Agencies and Clients See Benefits of Collaboration Tools

June 26, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Agency Business

centraldesktop-top-benefits-collaboration-tools-june2012.png71% of client-side marketers view a single collaboration system as a differentiator for an agency over its competition, per findings [download page] from a Central Desktop survey released in June 2012. That may be because a majority of marketers who have used these tools report improved project management processes (60%) and faster project completion (53%), with 44% also citing a benefit of decreased time spent reporting. And agencies seem to agree: half say that the tools helped improve their project management processes, and 42% indicated that they led to faster project completion. 4 in 10 believe that use of the tools improved their client service and satisfaction.

Clients Demanding Collaboration Systems

Data from Central Desktop’s “The State of Agency-Client Collaboration” indicates that roughly one-quarter of marketers have required an agency to have a collaboration system for either keeping (11%) or winning (14%) an account. A further 23% have asked an agency to get such a system for the account.

Marketers may also need to look inwards for improvement in their relationships, though, according to January 2012 survey results from the CMO Council. Just one-quarter of multi-national client marketers responding to that survey said they have developed a best-practice model or formal guidelines for client/agency relationship management.

Even so, results from the Central Desktop survey reveal that marketers appear to be serious about their collaboration system requests: 38% of the respondents said they have not awarded business to an agency because the agency did not have adequate tools for managing work and communications on the account. Coupled with a separate finding from the CMO Council survey – that only 36% of marketers are committed to their agency relationships this year – this suggests that even agencies in existing relationships pay attention to these wishes.

2 in 3 Agencies Asked or Required to Have a Collaboration System

In fact, the message seems to be getting through to agencies. According to the Central Desktop report, more than 4 in 10 say that a client or prospect has required them to have a collaboration system in order to keep (24%) or win (17%) a major account, while a further 24% have been asked to have such a system in place to service a major account.

Other Findings:

  • 55% of client-side marketers consider it very (36%) or extremely (19%) important that an agency have an online collaboration system to work on projects and campaigns with them.
  • 54% of agencies consider it very or extremely beneficial if the various collaboration tools they are using are housed in a single platform with one login.

About the Data: The Central Desktop data is based on a survey conducted from May 10 to June 4, 2012 among 570 qualified respondents working at marketing agencies (294) or working with agencies from the client side (276).

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This