Last week I discussed the move toward more agency involvement in the business development process. As more and more of the dotcoms are coming on the scene with little or no prior online advertising experience, the online agency is being asked to serve as the client's resident expert for how to best assess that which gets put on the table for a business development buy. But the dance can be tricky sometimes. Agencies have relationships with clients and sales reps at a site. Business development personnel have relationships with clients.
Clients have relationships with agencies, sales reps, and business development personnel at a site.
Some publishers have both sales reps and specific personnel do business development, others have their functions separated. Well, you get the picture as to how complicated it can be. First, be very clear with the client about how you are going to proceed with this endeavor. This may be new to the client, and they may have certain expectations of what should be included in such a deal. They may even have an opinion about how negotiations should take place.