4A’s Agency Review Participation Agreement

4A’s Business Intelligence & Insight has developed a new “Agency Review Participation Agreement” to help address a number of agency pain points when participating in an agency review being conducted directly by a marketer, without the services of an agency search consultant.  The principles in this agreement paper for marketers, align with those in the 4A’s/ANA Best Practice Guidelines for Agency Search Consultants and the ANA/4A’s Guidelines for Agency Search.

Along with the 4A’s Agency Prospect Assessment Guidance, the 4A’s Agency Review Participation Agreement is designed to help an agency determine whether a prospect would be a good client for the agency.  This agreement can be used once an agency has determined there is sufficient interest on its part to potentially engage with the marketer conducting a search.

Many marketers may not have any experience running an agency review and may or may not view an agency as simply another vendor.  This Participation Agreement clarifies the agency’s expectations that the review will be conducted in a respectful, professional manner.  It can help agencies engage in a productive conversation with a marketer prior to committing the time and resources to participate in a review.

Implementation: The 4A’s has prepared two versions of the 4A’s Agency Review Participation Agreement.  The first, 4A’s Agency Review Participation Agreement, is in PDF form, with the 4A’s logo, and is designed to be used verbatim.  The second, Agency Review Participation Agreement Outline is a Word doc which can be modified to reflect an agency’s tone, culture, unique considerations or the specific circumstances surrounding a particular review.  Either version can also be used as a discussion outline without being provided to the marketer.