3 Tips for Communicating With a White Label Agency

Outsourcing to a white label can be scary. You know the feeling: you sent an email two days ago, and heard nothing. Someone ditched out on a skype call. Maybe your product shows up one day…but you’re afraid to open it and send it out, because you have no idea what you’re getting. Communication is key in each and every business out there. Three things you can do to ensure you get exactly what you want from a white label agency are:

Make Your Communication Standards Clear

 Nothing’s worse than trying to communicate with a partner agency who gets back to you sporadically. At the outset of a project, lay down the line on how you want to communicate. This should include:

• Notifying the team of when you’re available consistently
• Laying down expected turnaround times for communicating back and forth
• Giving preferred options for contact methods (phone, email, skype, etc.)

If you can be clear about how and when you want to be contacted, a white label agency will be able to keep up. If you want a project done correctly, take the bull by the horns and lay down your standards.

Own Those Standards

 If you say you want the client to respond to an email within 24 hours, they should.

If you want a client to only contact you between 11am and 5pm, that’s what should happen.

If you only communicate through email, a client should act accordingly.

If you want regular skype calls for progress reports, the client shouldn’t flake.

However, it’s no good laying down standards if you don’t hold yourself accountable. Make those standards the only way your business operates, and you’ll find that you can keep your end of the bargain with any client. Respond to emails in a timely fashion, keep a professional demeanor in all your communications, and keep yourself up to date on the project’s progress.

Schedule It

Amateurs wing it and panic. Professionals plan and follow through.

The above two tips will do nothing if they’re not set in stone with a firm time. If you want a Skype call every week, it should be in there. If you want a daily email, set aside 15 minutes every morning to send one, and 15 minutes at the end of the day to reply to incoming messages. Perhaps you’d like a monthly general meeting to keep updated on the project. That should be in your calendar. Schedule around your meetings, productive times of the day, and lunchtime if you have to. But make sure those times and dates are written down somewhere.

Get out your calendar. Schedule what day of the week and what time you’re going to follow through with your white label partner. Have them do the same. Better yet sync all your mobile calendars together, so you and the agency are looking at the exact same thing. That way you can agree to move things around easily if you need to.

Write these three tips down, and act on them today. Set your standards, and stick to them. Get your important communication times written in your calendar, and keep it handy. Your projects will move so much more smoothly if everyone’s on the same page.

What’s your most trusted form of communication, and how do you schedule it out? Leave your best tried, tested, and true communication tip in the comments!

Ready to get started with white label services? Get in touch to see how we can help you take your web firm to the next level.