What happens when an agency/client relationship is no longer ideal? We’ve all seen what happens when dissolving a relationship goes poorly.

On one end, you have the agency that drops clients as soon as things go poorly. One day everything is fine, the next day no one will answer your phone calls.

On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes both parties drag it out, continuing to work together even when the relationship isn’t good for either side. By the time the agency and client split directions, everyone is unhappy.

These scenarios lead to several common transitions problems.

Common Transitions Issues

As the receiving agency of client transitions, we’ve noticed three common issues.

Locked out of accounts

Clients often don’t have the credentials to access social media, email, analytics, and website accounts. Sometimes the solution is a quick email, but sometimes credentials are lost or held hostage. Either way, hunting for credentials delays vital work for your company.

No access to assets

Many clients do not have access to working files of their logo or other key design assets. Again, these assets might be recovered with an email, but often the process takes much longer.

Lost strategic direction

Often, the clarity and strategy from a previous agency is muddled or completely lost after transition. While a new agency can always provide a fresh start, understanding the full journey of a brand’s strategy is often critical to growing.

Going Beyond

Splits—with employees, business partners, or clients—are inevitable, and often for good reasons. Even with temptation for hard feelings, we believe in sticking to our core values:

We honor God in all we do

We care about our customers and act in their best interests

We communicate well, internally and externally

We do excellent work, and take pride in it

In pursuit of an ideal transition that reflects our values, we have implemented a client transition packet.

The Packet

Upon agreeing that it is best for a client to part ways with 3Fold, we determine an official transition date that gives the client time to plan for an alternative. We also decide on the fate of ongoing projects. Often, 3Fold will finish some projects, while others are cancelled or put on hold for the transition.

For the transition—often to another agency, although it may be internal, etc.—we prepare the transition packet. The packet includes, at a minimum, documentation of all credentials and client accounts, including social media, analytics, domains, and more. If any ongoing projects have been halted for transition, we include any existing materials, including contracts and vendor information. All digital and design assets are transferred, often via an easily-accessible DropBox account.

In addition, we often include documentation of major work completed for the client, plus any strategic roadmap work we’ve completed.

Don’t Settle

Transitions are part of life. As much as we would love to keep every client and every employee forever, that’s not best for anyone. But we’re not willing to settle for frustrating transitions full of hard feelings. You shouldn’t either.