Why we hate Client/Supplier ‘relationships’

First things first – A little disclaimer. For us, we believe the word 'relationship' should never be used next to the term Client/Supplier. When you think about it, it’s not a relationship at all, its a one-way street, usually to the benefit of one of those involved. The client has needs, the supplier delivers it, the client pays. Game over. Shortest ‘relationship’ ever.

After that, you’re left in the dark with the goods.  The supplier moves onto the next client to go through the whole process again, on that boring, reactive conveyor belt. What a fantastic way to work with people.

Remember the water fountain?

Think back to when you were at school, the people that added the most value to your life were the people you spoke to every day at the water fountain. They were the people that didn’t just sit in the book corner by themselves, but the ones that spent time with you, to get to know you.

If you take that philosophy and apply it to your life now, I can guarantee that the people you trust the most are the people that you’ve spent the most time with.

As an ambitious Entrepreneur, if you analyse your business to date it’s likely that the most valuable customers for you, are the ones that don’t just spend a lot with you, but the ones you can trust to refer you business, and even get to know personally.

Time to shine.

As a successful Specialist Digital Agency over the past 11 years, our projects have largely come from referrals. We value every single relationship and regardless of whether someone pays us ￡100 or ￡100,000 no client is treated differently. Every single project receives the same attention to details and the best service.  We use all of our experience regardless of how much you have to spend.

We believe that a relationship is only valuable if everyone has the opportunity to shine, a client/supplier ‘relationship’ only adds friction to a project.

The Agency Crime.

We’ve all been there at the beginning of a relationship where there is a little bit of awkwardness getting to know each other. This is why we go above and beyond right from day one to establish the project scope and deliverables. This helps us build a great understanding of how your business operates – all businesses are different after all – and ultimately this helps the project run smoothly, on time and on budget.

One thing we never do is set unrealistic one-sided boundaries. We hear of so many agencies that work on their terms. This is the typical Agency Crime where they feel they have the upper hand to tell you what you need.

At Damteq we see every meeting as an opportunity to make your business better. We proactively work with you, not against you, staying in regular contact so that we can make everything we do for you more valuable.

In the area? Pop in. Fancy a chat? Call.

If you’ve worked with another web and marketing agency you might have had the typical agency ‘relationship’ where they give you a 10-minute monthly phone call, a one-page report and monthly support fees where they only talk to you when you pay them. That’s just crazy.

Regular communication is everything.

Every single business we work with has total peace of mind that we’re a ‘face to face’ agency. If you’re in the area just pop in and say hello. The more we get to know you, the more pro-active we’ll all be. Also, on that note, unlike with lots of agencies where you’ll speak to an ‘Account Manager’, with us you have every single direct dial to our team, so you have peace of mind that you’re getting through to the best specialist for your enquiry.

It’s about you. Not us.

At the end of the day, businesses come to us to use our expertise to make their business better. If we don’t work together it’s never going to work out. Everything we do as a business is aimed and providing honest and reliable solutions that enable your business to grow. It’s all about your goals and objectives and end-to-end we try to add extra value wherever we can.

Relationships grow from two people working hard.

Relationships take time to flourish and they only work if both people work hard. We think like this with every project that we do. It’s thanks to our clients that we’re growing strong today and this is largely due to the relationships we’ve nurtured over many years.

We never forget the basics of a relationship and value our client’s input as much as we do the advice we give. Ultimately nobody knows your business as well as you do and over the years you’ve probably tried and tested lots of strategies that haven’t quite worked out. We are here to listen, and build something that can work for your business long term.

We build tailored campaigns and bespoke systems to work with your business, why not get in touch for a free consultation?