What to agree before an ongoing agency engagement

Translate the service list into work

A term such as ongoing digital marketing can mean different things to different people. Break it into specific activities and deliverables: campaign planning, creative production, page improvements, or review. For each, name what will be provided and what must be ready before the work can start.

Planning example: an Indonesian company wants to promote a new service, but the product explanation is still changing. The plan should identify who finalises the offer and when. Otherwise, production appears late even though the essential business information has not been agreed.

• What will the team deliver?
• What materials or decisions does it need first?
• Which requests require a separate scope discussion?

Choose owners for information and approval

A single internal contact helps coordination, even when product knowledge sits with several people. Identify who checks the service description, commercial details, and claims that can be published. Feedback is easier to use when someone resolves conflicting views before they return to the production team.

Make the approval process proportionate to the work. Too many reviewers can slow delivery; too few can miss important context. Agree realistic response times and explain what happens to the schedule when a decision waits. This gives the plan a clear connection to the way your organisation operates.

Give new requests a clear route

Business needs will change during an engagement. A new request may move ahead of another task, replace it, or require more capacity. Discuss that effect before treating the request as an addition with no consequence for the work already planned.

Keep a short change note with the need, reason, affected work, and decision. Keep media spend, management, and production costs understandable too. Both teams can then consider the choices without losing sight of the original commitment or the priorities that prompted the change.

• Explain the need and urgency.
• Show which work or timing is affected.
• Record the decision and the person responsible.

Use review meetings to make decisions

A review should bring together delivery, campaign information, obstacles, and the next choices. Sales feedback helps explain the relevance of enquiries. Changes to pricing, service capacity, or product priorities also belong in the discussion because they can affect how campaign results should be read.

End with a short action list and clear owners. At the next meeting, revisit those decisions before opening new topics. Over time, this makes it easier to decide whether the current scope still fits or whether the business needs a narrower focus or broader support.