When your small business needs a website designer, a marketing agency or an SEO professional, what sort of company do you feel most comfortable with?
Is your comfort zone with a larger agency, with several specialists on staff who come up with a team solution for your needs, who give you an account manager? Are you dazzled by award winning agencies that have handled Fortune 500 clients?
Or is your comfort zone with a smaller agency, where you have access to the owner or lead developer, and where the “team” consists of you, and the owner, and a very customized solution? Are you more impressed by agencies with 100% positive feedback from clients?
Different strokes for different folks, different personality types, different sized businesses, and different business needs.
Many companies hire on with the larger agencies who have handled larger, Fortune 500 clients because they feel if a Fortune 500 company is handled well by the larger agency, then their business needs will be handled just as well and they will receive a cutting edge solution also.
Many smaller companies simply cannot afford the higher price ticket of the larger agency, want a very customized website design solution and prefer the more personal touch of the smaller agency.
Larger website design and marketing agencies have personnel overhead, retail office overhead, and therefore charge much higher agency rates than the smaller agency, because they have to in order to pay the salaries, the rent, and of course make a good profit.
Smaller website design and marketing agencies tend to work out of their home office, have much smaller personnel requirements, and tend to give personal service and care, because they can, and they choose to. Many smaller agencies value the client / web designer relationship, and prefer the long term relationship, rather than the one off big ticket project approach.
Larger to mid size companies may prefer the larger agency because it works in a similar fashion to how they work. The larger team based approach seems to work for both.
Smaller companies are usually more comfortable with the intentionally scaled down approach of the smaller website design and marketing agency because that too, is again, relatable to how both businesses are run.
As a small business owner you have to evaluate what will work best for you, your business, and your comfort level. Factors to be taken into consideration are:
- Agency skill level
- Agency specialization niches
- Website development and website design cost levels
- Marketing cost levels
- Does the agency have a soup to nuts approach to work with the client
- Do you want an agency that is on the same page with your business goals and needs
- Do you want an agency that works with big names – is the prestige important
- Project turn around time
- How well an agency really understands your business
- Does the agency demonstrate a desire for a close business relationship and your trust
- Is the agency willing to let you contact clients to get first hand input of their comfort level with them
What’s your comfort level and what do you need? Will your chosen agency give you that feeling of being well taken care of?