hey guys, what’s up.

Jarrett Thomas:

Exactly.

Shantel Branch:

I wanted to hear who is Chris, what’s Chris dealt with, who’s her boss, who are the people that work under her. Four brands, I literally wanted to crawl under the desk because I was like, okay, so this is 4 accounts in 1. I hope these people are nice. I hope that they understand their business and what we do internally is craft a lot of questions to ask. So we just like, you guys are learning what you’re going to be dealing with within the first 30 minutes, we have a sense of like, do they understand their business? Do they understand what they bought? And do they understand clearly what they intend to see happen through this engagement.

And Chris’s team, and everyone was on the phone, everyone was ready. It was like a model. Like we should have taped it and been like, if we could have every client be like this client, this is what we would want. We would funnel that back to the sales team, like get people who know who to grab for what everybody comes in, attends, everyone talks on the calls. Did I answer your question Jarrett?

Jarrett Thomas:

No, absolutely. You went above and beyond. I love it. I love it. And I think I second that, and also I’m going to shout out Chris Hart from our team, because I think he’s also a big part of what we do here because he’s our Director of Revenue and he’s somebody who’s on the calls on the frail side and Northville on the account management side. So that’s also another big piece for us to help it be the assembly’s transition and make sure nothing gets lost in translation. So definitely a big  shout out to Chris. And I know he’s watching. 

And then in terms of, Shantel, so in terms of that particular deal, right? So what are some of the, or even just account management as a whole, what are some of the biggest, or what are some of the skills you would recommend somebody to work on? What are some of the best traits or, you know, that account managers should have, or should not.

Shantel Branch:

Okay, so this is a really good question and I probably should give full disclosure, is that in addition to being an account management and client services, I am a retired salesperson. So before being on the account management side, I was on the sales side and I understand that oftentimes people think account managers are too scared to be salespeople, but my perk is very much revenue driven, but it’s in a different way. 

If you are going to be an account manager and you want to be successful. You have to be a really good listener. You have to be able to remember as much as you possibly can. You have to be very organized. You have to ask questions for clarity. So you have to be curious, and you have to be fearless because sometimes you’re going to have to say no for the benefit of the engagement, because you can’t just say yes to everything that a client wants because being deferential is great. But then when you don’t deliver, the client is angry, disappointed, disjointed, and then the relationship is broken.

Sometimes it’s better to just say, Hey, listen, we’ve got XYZ going on. And if we don’t pace this properly, you will not be happy. I understand you want this done in 30 days, this takes 60 days. And if you want it done right, this is what we have to do. So add all the pieces of the puzzle on the account management side of things, when you can drop the ball and then you are responsible for ruining our relationship, also you have to be friendly too. People have to like you because we are together for anywhere from four months to a year to two or three years. And if I’m awful or if a client doesn’t like me, it’s very bad.

Chris Lombard:

Yea, it could really be detrimental to the relationship. And then if the symbiotic-ness is not there, you don’t have that.

Shantel Branch:

And everyone’s not lucky enough to have their main point of contact have your same birthday, and personality. Chris and I are very lucky because we got on very well, right from the beginning. But even if you don’t get on, you have to develop, find common ground with a person. So if you talk, if you get people talking, you’ll find something that you guys can like vibe on. And that one little thing, whether it’s you like Funko miniatures, but just to make people feel comfortable with you. So you’re not just a service provider because a service provider can easily be dismissed and someone else can provide a service. So this is about relationship management. 

Jarrett Thomas:

That was great, I think something that you said was totally spot on. I think the fearless part. Right?  And I think for AMs, I know for me personally, it would be hard for me. Like how do you balance the saying no and still building the relationship. Because it’s kind of hard, How do you say no? And then still be buddy, buddy with the client. So I would love to know how you navigate that or whatever that you could provide to others AMs in that same boat.

Shantel Branch:

I don’t know Chris, I’m going to actually push this over to Chris. So Chris, if you have an ask as a client, do you want someone to say yes all the time? Or how do you feel if someone says yes all the time.

Chris Lombard:

No, I do not want yes people. And because I feel like a straight out yes for everything we get to your point, it sets us up for failure and it sets us up for disappointment. We want somebody who is bringing thought leadership to everything we’re doing to some rationale, to, you know, a human compassion aspect of like, we also know that like everybody we work with, has fives and we have multiple clients and nobody wants to be disappointed. But by just saying yes, I feel like they’re kind of guaranteeing to set yourself up for failure if you say yes all the time. I mean, I work in a franchise network or, you know, we’re a franchise store and we can’t just say yes to everything.

We do what we can, but then there are also limitations that have to be put on and they make us look better. And they in the long run will make the franchisee happier. And it’s not about looking good, but it’s about making sure that everybody’s really happy and still come back with really strong rationale, why it’s going to take longer or why was this not a good idea? There’s something that you may not have thought of something. And if you just say yes to everything, I mean, that’d be nice, but I don’t think we’re going to get the desired long term results. We want that. Otherwise you’re not bringing anything to the table that I couldn’t go, just hire a coordinator to do. And just do every little thing I say. And we’re looking for that partnership.

Jarrett Thomas:

Exactly. When you just have the yes person, it kind of kills the innovation and creativity of the campaign. So it was like, it goes back to your earlier point, right? You want somebody who’s also a partner and you don’t want to have to just say yes or here do this task, do this task, do this task. If that was the case, we could have done it ourselves, in that case, you guys want a partner, that can really help. 

So actually when it comes to relationship building, so you guys have a great relationship, right? So I’m curious, has there been a situation for yourself, Chris, where you’ve had a great relationship with an AM, but performance wasn’t really up to par and then how does that relationship go into play when we think about renewals, um, 

Chris Lombard:

I would say it has some weight on it. It definitely does. I’ve actually been in various before. Um, and the relationship is important, but I think what happens is with that relationship, it usually allows myself or some of my team members the opportunity to talk to the AM, to really let them know what our concerns are and to offer that second chance before making that decision on a renewal. 

If I don’t have that relationship, I’m not even going to tell you what I don’t like about it. I’m just done. I’m not doing, and I’ve already moved on when you decide to come back and say, is there anything you can do? So the relationship is so key because even if you are up to par, it allows you to bring yourself and get yourself back up without it you’re out faster than you can. You know, blink your eyes.

Shantel Branch:

I think that people are just sometimes scared to get that check in. So they won’t ask. They just go, well, you know, they haven’t complained. So I guess everything’s okay. And it’s like, no, you can’t do that. You have to be comfortable getting sincere and negative feedback as an opportunity to potentially rectify the situation and pretty regularly. So what we try to do is on a quarterly basis, we try to engage with our main points of contacts just to say, Hey, is there anything that we can improve on? Anything that has fallen short? Is there anything you want to see more of? 

And then usually if a person feels comfortable, they’ll tell you like, this is good, but what we really like to see this, or sometimes you’ll notice a person uses a lot of words that are flat. I won’t say something’s good. Okay, cool. And you have to draw it out of them. Like maybe everyone’s not comfortable being honest about the fact that they’re dissatisfied. They just will leave quietly. I engage those people. So if someone says, Oh, this wasn’t what I expected. Let’s talk about expectations. When you say it, it wasn’t what you expected. Does that mean that it exceeded your expectations? 

And I’ll ask that in an open conversation because it’s either you’re happy or you’re not you aren’t and I’m not going to be embarrassed if you are unhappy, all I can do is get an opportunity to potentially rectify the matter. If we don’t speak about it, we can’t fix it.

Jarrett Thomas:

Exactly. And I think something really important that you guys both stated is like, you know, in terms of like the sales part, the relationship means everything. It doesn’t mean everything, but it’s definitely a good starter to build a relationship. Because you should be knowing and knowing everything that’s going on with the business, but you should definitely care about that, your client. It really goes back to you shouldn’t be in the late stage. It probably shouldn’t be like a 12 month deal. You’re in month 10. You ask them, what could I do? 

Chris Lombard:

That’s way too late.

Jarrett Thomas:

Right, that’s way too late in the game. So for any, AM’s listening or client success managers. Always be curious, be fearless, right. Have that conversation, that back and forth. It’s okay to have a little pushback. It is OK. You know, I know we want to deliver top clients and we want to be the best AMs and that’s the client success people. But just being honest and just being apparent goes a long way.

Shantel Branch:

So sometimes, especially in the age of COVID, we have to do these check ins to make sure. Chris is based in LA. I’m based in New York. We need to know like, how are you doing in LA? Is everything okay? Are you struggling? Because knowing if she’s struggling means that if she isn’t responsive in two hours, it might just be she’s struggling or they’ve got a migration that’s happening. You know, her dog’s sick or whatever, like anything could be going on. 

If you don’t have conversations with people to just check in and it doesn’t have to be the entire call, but you can pepper into the conversation like what’s going on with you so that you know who the person is. So if something’s happening, that’s out of character, you can afford a little bit of grace for the person. Conversely on our side. If someone’s going to be out, you like to let people know in advance. If someone’s sick, if I was sick and I was not responsible, I let a person know like, Hey, I’m really sorry. I was sick. I wasn’t feeling very well the other day. So I was a little bit slow. So I’m a human being.

Jarrett Thomas:

Totally.

Shantel Branch:

Sometimes I’m not feeling well. I had a splitting headache. I had a migraine. And that’s why maybe if I felt like maybe my email was a little bit short or it wasn’t detailed, or it was just like, here’s your thing. And I don’t say something a person’s going to notice because I’m communicating with folks every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I like to let you know what’s going on because it’s like going back to the relationship management part of it, you need to know when I’m not feeling that great, the same way you’re going to know when I’m feeling wonderful.

Jarrett Thomas:

That’s a great point. 

Chris Lombard:

Even from the client’s side, you get the most out of any of our agencies. I would tell anybody you’ve got to be as forthcoming and as open as possible as well. Shantel knows when my schedule is really full and I’m not going to get back to you for three to four days. And we’re not going to look at that action item because we are launching a new website or are running your migration platform. 

And it has nothing to do with maybe that launch or it has nothing to do with her. But it’s key to her understanding, like I’m not judging you guys critically, or maybe I’m saying, Hey, take an extra day. We’re not going to get to it. If you need an extra day, it’s kind of that symbiotic relationship again, where she doesn’t know my every waking move, but you know, she knows what’s going on. And that helps us all be successful. Or even to say, do we need to move a status call? I know you’ve got a lot of projects going, what are the key things? And so by being a little more upfront and sharing of things that you may not realize impacts the exact success of your deliverables, you know, from a client side, I think it’s key.

Shantel Branch:

Right. Cause we’re not, this is not a transactional relationship. Yeah. It’s an engagement in every sense of the word. So since we’re not, this is not target. She’s not bringing me a box of Kleenex. I’m ringing her up and sending her on her way. We could be doing a lot of stuff here we need to have, like, we need to know what’s up. And it’s super, I hate to keep saying it’s so important, but it really is. 

It’s also important to know what’s important to other people. So how is Chris seen as successful? Because there are oftentimes where you talk to your main point of contact’s manager, and it’s not about going in front of her boss and being like, Chris is wonderful. It’s about making her look good by providing her the information she needs in a way that allows her leaders to see her and weigh what we’re doing, use what we’re doing, and then socialize that up, even higher. So these it’s like a dance, like we’re doing the hustle back and forth.

Whatever we have to do, it’s just, it’s definitely a piece of it, sometimes I’ll reach out to a client and say, Hey, it seemed like this person, and this hasn’t really happened with Chris, but you say, Hey, it seems like this person really wasn’t feeling it. You know, what’s going on. And they may say, this person resigned a week ago, they’re disconnected. Or they may say that this person’s cousin has an SEO agency. And they were still pissed off about the fact that we went with iPullRank, not company XYZ. And the fact that someone will share that type of information with me, which part of it is just my natural ability to get information. But that allows us to know that we’ve got a blocker. We’ve got someone whose cousin has an SEO firm and they’re waiting for us to drop the ball so that they could be sitting there with their arms folded going. You should go with my cousin or going, Hey cousin, you should step your game up because iPullRank is pretty great. And I did what I could, but you know, they blew you guys out of the water. 

So it’s continually communicating. And not just like that top level talking like not just party talk, like how long have you been there? What’s tucked in the past, and Chris is really good about saying, like, tell us what to do. Our work is multilayered. Like it’s not just technical SEO. We also have a design and creative aspects of our content. And Chris has been really cool about being like, no, no, you tell us like, here’s the purview. There are some bumpers. We don’t have all the, you know, we can’t spend a billion dollars, but within this frame, how can we make the best use of ideas? Tell us what to do. Because like she said, if they knew what to do, we wouldn’t be there.

Chris Lombard:

Yup. Exactly. And our bandwidth is limited. Everybody’s bandwidth hits a certain point and we want that partnership. And we want that effort to come in and help us be successful. I didn’t feel as excited when they see our ad campaigns or when they see our growth and our success, because you contributed to it just like an employee when you aren’t just an ABC, you aren’t just somebody who’s just doing something, you know? 

And we wouldn’t come to people if we weren’t open to ideas. And I think that’s another key thing is really being on the client’s side, being open to meeting those suggestions, we know we’re not perfect. We know we have a long way to go and we want to just keep getting better and stronger and a lot of partners to do that and to be successful. And the other thing that’s key is if our account manager can get along really well with us, but we also pair our partners up, our agencies up. So everybody works together because we do need different agencies for different things. Not, you know, you can’t be as successful as you’d like to think of you’re wearing every hat. And so we will bring them together. And that’s also the sign of a good partner for us. If they feel comfortable for you, them together.

Shantel Branch:

Yeah. You do have to be really able to play well with others. Jarrett, I’ll tell you, across the board, there’ll be times where someone was like, well, I want you to talk to our PR agency and see how PR and SEO can kind of collaborate and make something happen. And sometimes you’ll have people who are a little skittish and we’re just like, Hey, hi, what’s up? Like, you know, we’re here to play together. We already have the business, you know, it’s okay.

Jarrett Thomas:

I’m curious in a situation like that. When you are playing together, how do you play together necessarily without trying to one up the other one? Like, you know what I mean? Like, it’s kind of like a song and dance.

Shantel Branch:

For me, it’s just the energy of it. I know what we do. I know what we’re good at. I know that we’re strong. So I’m not walking into a space with a concern. I’m just myself and the team are going to come in and be, so we were brought in for this expertise for these ideas, we’re going to contribute and we’re going to contribute over and above. And if that creates the need for the other agency to step up then, because the ultimate goal is to serve the client

Jarrett Thomas:

Absolutely.

Chris Lombard:

We challenged you guys, we challenged iPullRank. We have partnered you guys with our web development company, knowing at the end of the day, there’s that underlying technical SEO, as well as that content and front facing SEO. And I think it’s been successful. And it’s only validated why we go with both agencies, because even if you don’t agree, which so far, you guys have all been in agreement, there’s strong rationale. 

And it’s not that there’s one right answer. Sometimes there are 2 answers and you’re choosing the best path for you, even if it’s not ideal. And you’ve got two different agencies saying go A or B, you’re both right. Then at that point where the business then has to decide, but you had a lot of success working with you guys. And our other agency.

Shantel Branch:

One thing I want to point out to Jarrett, when people are wondering about working with folks who, as an AM, a tip for AM’s is find out what they’re going to do with our work. Because oftentimes as an agency, you are weighed on what you are able to do or not to do, but if you have no visual into like, all right, Chris, I’m going to give you 25 deliverables in 32 days, how the team’s going to get this situated. 

Guys. That’s almost an exact quote in terms of one time where we put about 20 deliverables in Chris’ inbox. And I’m sure she wants to just kill us all, but she was able to distribute the deliverables out and start to get things implemented. So to me, that’s why they’re a gold star client of mine because they are taking our time taking our ideation and then pushing it down the line and we’re seeing results. And it’s moving very quickly. 

I’ve learned to do better as in my role is to ask people. So once we give this to you, what are you gonna do with next early, not wait until three months in to say, well, what did you do with that? You know, those 17 things. I think that asking in after the first set of deliverables, what are you going to do? Or what’s the person’s name? Or where is that person? Do they have any feedback?

Because sometimes there’s these blockers in the background, you don’t even see these people. And they’re just sitting on a whole 20 sets of recommendations and they’re doing nothing, but it looks like we’re doing nothing. So for our main point of contact did light a fire under people. If they know that I know, and now we both know they can talk to the person who manages that person to make them do it so we can actually see what type of results we’re going to drive.

Jarrett Thomas:

That’s a great point. That’s a great point. I think a lot of, I don’t know about other agencies, but you could have easily just said, here’s your deliverable and that’s it. But the goal and the further, right? What are you going to do with it? Separates it, right? Because then you can hold people accountable and it’s not like, Hey, we just gave you something. We actually know what it’s going to do. Because we understood that whole time before we delivered it.

Shantel Branch:

That goes back to the Target, with the Kleenex, at Target, you just sell the Kleenex and you go, you don’t say, Oh, are going to use this to wipe your face, blow your nose and wipe makeup. Like our responsibility is not just to give it, to give it to you as the final, how you plan to use it and then ask you, well, how did it work when we took your eye makeup off? Did that Kleenex do good for you? It’s just, It’s definitely an engagement. So like, not transactional, even the smallest thing. It’s not a transaction. 

Jarrett Thomas:

Yep, absolutely. That’s huge for relationship building. Right? Think of people as people. Have those conversations be genuine. And don’t just think of it as just like here’s the deliverable. Try to go above and beyond, understand those needs, understand the ones that are customers and help them help them deliver actually. And it goes for the sales side too. Actually, I had a conversation with Jesse McDonald, IBM SEO Manager, and people will be salespeople. They don’t understand that that person on the other line on the buyer side has to use their credibility to make the ask for you. 

And you have to have that relationship. That’s who’s going to go to bat for somebody. They don’t know. You know what I mean? So that is a huge component, you know, just being a person, building that relationship. And I actually would love that, you know, as a salesperson, I love to know from you guys, what did both of your perspectives, or what do you think is the right time to involve customer success in the sales process?

Chris Lombard:

For me, it’s a little, I go back and forth. Cause I don’t like it too early. I feel like it’s a little too presumptuous. Great. I’m thrilled that people have come through that job, but I don’t even know if I like you yet. Right.  But I don’t want it so far the path of like now we’re done and we’re going to get you somebody, we’re going to figure it out. Um, I would say probably 75% through the sales process for me. 

And I think because at that point you’ve learned our business. You’ve learned our needs and hopefully you’re already kind of thinking in your head, Oh my God, we have the right team players. Um, and I know exactly who we need to put on their team and let’s talk to them and see if they want to meet them now to help kind of, you know, make sure that it’s the right fit until it’s too late, but I don’t like it too early, not on the first meeting sellers. 

Jarrett Thomas:

Sellers, you hear that? No AMs on the first meeting. How about Shantel, what are your thoughts? Cause me and you have done this before, right? So, you know, you know, to help expedite the process as far as implementation. So I’d love to know from you as what you agree with Chris on that, or when it’s too early, when it’s not.

Shantel Branch:

I think that 75%. And so talk about start dates when people are giving you buying clues, it might be when they’re starting to ask you questions like, well, what’s going to happen next, the moment someone does, what’s going to happen next. There is no better buying clue. Now it’s like, Hey, let me start grabbing people so you can get even more excited. 

Cause you’re definitely excited, um, behind the scenes, you and I sometimes will work together because I may be able to go, Oh, I know that type of account. They need these things or they need those things so that this will be successful. But you guys to see me, I would say about when you’re 75% way through it, you can bring the client success person in or the client services person. And they may be able to ask some questions that can really advance the entire engagement. So yeah. It’s just also about communication between sales and AM. I’ve been in organizations where no one talks to AM and just run, drop and run. And that is not good. It’s not healthy. 

Jarrett Thomas:

It is the worst. I’ve been in organizations where you closed the deal and the sale side. And now I’m giving, I’m filling out some 80 page questionnaire about every single thing about the client. What the dog’s name, what’s this, what’s that. Well, what are the problems? What are the needs? And it’s like, Aw, come on, man. We just had an internal conversation. We could have hammered everything out one by one and make sure you, you know, that  nothing’s lost in translation. So I definitely agree with you guys. Both definitely think of 75%. I was on 50. I love it.

Chris Lombard:

A little too soon, a little too soon.

Jarrett Thomas:

Yup. Yup. So I didn’t even realize 30 minutes came up so quickly. So if there are any last questions from anybody in the audience, we’d love to get to it. Wait a couple of seconds. If anyone comes through, I think that was my Nate guess if not, it may not be, but if not, if you guys do, I would definitely have information, contact information. If you want to get in touch with Shantel, you want to learn more about her experience and you want to kind of share tips and tricks offline as well as contact with Chris. They’re both on LinkedIn. We can share LinkedIn at the bottom. Thank you all for attending ladies. Thank you for an awesome segment So informative. Oh wait, wait, we have a question.

It says have you worked with any past agency and what were, what were the pain points, Chris? And this is from Nathan,

Chris Lombard:

The pain points, the not checking in and really getting the feedback on what we’ve gotten. I’ve worked with several agencies where here’s the deliverable, here’s the record. Here’s the next deliverable. Here’s the next deliverable, but there’s no like how’s this working. Are you even implementing this? There’s no context in between the monthly check-in, it’s almost to the point where you’re like, well what’s their name again? Oh yeah. I guess they do have to get something on the books. 

And those are the ones where I haven’t had the relationship. So we didn’t, we didn’t need to maintain that agency partnership. Cause we didn’t even feel success because sometimes just the simplest things are more successful with that relationship because you’re able to communicate the power behind it. But if I just received a document that says do this and I don’t have the ability to go back and ask more questions later or the value, it’s not valuable to me. And then, you know, I don’t want to work with that. I want to say even taking the work out of it. The relationship is key. If I don’t have a good relationship where I can’t find a rapport for it can make it very difficult to work with an agency. I’ve never had a problem where we had to not work together just because of rapport. But I will say without trying to build the rapport, it’s a lot easier to let go of things. 

Jarrett Thomas:

Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I was going to say though, I’ll save that for another segment. Well, I will say thank you both, it was an amazing segment. I know I learned a lot from my end. You know, what’s needed to build a successful relationship. I know for people who are following me on LinkedIn, I’m all about relationships. So this was super insightful for me. Thank you to everybody. Who’s joining. Thank you to everybody who will listen, please join us next week and also have the modern enterprise SEO webinar next week. That’ll be led by Mike King. So please tune in and register and make sure you come in and thank you again. This is episode 11, we’re growing because of you guys and we appreciate every bit of support. Bye!