I remember the first time
I walked into the Moxie Sozo office—big hair, even bigger ideas—taking in the oddities on the walls and the creative energy buzzing through the room. It wasn’t my first day on the job there. It was a project kickoff.
And I was the client.
In my previous life, I led marketing for a local craft brewery and partnered with
Moxie Sozo. Looking back, I realize I was mostly winging it when it came to working with agencies. I assumed a brief was enough. I treated timelines as fixed. I thought “feedback” meant pointing out what I liked or didn’t like.
The truth? Collaborating with an agency partner takes intention and strategy. The sooner you understand that, the smoother the process—and the stronger the results.
Here’s what I wish I’d known then, and what every client can benefit from knowing now.
Why Timelines Slip (and How to Prevent It)
Your Account Director sends the project timeline. The milestone dates look good. You’ll wrap on time. Approved.
When I was the client, I focused on the big, shiny deliverables and skimmed past the feedback deadlines tucked in italics. Now, I know better. Those dates are the engine of the timeline. When clients hit feedback deadlines, agencies hit launch dates.
Agencies allocate teams and resources around specific windows. A one-day delay in feedback can easily trigger a week-long shift—especially when multiple workstreams overlap. Are timelines really that tight? Most often, yes.
Slow down upfront. Pressure-test the dates internally. Confirm who needs to weigh in and when. Align your team around the real cost of delayed feedback. Clear alignment early keeps momentum strong later.
Feedback That Actually Helps
Great creative work depends on great feedback.
As a client, I sometimes defaulted to personal preference: “I don’t love this.”
Now, I see how much more helpful it is to anchor feedback in objectives. What problem are we solving? What audience are we trying to move? What behavior are we trying to change?
When feedback gets personal (and it will), pause and translate the reaction into direction. Instead of “I don’t like it,” try:
• “This doesn’t feel premium enough for our target.”
• “I’m not seeing our differentiation come through yet.”
• “Can we explore a direction that leans more bold than playful?”
And when nuance matters, pick up the phone. Schedule a working session. Complex feedback rarely translates cleanly over email.
That said, if something truly misses the mark, say it early. Redirecting on round one is strategic. Redirecting after three rounds is expensive. Don’t hope it will “come together” if your instincts say otherwise.
The Power of Partnership (Not Vendorship)
A vendor executes tasks.
A partner amplifies impact.
When I directed marketing efforts at the brewery, we didn’t have the depth of capabilities that Moxie brought to the table. We needed more than deliverables—we needed perspective, challenge, and strategic lift. But I didn’t fully appreciate that at first.
The best agency relationships operate as true extensions of your team. They challenge your assumptions. They bring ideas you didn’t ask for. They care about outcomes, not just outputs.
And the relationships last.
The connections I built with my Moxie team didn’t end when projects wrapped. Two of those relationships are ultimately how I found my way to this side of the table. (Thanks, Charles and Mike.)
Now, sitting in the agency chair, I see something I couldn’t fully see before: how deeply the team invests in every brand we touch. The late-night Slack threads. The passionate debates. The pride when something great goes out into the world.
It’s never just a job. When alignment is strong and trust runs high, the work crackles. You can feel it in the room. You can see it on the shelf. You can measure it in the market.
%20(2).png)
.webp)
