Welcome to Leadership Lens, a new series in which we feature Leap Group leaders discussing industry trends, shifting landscapes, and other topics crucial to achieving and maintaining success in the marketing world. But don’t expect us to parrot any marketing speak—these will be real and honest conversations that won’t shy away from questioning the status quo. After all, Leap Group has thrived for more than 25 years by helping clients market less and matter more—and that often means asking the hard questions to get to the real insights. So, buckle up and join us for a fun and enlightening ride!
This month, we dive into the broader topic of data partnerships and the importance of client-agency relationships—more specifically, how clients can work more effectively with their agencies. In today’s rapidly evolving advertising landscape, the significance of robust client-agency relationships has never been more pronounced. In fact, an extensive 2024 study found that 69% of award-winning agencies scored above the global average in client-agency relationship strength. We sat down with Alan Gilleo, Co-Founder and CMO of Leap Group Network and Clayton Shepherd, Director of Strategy and Analytics, to learn more about the importance of data partnerships and building trust between clients and agencies.
Why is it so crucial for agencies to have access to the data they need to deliver the best insights and results for their clients?
Alan Gilleo [AG]: From a performance and ROI perspective, client data is critical to layer onto whatever we’re doing—whether that’s point-of-sale data, sales data, or even insights from their sales teams. Without it, the conversation becomes one-sided. We can report on certain metrics, but we can’t drive meaningful business outcomes.
If we want to partner effectively to achieve *business performance*—not just marketing performance—we need to understand the data that impacts the client’s bottom line. Having access to those additional data sets allows us to craft a much stronger narrative and strategy.
Clayton Shepherd [CS]: Exactly. It’s not just about strengthening the narrative; it’s also about improving campaign performance. For example, I was recently on a call with a global B2B client whose lead form submissions—their main KPI—have dropped. However, we saw a significant increase in calls. The issue is that we don’t have access to call data, and they don’t track call conversions or success rates. So all we can report is that we’re driving clicks to calls, but we don’t know if those were productive calls or angry calls. Without that data, we’re missing key insights.
With one of our national restaurant clients, for instance, we’re working to access their online order data and point-of-sale data to better tie our work to their bottom line.
“A click or a view on an ad isn’t a business result—it’s a surface-level KPI. You need to go deeper to optimize campaigns effectively.”
Leap: In the case of the global B2B client, did they say they’d share any call data or insights with you?
CS: No, they apparently don’t have the capability. This happens in two scenarios: either the client has the data but can’t share it due to internal policies, or they don’t have the data at all, as in this case, where there’s no call-tracking solution.
What are the options in cases like that? Should clients implement call-tracking solutions or further investigate with their call representatives?
CS: Yes, in a case like this, we would advise implementing a call-tracking solution to better measure and report on call success. Whether it’s us or someone else, someone has to measure call outcomes. For clients who have data but won’t share it—for instance, sending screenshots of Excel files instead of the files themselves—we need to address concerns around privacy and trust.
How do you navigate that as an agency, especially when privacy is a legitimate concern?
AG: That’s a great question. Privacy concerns are a common challenge. Agencies sign contracts to protect client data, but sometimes clients still hold back. It hampers performance. My view is that we need a vetting process—like how major vendors such as Palantir are vetted by the many government agencies they work with. Agencies should be able to go through similar privacy protocols so clients can trust us with their data.
It can be frustrating. If a client sees a decline in leads but a surge in call volume and don’t share that insight, they’re holding back crucial information that could help us help them improve results.
CS: Exactly. Phone calls often have higher close rates and upsell potential than form submissions. If calls are important to the business, clients need to invest in solutions that track those calls and share that data with us. It’s about building a partnership based on trust and shared goals.
How could a client-agency relationship evolve into better data sharing and collaboration?
CS: One simple way would involve a client implementing call tracking at our recommendation. That would allow us to report on call success, analyze sentiment, optimize campaigns for clicks to calls, and improve performance.
AG: And that’s the crux of a good data partnership. It’s not about playing games or holding information close to the chest—it’s about collaboration. Clients who withhold data only hurt their own outcomes.
CS: Exactly. When clients withhold ROI data, it often stems from a fear that agencies will charge more if we see high returns. But agencies aren’t incentivized to do less; we want to retain clients by delivering strong performance and results.
AG: At the end of the day, data partnerships should be mutually beneficial. Clients need their agencies to succeed because their success directly drives the agency’s success. There’s no reason to fear transparency.
And this is something we want to continue emphasizing in 2025—data partnerships are key. It’s not just about trust; it’s about setting clear goals, understanding expectations, and working together to achieve measurable outcomes.
CS: Agreed. Clearly defining KPIs upfront and planning for the evolution of those KPIs as the program matures is critical. Data partnerships allow us to go beyond surface-level metrics and deliver deeper, business-driven results.
