Do you need one?
Firstly, “full service” is a broad term and can encompass many different aspects. There are several tasks that most, if not all, do not handle. These include product research, product development at the factory level, and logistics. These tasks require intensive effort and are typically managed by the brand itself.
What remains then? PPC, listing optimization, daily management of the Seller Central account, catalog, Seller Support (ouch), and customer service. Of course, there are many more specific functions, but let’s focus on the high-level overview for now.
Ask yourself the following questions.
Do they possess enough expertise to effectively manage customer service? After listing optimization is completed, what’s next?
To elaborate: there comes a point when the main optimization is accomplished, the time spent is much lower in some cases sellers may not touch their listings for months, especially their hero products in case they kill their sales.
What does listing optimization include? Is it limited to the text, or are there additional charges for image optimization outside the standard fee or percentage? What tasks are they performing within Seller Central that a virtual assistant (VA) cannot? Considering their broad skill set, how proficient are they at PPC, given its significant potential to sales and ranking (Sponsored Products)?
Are they subcontracting the PPC tasks (I have turned down dozens of companies over the years who wanted Databrill to be their PPC management partner)?
How much time should you allocate to interacting with the agency? Specifically, are communications required once daily, or five times a day? Is it a flat fee combined with a percentage, and does this percentage decrease as the revenue or profit metrics improve?
I reviewed the Full Agency model about 5-6 years ago to evaluate its efficiency. I know people who dipped their toes in and pulled back once they saw the sheer levels of complexity and capital costs; even then, it wasn’t suitable for me.
I thought, “This thing has more holes than Swiss cheese caught in a shootout!” Back then, it was far less complex than it is now. I also spoke with some early agencies that had scaled, and they highlighted the high labor costs and the challenges with talent and scaling.
You might say today that AI will solve all these problems. Even with AI, most can access and use it on a basic level (listings, POAs, agreements, data processing), but when it comes to human interactions, much of the logic falls apart due to the variables.
Consider managing your own Amazon business for 40-50 hours a week; now imagine the workload for an account manager at a full-service agency. How many accounts can they realistically manage? There are many moving parts, multiplied over and over.
This is not to say it’s impossible, only that it’s extremely complex. Go ask some aggregators how much easier this is…They went bullish on AI and then over time they got diminishing returns as it was left to roam.
Pay Attention
Some common things you must pay attention to include whether you are messaging your agency to ask them to perform tasks that are quicker to do yourself.
You could spend hours a day asking, “Have you done this?” and “When will this be done?” In doing so, you and the agency run down the clock in both inboxes when you should be focusing on other aspects like product development.
Perhaps many of these tasks could be handled by your VA if they are admin related. The last thing you want is to manage your agency as you would manage a low-cost VA; the cost of managing a VA reflects the price you pay for cheaper labor. Everything has its pros and cons.
Regarding questions, I addressed this earlier with PPC agencies and software companies providing managed services, adapting to the full-service nature. Who is your account manager, and who covers for them if both are unavailable? What is their experience, and how many accounts do they handle?
Remember, full service isn’t just one aspect like PPC; it requires dedicated skills. Verify whether they have a specialized PPC team versus a generalist who also has PPC skills, along with abilities in writing, conversion optimization, customer service, and more. Are you on a flat rate? Is there a sliding scale?
What occurs when all the listings are optimized, and much of the initial work is complete? Which aspects of the managed services could be handled by virtual assistants, and if these are simple tasks, why not use your virtual assistants instead of theirs?
Remember, everything has its place. A great example is if Amazon is a channel you know nothing about; there’s a significant learning curve for the uninitiated.
Building out a team for the Amazon channel can be expensive, and hiring an agency will be much more cost-effective for setup and onboarding.
