Boutique Marketing is a HubSpot Solutions Partner. They offer a full range of services – PPC, SEO, Video Production, and Web Development.
What We Did For Them
Our client had us on retainer for design and development services. We had a great time working with them and deeply understood their processes, how they work, and what they do. We helped them set up development standards in WordPress and HubSpot and produce many high-end designs that were met with great feedback.
What Happened?
One thing that made us uncomfortable was the amount of turnover they had. We know the agency’s work at a breakneck pace, and Jeve is no different in that regard as an agency owner. But the constant turnover made us uneasy. After a few years, we also noticed invoices started getting paid slightly slower. For example, a January retainer invoice might not be paid until April. As that happened, we got discouraged and couldn’t always keep the same team members working on their accounts. Their priority in our eyes went down, and Jeve felt the change when that happened. He thought we missed deadlines, and the quality of work went down. He had new contact points for us to work with (we don’t know why they kept changing), which created communication breakdowns, and our weekly calls went unattended. The relationship ran its course, and the retainer was paused. Jeve's a great guy, and we’ve remained friendly afterward.
What We Learned
We learned that we need to be more open and honest with customers. If we feel like we are ‘part of the team,’ we need to give the honesty to get honesty. That means we must tell people that if we’re slow to receive a payment, we might be slow to perform tasks. It also means we should tell partners that we’re concerned by the turnover and ask if there is anything we can do to help. There is a strong correlation between morale and productivity, and that’s the main takeaway from this experience.