Having worked both sides of the PR fence, I have experienced my share of agency-client mismatches.  But I've often wondered to what extent agency size itself is a key complicating factor.  After all, many agencies sell themselves on the basis of bigger is better-– more offices, more people, more specific industry expertise, more specialized groups, more integrated communications, etc.

This is not to say that big agencies can’t – and don't, for some clients – deliver.  They have to – otherwise, how did they get so big?  But is "more" really enough to define a successful client/agency relationship?

Not necessarily.  Based on my experience as a client of two Top 10 agencies, as well as earlier work as a junior staffer at another Top 10 agency, big agencies tend to make more fundamental client services mistakes than their small and mid-sized counterparts.

Maybe it’s just the way they’re structured. 

The first issue you need to deal with is Senior Person Syndrome.  The senior person – typically a practice head, sometimes an office or agency head – shows up for a while to impress your management and negotiate the fee.  Then they’re gone.  Where?  Off to the next big pitch, or spending time on clients paying bigger retainers.  For you as the corporate team leader, it doesn’t really matter.

Then there’s Junior Person Syndrome.  With the agency big foot gone, you’re stuck with the rest of the team – typically younger, less-experienced account managers.  Is this on-the-job training?  You bet…and it’s on your dime.

Then there’s Know-Too-Much Syndrome.  Chances are that the big agency sold itself on the basis of its superior industry knowledge in a practice group like healthcare, or technology, or consumer products.  That’s great, but once the agency big foot leaves the game, you’re stuck with the young account team.  And chances are they’re going to reach for off-the-shelf programs that worked for someone else.

Then there’s Late Night Syndrome, when you’re sitting in your office after everyone else has left for the day, trying to make sense out of the work product your agency team has just sent over to you.

Finally, there’s Blame the Client Syndrome, where your agency team tells you that they could do much better work if they only had better material to work with.

Does it have to be this way?

Not if you realize a few key facts about agency life that you won’t see on your agency’s website or marketing brochure.

1. Bigger isn’t necessarily better.  Do you really need offices in every major city around the world?  How important is sports marketing to you as an add-on practice area?  Do you really want access to the agency’s Web 2.0 marketing group?
2. You get what you pay for.   Simply negotiating a lower fee just means you’ll either get less work or get stuck with large overage bills once the agency blows through the retainer.
3. It ain’t cheap.  The retainer fee may look big to you, but the combined cost of having a big agency account team come across town to your office for a 90-minute meeting can cost well more than $1,000 an hour based on hourly rates in many large cities ($500 or more an hour for a New York agency big foot is common these days).
4. The senior people really don’t expect to stick around.  In fact, their big salaries depend on going out and getting more clients.
5. The junior people really do see your account as on-the-job training.  It’s a fact – most account managers start out in life as generalists.   They pick up the jargon hanging around you.

What can you do?

Choose your agency wisely, grilling each team member on their expected role and checking all references.  Pick an agency for what it can do for you that you can’t do for yourself – and how it can make you look better to your bosses.  And manage them as if your career depended on it…which, to a certain extent, it does.