Marketer’s guide to rejecting an agency

Need to say ‘no’ to an agency? Want to know how to tell an agency that you don’t want to work with them?

If you are a marketer that’s just a run pitch process, and now needs to break the hearts of a few agencies, then this post is for you.

From an agency perspective, there is nothing worse than just not knowing, being left hanging or being given the silent treatment. Following up in a close second place is the rejection email that offers absolutely zero useful feedback. Literally, what’s the point?

Frankly, any of the above situations are fucking rude on the part of the marketer/client.

The agency has likely invested considerable time at significant internal cost in taking part in your pitch process. If you don’t let them know the outcome or offer useful feedback, then you’re a bit pathetic. Yep, you. Pathetic. Don’t be that guy/gal.

In fact much of the advice given to people who need to politely reject a potential partner during dating applies here. Everyone needs closure to move on from a situation.

So, let’s lay down some guidelines:

• Don’t be late – if you promised a response at a certain time in your RFP then stick to it. My experience is that approx 80% of promised RFP milestones end up being late.
• Don’t avoid the situation entirely – the agency has probably invested a lot of time in the process so far, so the least you can do is follow up fairly and on time.
• Honest feedback is good feedback – agencies love to learn, so don’t beat around the bush. You’re not helping anyone by avoiding giving honest feedback.
• Agencies go through this all the time – if you’re worried you’re going to make someone cry, you’re not.
• If you felt it wasn’t a good fit in terms of relationship, the agency probably felt the same way about you and might even be relieved. Tell them.
• Offer some detail – offering to have a phone call if the agency wants it is a great thing to do.
• Be transparent – if you can, share the agency you chose to work with.

Here is an email template for rejecting an agency after a pitch process:

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Dear {agency contact},

Thanks for taking the time to put forward your {proposal/pitch} for our {project name} project.

We enjoyed the insights and found the contents helpful, whilst being impressed by the approach of your team and agency.

However, on this occasion we’ve decided to run with this agency: {insert agency name}

It was a close decision {<remove if not true}, but we felt that they {insert reasons they were better}.

We felt that your pitch would have been stronger if you had {give some proactive feedback}.

If you would like more feedback, please let me know or I would be happy to setup a phone call to talk in more detail.

Otherwise, I’d like to extend our thanks to all of your team from all the team here, and we’ll be sure to consider you for future opportunities to collaborate should they arise.

Best regards,

{Your name}

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