Scope of Work Development

Aligning agency compensation with expectations

As the only firm with an agency compensation methodology that integrates cost and headcount factors, The Bedford Group can reconstruct SOWs to determine the agency headcount required to carry out the associated workloads. Our agency compensation benchmarks are more than costs-per-hour, addressing what is normally and typically required for the output required from the agency. With over 25 years of experience from which to draw, we can help your company validate and verify that you are getting what you pay for (cost per hour, overhead and profit margin notwithstanding). Simply put, agency compensation cannot be adjusted or validated unless agency costs and headcount are in harmony with SOW requirements. Our benchmarks are based on a model that has been constructed from hundreds of negotiated contracts (not rate cards) and SOWs, and are updated yearly, allowing comparison by:
  • Agency Size
  • Geography
  • Type of Advertiser
  • Type of Marketing
  • Hours per FTE
  • Hourly Rates by Function
  • Effective Commission Rates
  • Overhead Costs
  • Operating Profit/Margin
  • Incentive Compensation (e.g. by size of budget, industry, criteria)
With a clear SOW in place, you and your agency are less likely to encounter debilitating stops and starts, removing time-wasting multi-person discussions around issues of little consequence. You and your agency partner should be concentrating on doing the difficult task of improving your business position in the marketplace and not side trips around the cost of versioning iterations. To learn more about how The Bedford Group can help you create a clearly defined, indisputable SOW, contact us at 404.237.4565 or info@bedfordgroupconsulting.com.