[!]The Best of
References

Everybody's got references. You probably know someone who got a job because she had a prestigious friend of her uncle's listed on her first resume when she was right out of college. It worked for her. And the incident probably made you a little suspicious of references ever since.

So go ahead, check a prospective agency's references. But when you do, dig deep.

SANITY ! CHECK
When checking references, here are a few things you'll want to inquire about:

  • What is the size of the account providing the reference? Listen closely to clients with needs similar to your own.

  • Has the client increased its work to the agency recently? (The assignment of additional business is the best reference any agency can cite.)

  • Who is the reference's target market? An agency with good reviews on its efforts that talk to audiences similar to your own may very well be a good agency for you.

  • What about rush jobs? Everybody has them. And every agency handles them. It's just that some do it with a bit more polish and style than others.