28:49Austin 2026
San Diego 2024
Choosing Ecommerce Agency Partners: A Brand and Agency Panel
Melanie Balke, Andrew Faris, Liam Veregin, Nate Lagos, and Jordan West debate agency fit, incentives, talent, and the decision to keep work in-house or bring in a partner.
Watch it. Put it to work.
ABOUT THIS SESSION
Find the right people for the job.
Melanie Balke, Andrew Faris, Liam Veregin, Nate Lagos, and Jordan West debate agency fit, incentives, talent, and the decision to keep work in-house or bring in a partner.
For brand leaders hiring an agency and agency owners building stronger client relationships.
- Speakers
- Melanie Balke
CEO & Co-Founder, The Email Marketers - Andrew Faris
Founder, AJF Growth - Liam Veregin
Co-Founder, Aplo Group - Nate Lagos
VP of Marketing, Original Grain - Jordan West
Founder, UpGrowth Commerce - Recorded at
- San Diego 2024 ↗
September 2024
Speaker roles and platform examples reflect the session’s original context. This is an archived conversation.
TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR DESK
Ideas to put to work.
- 01
Identify the actual problem before hiring
Write down the specific capability and outcome the brand needs before evaluating agencies.
Read this part · 02:38 ↓ - 02
Compare real options for in-house and outside work
Compare the people, cost, and management demands of both options for the same scope of work.
Read this part · 10:00 ↓ - 03
Look for fit at the working level
Clarify staffing, ownership, and the review process before the engagement starts.
Read this part · 16:15 ↓ - 04
Discuss incentives without expecting a perfect formula
Tie accountability to the work the partner can influence and document each side’s responsibilities.
Read this part · 22:47 ↓ - 05
Keep reviewing whether the model still fits
Reassess the engagement as needs change, using agreed expectations rather than accumulated frustration.
Read this part · 41:29 ↓
READ THE SESSION
The edited transcript.
A condensed, edited reading version based on the YouTube captions and session chapters. Repetition and unclear audience audio have been removed; the discussion is paraphrased for clarity, rather than presented as a verbatim transcript. Timestamps refer to the original video.
Original recording on YouTube ↗Identify the actual problem before hiring
The panel begins by challenging the idea that agencies are one uniform category. Different services, people, and operating models produce different experiences. A poor relationship can begin with an unclear expectation of what the partner is supposed to solve.
Start with the capability or constraint inside the brand. Buying media execution is different from buying strategy, production capacity, or specialized channel knowledge. Define the missing work before evaluating a proposal that bundles several of those things together.
Compare real options for in-house and outside work
The conversation considers what a brand can reasonably build internally and where an agency offers access to expertise or capacity. The speakers do not agree on a single permanent boundary, which reflects how much the decision depends on the business.
An internal hire also carries cost, management needs, and talent risk. Compare the actual people and responsibilities on each side, rather than assume in-house automatically means more capable or an agency automatically means more scalable.
Look for fit at the working level
A good fit includes how the team communicates, what it owns, and whether its strengths match the client’s stage. The people doing the work matter more than a broad promise that the agency can grow any brand.
The panel’s examples emphasize that services are delivered by humans. Their experience, attention, and capacity affect the relationship. Ask how the work will actually be staffed and reviewed, and how the brand will contribute the information and decisions the team needs.
Discuss incentives without expecting a perfect formula
The compensation discussion explores the difficulty of aligning incentives when an agency controls only part of the business. A performance metric can be influenced by product, pricing, inventory, and other decisions outside the partner’s remit.
That does not remove accountability. It makes clear scope and shared context more important. Decide which outcomes the partner can influence, how performance will be assessed, and what each side needs to provide. A fee model alone cannot substitute for those agreements.
Keep reviewing whether the model still fits
Creative control and outsourcing choices can change as a brand grows. The panel includes strong views about keeping customer understanding close to the business, alongside examples of specialist work that remains useful to outsource.
The closing discussion covers evaluation and exit decisions. Review whether the relationship still solves the original problem and whether the team’s needs have changed. A clear conversation about performance and scope is more useful than letting frustration build without a shared standard.
KEEP THE IDEAS COMING
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