Councils at the choice of contractors for internet marketing

During tendering process at choice of contractors on internet marketing, specialists and managers on the party of the customer rather often should compare offers from the agencies. Usually it occurs before a meeting with candidates. At a meeting we select already not only reason, but also heart for now at a stage of comparison of offers from the agencies it is better to be guided by quite accurate rational criteria. What criteria are?

Preparation terms

Well: at the time of receiving a task the contractor called terms of preparation or confirmed appointed you, and then executed them.

Neutrally: at the time of receiving a task terms did not make a reservation and were not confirmed, but the acceptable or delivered terms are observed.

Badly: at the time of receiving a task terms did not make a reservation owing to what, customer expectations on terms were not met.

Information on a task

Well: the task of an advertizing campaign is stated in the separate block and the contents of the offer correspond to it.

Neutrally: the maintenance of KP in general corresponds to an assigned task, but the task is not recorded.

Badly: information on a task of an advertizing campaign is absent, or is stated incorrectly, it is not visible to communication of the offer with an assigned task.

Important: the formulation of a task is a duty of the customer. The contractor can give a feedback according to this formulation, but not formulate it for you. The easiest way, at a formulation of a task to check it – SMART technology (concreteness, measurability, accessibility, focus for result, determinancy in time).

Business KPI

As a rule, all offers are followed by the calculation table with KPI and at this stage it is important to estimate – whether the contractor is aimed at achievement of your business objectives or not.

Well: if the calculation table includes your business KPI – quantity of calls, orders, sales, SRA, SRO and so forth.

Neutrally: if there is information on business KPI, but specific forecasts are not provided.

Badly: if there is no information about your business KPI.

Forecasting technique

If the contractor provides information on business KPI, then it is important to understand – how he made the forecast and what these digits are based on.

Well: if in the offer there is an instruction on a forecasting technique: what tools are used (Wordstat, the Forecast of the budget of Yandex and so forth) as the assessment of business KPI (on the basis of experience of placement of similar advertizing campaigns, according to the counters provided by the customer) and so forth was carried out.

Neutrally: information on a technique of forecasting is not provided.

Guarantees

Well: there is exact information on guarantees and conditions of their providing (the minimum budget, the test period, instruments of tracking and so forth).

Neutrally: incomplete information on conditions of receiving guarantees is provided.

Badly: if there is no information on guarantees, or obviously impracticable obligations are given. For example: a guarantee of sales volume of online store from advertizing if the contractor has no access to counters which will allow to trace this information.

Distribution of budgets

Often platforms and the systems of advertizing with which works the agencies have different policy for payment of agency commissions – someone does not pay the commissions, someone pays the small commissions, and someone is ready to pay high. Therefore during check of distribution of budgets it is important to understand logic by which the contractor was guided.

Well: if distribution of budgets is dictated by business objectives of the customer – with the largest volume of advertizing stock the greatest share in the budget is allocated for resources.

Neutrally: if conservative distribution of budgets is carried out – the small test budget is selected for all resources.

Badly: the logic of distribution of budgets from the offer is not clear.

Work plan

Well: in the offer the work plan on start of advertizing with terms is described.

Neutrally: aggregate terms of start without detailing on works are presented in the offer.

Badly: in the offer there is no information on works and terms of start.

Examples of placements

Well: each offered placement is followed by a screenshot.

Badly: screenshots of placements are not provided.

Cases

Well: cases of work with similar tools and the customer's competitors are given.

Neutrally: the given cases contain information either about tools, or about the customer's competitors.

Badly: cases are not provided.

Confidentiality and information on competitors

Well: provided information about competitors does not violate the confidentiality agreement (does not open commercial indicators).

Badly: if the provided all commercial information about competitors (sales volumes, conversion % and so forth) which was obtained in a work progress with this company. It means that the contractor, most likely, will provide further the same information and on you.

After the tender is complete and the contractor is determined by internet marketing, an impression can be made that the most difficult already behind, however it not absolutely so, at this stage there can be certain questions and reefs which in separate circumstances will be able to make impossible further work.

How to organize internal approval of the agreement quickly and without problems?

As a rule, approval of the agreement is one of the most problem points for any marketing specialist since at this stage there can be questions which are not directly within its competence however without their solution to construct contractor interaction it is impossible.

In most the companies process of approval and the adoption of the agreement is regulated if in your company it not so, then take care independently that the agreement before its signing was checked and examined all responsible:

• marketing director;
• chief financial officer;
• chief accountant;
• lawyer or employees responsible for signing of the contracts.

It will allow to minimize problems at a signing stage.

If process of approval of the agreement is regulated and even fixed terms on verification of the agreement – be not limited to sending the letter to these employees – print the agreement and the sheet of approval and find 5-10 minutes to discuss with everyone responsible its contents and the appeared questions. Do not accept as changes to the agreement the questions and notes which are not added with specific proposals on correction of wording of the document.

Act by the rule: you reject – offer!

How to agree upon controversial formulations?

After approval of the agreement in the company process of approval is not finished yet since there can be controversial points from the contractor.

In case of such points follow the following recommendations (as priority):

• define whether there are disagreements in essence or the question concerns only formulations;
• if disagreements are – write out the interests of each of the parties on controversial point (interests are not a position, and what is its cornerstone);
• ask to offer each of the parties the formulation suiting all;
• develop compromise version of a controversial formulation;
• organize personal contact of responsible persons and if necessary act as the moderator.

How not to get on the VAT?

Before work it is important to learn – whether your contractor is a payer of the VAT or not. If the contractor is not a payer of the VAT, then you should understand that it is not profitable to your company – actually your company will lose 18% of each payment to such contractor.

What schemes of payment happen?

• The scheme of payment is one of the key moments specified in the agreement since depends on it – on the basis of what work (the order fact) will be begun and payment of the performed works is made;
• Prepayment – the order fact: payment on the basis of the invoice;
• Prepayment with a payment deferral – the order fact: the signed application or the request, payment – within N days after the beginning of work;
• Debt limit – the order fact: the signed application or the request, payment – is any during the term of work on the principle of "replenishment of balance";
• Post-payment – the order fact: the signed application or the request, payment – within N days after obtaining the closing documents.

Prepayment or post-payment?

Good and bad schemes of payment do not exist, however depending on these or those features of the companies, they can approach or not suit different schemes of payment: Prepayment. Suits those at whom:

• the advertizing budget is strictly recorded;
• there is no need of leverage;
• payment due dates of accounts allow to organize start in acceptable time limits.

Prepayment with a payment deferral. To whom does suit?

• To all who suit prepayment, but the term of start should be earlier, than there is an opportunity to organize payment

Prepayment with a debt limit. To whom does suit?

• If there is no planning of an advertizing budget for a month;
• If frequent replenishment of advertizing balance is necessary.

Post-payment. To whom does suit?

• If leverage is necessary;
• If there is a budgeting of an advertizing budget for a month

The closing documents – what needs to be known about them?

The act of the performed works and the invoice belong to the closing documents. The act of the performed works becomes in duplicate for each of the parties and is official confirmation that the service is executed and accepted by the customer. The invoice it is necessary for accounting for calculation of the VAT and is the document, important for accounting of the customer.

For the marketing specialist the closing documents are very important tool using which it is possible to organize control of work of the contractor. As a rule, most of contractors state in the agreement point about acts of the performed works in which the term of acceptance of works "by default" is specified, i.e. in the absence of claims, from the customer, in the specified time frame of work are considered rendered with proper quality and accepted. If you have claims on quality of works – you can use it in the purposes, however, that this mechanism worked, it is necessary:

• specify the contacts for sending documents;
• to monthly control receipt of the closing documents;
• in case of existence of claims on quality – to write them on the official form with printing and after obtaining the closing documents and to send to the official addresses.

Confidentiality – how not to turn NDA into formality?

Often marketing specialists conclude NDA (confidentiality agreement), however not all know nuances which will allow to achieve work of this agreement further:

• the list of information which can belong to confidential should be listed in the agreement;
• in the agreement the specific liability for violation of the mode of confidentiality should be set;
• all information which is transferred in the confidentiality mode should be supplied with a signature stamp "Confidentially".

Without these nuances the Confidentiality agreement can turn into formality.

Current tasks and working communication

Usually in a work progress you need to set constantly to the contractor certain tasks of an advertizing campaign: correct the prices in declarations in Yandex.Direct, turn off advertizing in connection with problems in work of the website, add new declarations on the stock and so forth.

Such tasks can be from 1 in a month to tens of tasks a day, at the same time, most often, communication happens by mail that leads to what sooner or later you begin to forget – what tasks and with what terms delivered. For convenience it is not obligatory to install the task-manager programs, it is possible to resolve an issue using the simple table which is laid out in the general access where it is specified:

Task. Planned date. Actual term.

Availability of such information will allow not to spend excess time for communication.

Regular reporting

Along with the current tasks which arise in a work progress is as well planned works on which terms are known in advance (at the beginning of a month). The current reporting under an advertizing campaign first of all belongs to such works.

In most cases for effective work enough no more than three report types:

• the daily report – includes planned and actual KPI of an advertizing campaign in a day, the action plan in case of its non-performance;
• the weekly report – includes information on dynamics of a budget expenditure, accomplishment of KPI for a month and also can include detailed statistics and analytics on promotional materials;
• the monthly report – supports planned and actual KPI for a month, the report on works in a month, the work plan for the next period and detailed analytics.

Effectively to work with reports:

• keep the diagram of the reporting and you monitor that the contractor executed it;
• enter a standard algorithm of the name of reports, for example: "Ежедн_ДД_ММ_ГГ", "Ezhened_2 nedeli_mm_gg", etc.;
• you store the reporting in one folder;
• analyze each report and set tasks to the contractor.

How quickly to solve problems?

Before beginning work - recognize contacts of the guide of the direct contact persons by the agreement – you keep them in the copy on priority tasks and write them if you see problems in interaction. Do not abuse these contacts and do not put in the copy on any questions – otherwise it devaluates the value of connection of the management to a question and sooner or later will lead to the fact that contacts of higher level will be necessary for you.

• Author: Bolshov Alexander, chief executive of the Registratura.ru Internet agency.