A couple months ago the PPC gods smiled upon me and I was assigned a Google agency rep. I bring this up not to brag but to give my rep (we’ll call her B) and Google some props.
Getting Started
To start things off B gave me a call just introducing herself and explaining the general reason why she was calling. We had a good chat and she let me know that she was available as a resource. She also asked me to pick a client’s campaign that they could look at and give suggestions for improvement. I chose a campaign in a tough niche and let them take a whack at it.
B got back to me in a couple days with the suggestions. There weren’t any magic beans, but the advice confirmed some things I had been observing as well as pointing out a couple of additional opportunities. At that point we scheduled a meeting for B and her team to speak with our team here, including the company president.
The call between our team and their team repeated a lot of the information B and I had discussed in our initial call, but this forum allowed for everyone to get on the same page. Our president was impressed with Google’s initiative and enjoyed having a direct contact, so it was definitely a success.
Followup
As you all know, when work gets busy you tend to put your head down and crank (at least that’s what I do.) Therefore I was surprised to see Google come up on my caller ID since I hadn’t reached out to them. The call was from B to check up on how we were doing and ask if there was anything she could assist with. This reminded me that we had a proposal out to a client and that she could get me some stats on the space (# of impressions, keywords suggestions, CPC) to help with the proposal. It was much appreciated.
The Lesson…
I bring this up as a demonstration of a pattern I observed:
- Initiate The Relationship: Keep it low-pressure, offer something of value and deliver on your promise
- Reinforce The Relationship: Involve key stakeholders to gain support
- Follow-Up: Reach out to show you care and again offer something of value
For me, the biggest part is follow-up. This requires you to be proactive and consistent. What are you doing to follow-up with your customers/clients?
About Robert
Great post, Robert. We too recently got a new agency team and they seem very committed to helping us. We had a team before but the new one appears to be more helpful.