What does improving agency relationships without a pitch mean?
Improving agency relationships without a pitch means identifying and fixing performance, alignment, and capability issues within your existing setup, rather than replacing your agency entirely.
Before you run a pitch, ask this
Before you invest time, cost, and disruption into a pitch, it’s worth asking, can the problem be solved without starting again?
Why this matters
Pitching is often seen as the default solution, but it’s expensive, time-consuming, and not always effective.
More importantly, it can mask the real issue.
In many cases, the challenge isn’t the agency itself, but:
- Misaligned expectations
- Lack of clarity in the brief
- Gaps in ways of working
- Or the wrong people on the account
Replacing the agency without addressing these often leads to the same outcome.
How to improve agency relationships without a pitch
Run a 360° appraisal of the relationship
Start by understanding what’s actually happening, from both sides.
A structured appraisal should assess:
- Agency performance
- Client contribution to the relationship
- Internal stakeholder alignment
This creates a shared, evidence-based view of:
- What’s working
- What isn’t
- What needs to change
The goal isn’t blame, it’s clarity.
Reset the relationship through structured working sessions
Not every issue requires a reset via pitching. Many require a reset in how people work together.
Facilitated sessions, often called “Get Fit” sessions, help:
- Surface challenges openly
- Align on priorities
- Define clear actions and ownership
When done well, they:
- Improve performance quickly
- Rebuild trust
- Deliver many of the benefits of a pitch, without the cost or disruption
Review the people, not just the agency
Performance issues are often rooted in the team, not the agency itself.
Common challenges include:
- Lack of senior attention
- High turnover
- Skill gaps
- Stale or disconnected thinking
Addressing this can involve:
- Refreshing key roles
- Introducing new leadership
- Setting clearer expectations around team structure and continuity
Small changes here can unlock significant improvements.
How Flock approaches improving agency relationships
At Flock, we focus on improving relationships before replacing them.
Our approach combines:
- Unbiased evaluation, creating an honest, fair view of both client and agency performance
- Future-facing, enabling you to set up for sustainable future success
- Benchmarking, so you can see what ‘good looks like’
- Human-led processes, ensuring agencies are set up to do their best work, not just respond to process
We use our Optima platform to deliver clear, transparent appraisals that improve the quality and impact of agency output, driving up to 20% performance improvement through structured, appraisals for all agency types.
The result is a more informed, less reactive approach to improving performance.
What we see in practice
In many cases, organisations assume a pitch will fix underperformance, only to find the same issues reappear with a new agency.
By contrast, structured interventions like appraisals and facilitated resets often:
- Surface hidden misalignment
- Improve ways of working
- Deliver better results without changing partners
The difference isn’t the agency, it’s how the relationship is managed.
Summary
- A pitch isn’t always the right solution to agency challenges
- Many issues stem from alignment, clarity, or team structure, not the agency itself
- 360° appraisals create a clear, shared understanding of performance
- Structured sessions can reset relationships quickly and effectively
- Reviewing team setup can unlock immediate improvements
Before you run a pitch
Before you decide to run a pitch, it’s worth understanding what can be improved first.
Or put simply:
if you can fix the relationship, don’t replace it.
If you’d like to speak to an expert, fill out the contact form below and we’ll be in touch.
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