00 Introduction

Over the past decades, the digital industry has become pretty damn good at one thing: gatekeeping.

From processes to tools and frameworks, our industry has spent significant effort making the work too complex and convoluted for newcomers to enter. Gatekeeping is particularly frustrating if you’re on the receiving end, but really, there are rarely any winners in the end.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The very best products, the most productive teams, and most enjoyable collaborations have three things in common: simple, straightforward methods of communication, transparency, and – most importantly – 100% shared knowledge. This is how we work with our customers, and we’d like to show you how you can do the same with your digital partner.

In this guide you will find out …

  • Why choosing the right agency partner is crucial
  • How you can evaluate an agency beyond their flashy pitch
  • Why clear communication and expectation setting should be your priority #1
  • How to maintain control while leveraging external expertise
  • The art of managing bureaucracy when dealing with an external partner
  • Why planning for life after the agency is as important as the project itself
  • How to handle personality clashes and team dynamics
  • The secrets to managing budgets and avoiding cost overruns
  • Why negative feedback can be a goldmine for improvement
  • How to navigate the tricky waters of product cannibalization
  • The fine art of the knowledge transfer
  • Ways to measure success beyond just project completion … and also, how to fire an agency.

This guide will focus on practical strategies and real-world scenarios. We will do our best not to get bogged down in technical jargon or agency-specific processes (we’ve added a glossary at the end for the rest). Instead, we’ll try to stick to actionable advice that will help you navigate the complex world of agency partnerships and digital product development.

Who this guide is for

Product owners and project managers

If you’re responsible for shepherding a digital product from concept to launch, this guide will help you ask the right questions, set clear expectations, and manage agency relationships effectively.

C-suite executives

For CEOs, CTOs, and other decision-makers who need to understand the strategic implications of agency partnerships and how they align with broader business goals.

Internal team leaders

For those managing in-house development teams who are looking to augment their capabilities with agency expertise.

First-time agency clients

If you’ve never worked with a digital agency before and are unsure what to expect, this guide will prepare you for the journey ahead.

Experienced agency clients

Even if you’ve worked with agencies before, you’ll hopefully find some fresh perspectives and strategies to enhance your partnerships.

Whether you’re about to embark on your first agency partnership, are already neck-deep in a product development process, or you’ve just emerged from a frustrating vendor relationship, this guide will hopefully offer valuable insights.

Moreover, if you’re currently in an agency relationship that’s not quite meeting your expectations, this guide can help you turn things around.

You’ll learn techniques for improving communication, aligning goals, and resolving conflicts, ideally transforming a struggling partnership into a productive collaboration.

From negotiating contracts and managing budgets to fostering innovation and planning for long-term success, this guide equips you with the tools you need to navigate agency partnerships confidently and effectively. By the end, you’ll be better prepared to harness the full potential of agency collaborations and hopefully building and shipping better digital products as a result.

Who we are

DK&A is a digital product agency, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, with studios across northern Europe. We discover, design, develop, and ship digital products and services. Since 2022, we’re also part of The North Alliance family of companies. We are incredibly proud to call some of the most prestigious brands among our customers, and of the occasional award we get to bring home for these collaborations.

This all to say – we know how it is. We’ve been building digital products for a while now and we have observed complexity grow. We’ve witnessed a steady increase in moats being built around essential knowledge, and more and more gates being kept.

And we’ve made it our mission to work differently.

Our rules of engagement

  1. 01

    Identify your goals and explain them in simple terms

    We establish a North Star early, and talk about it in a way everyone understands – from the customer to the C-suite.

  2. 02

    No walled gardens!

    We share what we know and learn together, essentially making it easy to replace us at any point.

  3. 03

    No politics, no overhead

    We aim to be the easy-to-work-with, pragmatic partner that proactively solves, not causes problems.

  4. 04

    Experience first

    The end customer decides what works and what doesn’t – their experience determines whether we succeed.

  5. 05

    Always measure for impact

    A great product that doesn’t deliver company value is destined to fail. Establish relevant KPIs early and measure consistently.

  6. 06

    Always be communicating

    Find the right tools to get your point across and keep all stakeholders in the loop with ease. (Prototypes tend to do this very well.)

By now you probably get the idea: we are done with the secrecy, the complexity, the gatekeeping that has defined the act of buying services in digital product development for years. This guide represents our take on what a healthy and productive relationship between a customer and their digital product agency can be like and how to get there. It consists of 15 most important (and often a little sensitive) questions our customers rarely dare to ask, and – what we consider – an honest answer for each.

Caveats

While this guide aims to provide valuable insights for every type of reader, it’s important to keep a few things in mind:

No one-size-fits-all solution

Every company, project, and agency relationship is unique. Adapt the advice provided to your specific circumstances.

Limitations of outsourcing

Remember that while agencies can provide valuable expertise, they can’t replace the need for internal alignment and clear business objectives.

Cultural and regional differences

This guide is written from a primarily Western business perspective. If you’re working with agencies across different cultures, you’ll want to give this some extra thought.

While we touch on contractual issues, this guide is not a substitute for legal advice. Always consult with legal professionals when drafting or signing contracts

Simplification of complex issues

For brevity and clarity, we sometimes simplify complex topics. In practice, you may need to dive deeper into certain areas.

Assumes basic knowledge

This guide assumes some familiarity with digital product development. If you’re completely new to this field, you may want to consult additional resources like the glossary at the end.

15 questions about working with digital agencies you never dared to ask

As companies bet more heavily on digital tools in their digital transformation journey, or even add digital products to their portfolio, they will consider partnering up with experts to move things along. These partners, usually agencies, will be tasked with helping to build products and services, but also with addressing internal efficiencies, running innovation initiatives, and even creating potential new business opportunities.

Some of the most capable agencies out there are offering to take over everything from discovery, planning, design to implementation, delivery, and maintenance of digital products. But bringing on an external expert usually is not enough. As with any relationship, taking on a partner requires a lot of effort. And without much experience, things can go off the rails quickly.

Whether you have worked with digital product agencies in the past or this is your first time, this guide will help you find answers and advice around some of the thorniest questions you might not have dared to ask. Along the way, you will learn more about how agencies operate and how you can use their expertise to ship better digital products and tools, improve internal operations, drive innovation, and explore new business avenues.