Early on in my career, I was a marketing director at an insurance company. I did a little bit of everything: copywriting, graphic design, budgeting, planning, speaking, co-op programs, speech writing, etc. I wasn’t particularly good at any of it. And I was just flat-out bad at some of it!

I was familiar with some of the communications agencies in town, but didn’t consider using them. I didn’t understand that an agency can make you look really good – and that it can help you be smarter about your budget.

It seems a little counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Use an agency. Outsource internal work. Pay “big bucks” to do stuff that’s in your job description.

But when you work with an agency, you are really managing your responsibilities better. You’re getting superior creative executions. You’re poised for better results. And you’re getting more mileage out of your marketing budget.

I still cringe at the thought of some of our self-produced videos and television commercials. It doesn’t have to be like that. Now I have some solid experience behind me. I’ve worked with some very intelligent people. And today, I clearly see the value that an agency brings to the client.

I’ve spent much of my career on the client’s side of this kind of this kind of relationship – so I know exactly the dilemmas and challenges of working with an agency. Here are some things that I have learned:

An agency doesn’t want your job. I guarantee it! We want to work for you and with you. We want to make you look good because that makes us look good.

An agency doesn’t want to do everything. We know our expertise and our limitations. We work best when we offer up the things we are best at. Your internal team can execute on the things that they are best at.

A good agency delivers a clear perspective. No matter how well you know your audience, your knowledge is skewed by how your audience interacts with your brand. An agency can, and should, spend a great deal of time understanding your audience with a fresh and unbiased perspective.

An agency wants to be an extension of your team. We feel great pride in helping you achieve your goals. That’s a big deal to us. That’s how we measure our success. The state of your business keeps us up at night too. We want you to do well; that’s the center of our motivation.

We listen. If we are doing our job, we may not always give you exactly what you ask for. Knowing what we know about your audience and about communications, we feel it is critical to our relationship to look out for your best interest. That may or may not mean doing exactly what you say. If you aren’t being challenged by your agency, you might want to look for a new agency.

An agency is broad and deep. Now that I’m on the agency side of communications, what I appreciate most is that you tap into a lot of smart people who concentrate in communications disciplines. This is huge. Who, honestly, can keep up with how quickly our world is changing? One person can’t possibly know everything necessary to make good decisions – or create effective communications.

So… are you concerned that working with an agency will be your downfall? Think again. It just might be the smartest decision you make.