Finding the correct white label partner can mean expanding your book of business, adding more services, and can help you to scale your agency faster than you would be able to alone. White label partners can form the backbone of your business, leaving you free to focus on client acquisitions, or to manage existing relationships. Even with all the obvious benefits, outsourcing work and sharing client information can be a scary proposition.
Unscrupulous agencies may try to steal your clients, or fail to provide work on time, damaging your reputation. So how do you mitigate the risk and ensure a good partnership with your white label agency?
Invest in relationship building
A white label service and its staff can be an integral part of your team. Even though they will not work from the same location and will be a separate entity to your own company, they will still be a crucial part of your business operation.
Building a relationship between designers, admin staff and others can move the business relationship from a client – service based relationship and move it towards a true partnership. This can help to keep communication lines open as teams work together to manage workloads and handle problems that may arise.
If you are the owner of a rapidly expanding agency, it can be helpful to begin making these kinds of relationships before you need to think about outsourcing work. That way when the time comes you will already know the white label team and how they work which can make the process much less daunting.
Be a reasonable client
While using a white label service is a great way to add services and manage volume, there are still some things to consider. A white label service will have numerous clients on their books and will be managing high workloads. So expectations on things like turnaround time will need to be realistic.
If you feel that your white label service is failing, take a moment to consider if what you are asking them to do is realistic. You may be overjoyed to sign up four new clients for social media campaigns, but expecting your white label service to turn the work around in 3 days may not be feasible.
Review workloads and deadlines and ensure that you are allowing your agency a reasonable amount of time to meet work quotas. Giving dates that are achievable will result in a much better quality of work.
Schedule a test project
Much of the fear associated with outsourcing work to an outside service can be alleviated by handing off a test project to your white label provider. This will give you the opportunity to see how the service handles the project, and assess the quality of work produced.
It will also give you the chance to experience their work process and track the project through each stage of production. Smaller projects could be things like a landing page, or a short social media campaign. As the work is completed and you are happy with the results, you will be more confident in hanging off larger projects, or those commissioned by important clients.
Build in pricing flexibility
Whatever your white label service has quoted you for supplying work, there may be times when you need to be a bit flexible so things are fair on all sides. For example if a client has requested extra work or needs something back in a big hurry, it may incur additional costs for your white label service to fulfil the request.
While this may be above and beyond the charges of the original quote, you will need to remember that what is being asked for also goes beyond the scope of your original agreement. This can also be true for your agreement with your client, any work that changes or needs extra drafts or takes longer than anticipated may need to be accounted for.
As the owner of the marketing agency you will need to balance costs and charges to your client on one side, and do the same for your white label service on the other side to keep things fair and equitable.
Set clear terms
Make sure that you avoid unexpected problems by setting out all terms in a clear and concise manner. Proper communication can help to avoid a lot of issues and a frank discussion before any work is performed can help both sides to fully understand what is needed.
Ensuring that your white label service is completely on the same page will avoid anybody making incorrect assumptions. Ultimately, making sure that everyone has a fully comprehensive understanding of requirements will lead to better work quality and successful projects.
Conclusion
A white label service is there to fulfil work and support your business. By following the steps in this article you can tailor the service to provide the outcomes that you need. Keeping the communication flowing and managing projects together can be supported by your own agency and staff. Understanding the way each other works and mutually striving towards client satisfaction means that having the right white label service can be a beneficial business relationship for all parties.