White label partnership is a perfect way to scale your agency business. It is cost-effective, flexible, and easily brandable. You would probably think that finding the right white label partner is all it takes.
While finding the right partner is critical, it’s just the first step in building a highly functional white label partnership. That’s where most agency owners tend to struggle.
You will need to work efficiently with your white label partner to get the best return on your investment.
As a nine-year-old white label digital agency working with more than 100 digital agency partners worldwide, we know a
thing or two about how successful white label partnerships work. There is no one-size-fits-all solution here. But there
are a few things that most agency owners can do.
First things first, you should set up an email for your white label development team on your domain name, say [email protected]. You can use this email to share all of your clients’ credentials with your white label partner. It is safe, and you can revoke any of these credentials at any time. However, you can also share credentials over LastPass OR OnePassword if you use it.
While email is great for sharing credentials and other information, it’s not ideal for assigning tasks. That’s where project management tools like Asana, Monday, Trello, ActiveCollab, Teamwork, Basecamp, and ClickUp, among others, come in.
If you already have a project management tool, ask your white label development team to start using it. Or you can choose one that best fits your needs. You should use the email address created for your white label team (on your domain name) to send the invite to join your Project Collaboration tool. This will keep everything white label.
Real-time communication is equally vital to making your partnership work. Connect with your white label development team using Skype, Slack, or any other IM tool of your choice. Please make sure to use these channels for real-time communication only.
Before you start assigning work, get on a kick-off call with your white label partner and communicate your expectations. You don’t have to spell out project-specific details. Even providing general guidelines can go a long way in strengthening your partnership.
Most white-label partners will not require technical training. At E2M, we have an ever-growing pool of experienced and trained experts. However, you will need to work closely with your white label team to help them familiarize with your business process, especially in the beginning. Once your partner gets the hang of things, it’ll be a smooth sail for everyone.
When introducing your white label team to your work process, train them as your own team. If your white label team lacks skills or knowledge, your productivity will take a nose dive somewhere down the line. Remember, this relationship works best if both parties are equally committed.
A successful white label partnership relies on trust, and feedback plays a critical role in building trust. Be sure to send feedback on a few initial projects. It can help your white label team understand your expectations right off the bat.
Take your trust and transparency a step further by scheduling weekly or once every two-week feedback calls. Or talk to your white label partner to create your feedback call schedule and stick to it.
Most agency owners also fail to leverage the expertise of a while label team to its fullest. For example, you can consult your white label experts when quoting your clients. In fact, make it a practice to share project details to get a precise quote before talking to your potential clients. It can help you make cost-competitive offers and cut through the noise.
Web design and development requires careful planning. When you assign a task, mention the development specifications before the team starts working. For example, if you want to use a specific page builder OR theme for WordPress or Shopify, clarify it from the start.
Also, share your development standards and SOPs, if any. If not, you can ask your white label partner to follow their SOPs and development standards. The end goal is to develop quality websites without wasting your resources.
Communication is more effective if you know who to talk to. In this regard, having a dedicated project manager or liaison between your clients and your white label team is an excellent idea. This prevents miscommunication and speeds things up. You should prefer working with a white label partner that assigns a technically conversant point of contact who understands your needs.
Keep your white label development team in the loop constantly to ensure efficiency. Make sure your project/account managers talk to your white label team before committing to delivery deadlines to your clients. This way, you can ensure on time delivery.
Sharing feedback is important, but so is recording your feedback call. At E2M, we use LOOM to record videos for sharing the requirements, feedback, and expectations to avoid any back and forth. However, you should talk to your white label partner about which recording/video calling tool you can use.
Your white label partner may not necessarily be working out of the same neighborhood or even country. Talk to your white label team to get the idea of their time zone and work out a communication schedule, especially for real-time feedback/calls. There is no better way to set realistic expectations.
Depending on the time zone, you may not be able to communicate with your white label development team during office hours. In this case, you set aside one or two hours daily for real-time communication. Most white-label partners like E2M are willing to work out a schedule that best suits both parties.
In the white label industry, 12-24 hours turnaround time is pretty much an industry standard. However, not all development tasks are simple. It could take more than 24 business hours to complete a task. Moreover, there could be a delay due to time zone differences. You will have to consider these facts before promising a turnaround time to your clients.
Technical skills aside, your white label team has experience working with different agencies worldwide. Why not leverage this expertise to enhance your agency business? It can help you run a highly client-centric and agile business model.
QA is an essential part of web development. It ensures that the overall website layout is in line with the proposed design. However, the list of QA points may vary depending on your niche. If that is the case, you should communicate specific QA points beforehand to avoid back and forth.
When it comes to communication, transparency is the key. You don’t have to wait or withhold your feedback. Your white-label team needs to know where and how to improve before it’s too late. It benefits everyone, especially your clients.
If your white label team has an excellent grasp on new technology, give it a try. The web development industry is in constant flux, with new technologies entering the market every month. If you don’t adapt to the changing tech trends, you risk falling behind.
You will also need to understand how your white label team works out quotes before you quote to your clients. A misquote can backfire and also hurt your client relationship.
Be it a quote or a project delivery deadline, never commit to your clients until you have confirmed it with your white label team.
Some white label partners like E2M offer a fixed number of hours per month for a flat monthly cost. However, you can assign unlimited tasks until you exhaust your allotted hours. So, you will need to keep track of hours to avoid surprises at the end. It also helps you prioritize and get the most out of your white label plan.
Lastly, develop a partnering approach from day one. As an agency owner, you would want to focus on getting the work done. However, that’s not how a partnership works. Your white label partner should feel like a part of your business. Get them involved in work as much as possible.
White labeling is no doubt the best way to scale your agency business without increasing your headcount or
overheads. However, you must learn how to get the most out of your white label development team to rip the true
benefits of this business model. If you are looking for a white label partner or already have one, this checklist
should help you get things going right out the gate.
If you are looking to hire a white label team, do reach out to us!