Partnerships, they’re not about working together.

Going beyond the working relationship of buyer and supplier.

I know, it seems pretty counter-intuitive. You think partner, you think together, and you’d be right somewhat. But a working relationship between an agency and client is a result of something more complex, and a partnership is much more nuanced.

So what is in a partnership?

Well, if we spoke about a partnership in the traditional business and legal sense, it is defined as the share of ownership, liabilities, and profits between two or more parties.

Yet, and this is what makes the term “partnership” pretty vague. If we looked at our personal lives, we instantly think about our partners being our closest loved ones, our friends, and as our partners in crime that we enjoy doing crazy things with.

The agency/client partnership seems to live somewhere between the two. Its position in this grey area leaves it open to different interpretations, often failing to meet either expectation. This results in slipping back into bad habits and doing what feels comfortable. Buyer and supplier, define requirements, produce good work.

Going beyond delivering good work

Just doing good work is not enough. Good work has been commoditised and the unique culture has been easily replicated. What made an agency edgy has now lost its sense of intrigue and no longer feels authentic.

This shouldn’t come as a shock, it’s long been coming. The rise of the in-house agency has already happened. In the early twenteens, large corporates were acquiring and building in-house teams on a monthly basis. They’ve replicated the agency model to the nth degree, and to be honest they’ve done a pretty good job at it too.

Buyers are no longer buying the secret sauce…

They are looking to buy the recipe, and this has meant for a pretty tectonic shift in what the agency/client relationship looks like.

The industry has realised that parachuting in teams of experts to solve problems, like “mercenaries to hire” has created some pretty poor results. It has been perceived as an attitude similar to; get in, get it done, and get out.

These fast results initially seem to relieve symptoms but only for a short while. Quickly, they start to feel the pain again by not addressing the root cause.

People can spend a lifetime working together and never truly collaborate.

A new way of working — The Partnership

To address the root cause and create lasting value takes some serious understanding. That understanding comes from establishing a genuine partnership. One that comes from wanting to work together, not because of a need to pay the bills.

The old thinking of buyer and supplier means you’re suffocating growth for you, and for your client. To become a valued partner you need to get beyond the rhetoric. Stop talking about partnerships and start building them.

You could almost consider the partnership a commitment, some see it as like a marriage. Similarly, in this holy working union between agency and client, all parties need to be in sync. One does not control another but they lift each other to be better, to grow, and to be their best selves.

It’s important to realise that like all relationships, we must take the rough with the smooth. When the world gets turned upside down (I think you know what I’m referring too), then being there to truly support that partnership is key, and it's imperative that the help you give is done with no preconceived expectations.

We have helped and are still helping many more businesses right now adjust to being remote, for free, anyway that we can. We’ve worked in a distributed way for years, and we’ve learned a lot of tips and tricks along the way.

What should you be doing?

Authentic Partnerships are fundamentally the result of mutual respect, trust, and support. They will require people to work in unison but most importantly they will rely on the transfer of knowledge. Helping each other grow and thrive for the long term.

So when I say that partnerships are not about working together, what I’m really saying is that they are about growing together… the work just happens to be an outcome.

To summarise, try to focus on these five things as a good starting place but remember, the partnership is a long term commitment.

• Coach for success and transfer knowledge- Advise on working practices, methods, and tools to help them adapt and give them the confidence to deliver at pace. Level each other up on the specific subject matter and empower people to take on ownership long term.
• Help, help, then help again- Be a positive force for good, don’t point out the mistakes, see them as opportunities to test and learn. Be willing to jump in, get your hands dirty, and help out even if it's outside of your comfort zone.
• Allow yourself to be human - Show your vulnerability, be honest, and by all means necessary, never, ever, let professionalism get in the way of just being a good person.
• Apply the collective genius- Utilise the expertise that sits in-house and around you. They’re super smart and have a wealth of domain knowledge. Complement each other's skills and don’t compete.
• Help hire the right people- Build teams and extend capabilities for them in-house. Don’t be precious in keeping the work in your team. Bring in trusted peers to deliver the right results. Be more consultative and use your time to focus on future growth. Unearth opportunities for them that will deliver exponential returns outside the current project lens.

Along with our audaciousness and our restlessness to be better, one of our most important values at Etch is selflessness. It goes beyond generosity. For us it’s not about giving what we don’t need, it’s about giving our all. Here’s a quote to leave you with, and one worth keeping in mind when the world gets back to its normal crazy self.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us;
what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
— Albert Pike

Thank you.

Author Jamie Heuze

Heading up Etch’s product team, Jamie comes from a product design background with over ten years of experience and extensive knowledge in design thinking, interaction design, and design operations. During his career, he’s had the privilege of working on many large scale digital transformation projects for the likes of; British Airways, BBC, Maserati, Siemens, SSE, and Quilter.