Your agency has designers, copywriters and a client relationship that took years to build. What it doesn’t have is someone to turn all of that into a website or an app that works. When the request comes in, you have three options: hire, find a freelancer every time, or work with a development partner who shows up project after project.
This guide is about the third one. It comes from several projects where the client was another agency or a creative professional, from what worked in them and from what had to be corrected along the way.
Who does what
The first friction between an agency and a technical partner is almost always about territory. If you also design, the partner may feel your design ties their hands. If the partner also has opinions about the brand, you feel they’re stepping into your work. Both have a point, which is why the split is worth writing down before the first meeting with the end client.
| Piece | Agency | Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Brand, identity, visual system | Yes | Respects it and turns it into tokens and components |
| Copy and content | Yes | Doesn’t invent a single line; flags what’s missing |
| Strategy and client relationship | Yes | Takes part only when the agency asks |
| Structure, motion, code | Proposes and approves | Yes |
| Performance, accessibility, security | Requires it | Yes, as part of the job, not as an extra |
| Editing panel and going live | Defines what must be editable | Sets up, documents and hands over |
One rule prevents a lot of arguments: the partner doesn’t invent content. On a site we built for a creative agency, the only material was its portfolio PDF. Every piece of copy, every figure and every logo on the site came from there. The design had full freedom; the content, full discipline. Limiting? Far from it. When the content belongs to the client, nobody argues about sentences. The discussion is about structure, which is what the partner came to solve.
What to ask your client before getting a quote
A partner can quote quickly if you hand over five things. None of them is technical, and you either have them already or can get them in one call.
- The content that will live on the site, even if it’s a portfolio PDF or a loose document.
- A reference site the client likes, and what they like about it.
- Who will maintain the site afterwards: the agency, the client or nobody.
- Which languages it launches in, and which will come later.
- Which parts the client must be able to edit without calling anyone.
The reference has a catch. The client says “I want one like this” and points at a site with a bold palette and huge type. If the partner copies the palette, the result competes with the client’s brand and with its own photos. What should be copied is the quality: a committed visual system, motion that serves the content, accessibility built into the tokens. We take the reference’s mechanics and never its palette, and we say so out loud before showing anything. Why before? Because if you say it afterwards, a different result reads as “they didn’t listen to me”.
Scope yes, price no
At some point the client will ask for a discount. It will happen, so it’s better to have the answer ready. The one that protects both sides is simple: you cut scope, never price. Same scope, same price.
To keep that from being an empty phrase, write down beforehand the order in which things get cut if the budget gets tight. For example: first the most expensive animation, then the second language version, then the blog. And a short list of what can’t be touched. Accessibility and legal compliance for corporate clients go on that list, because without them the client receives something it can’t use.
The objection “we can do the design ourselves” is answered by what the price already leaves out. If the proposal doesn’t charge for design, copy or brand, the objection goes away on its own.
Integrations are the other place where scope gets decided. A sync with an external spreadsheet, a form with lead scoring, a connection to a third-party service: each one is a contract with someone else, and it’s usually what delays a launch. On a project for a talent agency, the automatic sync was swapped for a manual file upload so the site could launch sooner, and that decision was put in writing. Months later, with the client already using the system, it was picked up again without any rush.
Static first, editor later
One question comes up in every proposal: do we build it on a content management system from the start? It seems logical. Our experience with agencies says not always.
While the design is still moving, a static site (no CMS, no build process) lets you try three visual directions in a week and tune the motion by hand. The CMS arrives when the client has lived with the site and asks for the third change. By then you know what changes and what doesn’t, and the editing panel is designed around real requests. The case of an agency without a website followed exactly that order.
When the CMS arrives, one condition applies to any partner: the client edits content, never structure. A panel with a hundred text fields and a project grid is useful. A page builder that lets people move sections around is a slow way to destroy the design your agency approved. And yes, someone will ask for it. The answer is still no.
How to give feedback without it turning into chaos
Client feedback usually arrives as a document with screenshots, or as scattered WhatsApp messages. Both work, as long as someone turns them into a list.
What has worked for us: each comment gets a number, a screenshot, what’s there today, what the client is asking for and where the change goes. The ones that depend on outside material (final logos, photos, approved copy) are marked as open items, with an owner. That way nobody waits in silence thinking the other side is working on it.
The second rule is to keep visual impressions apart from copy. When three people on the client’s side review at once and mix “I don’t like the blue” with “this sentence is wrong”, the meeting ends without decisions. First the visual direction gets decided. Then the copy gets corrected. In that order, even when it’s hard to hold the line.
What to require at handover
A complete handover includes, at a minimum:
- Access to edit the site, for both the agency and the end client, and a document explaining where each one logs in and what for.
- An editing panel where every text starts with the current content, so the site looks the same even if nobody ever touches it.
- A list of what is editable and what requires development.
- A visual comparison between what was approved and what was published, on desktop and mobile.
- An agreement on backups, updates and who handles maintenance changes.
On maintenance, a simple practice: requests that arrive as one-line messages are turned into tasks with a root cause, evidence and open questions. Months later you can see what was asked for, what was done and what was left unanswered. Without that list, the project’s history lives in a chat and nobody can find it.
The second phase, not quoted yet
Once the agency’s site is ready, the conversation changes. The agency has clients who also need websites, campaign microsites and event apps, and now it has a partner that already knows how it works. That second phase is worth planting in the first proposal without quoting it: one line saying the same setup works for the agency’s client projects. Quoting it too early is guessing.
If you’re evaluating a partner, the first conversation should be about who does what, how things get cut when needed and what you receive at the end. What we do on each of those fronts is in our capabilities.
Frequently asked questions.
Does my agency lose control of the design if it delegates development?
No, as long as the split is clear from the start. Your agency delivers the visual system, the copy and the brand decisions. The partner builds the structure and the motion, and shows with a visual comparison that what was built matches what was approved.
Does the end client know there is a development partner?
That's your call. Some agencies introduce the partner as part of the team and others prefer it stays out of sight. Either way, the relationship with the client stays with the agency.
What does the partner need to prepare a quote?
The material you already have: the content that will live on the site, a reference site and why it was chosen, who will maintain it, which languages it needs and which parts must be editable. With that, a proposal can be put together without guesswork.
Who handles changes after launch?
That's decided before launch. Usually the client edits content from a panel and structural changes go to the partner in batches, with evidence for each request.
