Hedy Payghambari -- Head of Digital Growth at Blaze Pizza

A successful client-agency is based on mutual communication and trust, but there are so many other factors, like proactiveness and creativity, that go into a successful client-agency collaboration. However, at the end of the day, the agency you choose to partner with should make your life easier. In this episode of the YouShouldTalkTo podcast, our host Daniel Weiner welcomes Hedy Payghambari, the head of digital growth at Blaze Pizza. They chat about the importance of industry knowledge and persistence in an agency, how to find strong agency referrals, and whether one agency can do everything for you. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Hedy Payghambari, Head of Digital Growth at Blaze Pizza 💡 Noteworthy: Hedy is a creative artist who loves listening to world news and geeking out over Forbes’ business articles. She's as creative as she is analytical, which is why she double majored in business and Spanish. Her creative and analytical sides fuse perfectly as a digital leader. Hedy likes making sense out of numbers and chaos and feels at ease around change and ambiguity. 💡 Where to find Hedy: LinkedIn Key Insights ⚡Industry knowledge and persistence will make an agency stand out from the crowd. There are so many agencies in the market right now. So how do you find the best vendor for your needs? Hedy recommends looking for knowledge and persistence. She says, "I think that's the part; it's showing an understanding of the industry, whether it's pizza or a certain technology or service. And then, coming in and identifying the problems you see and how you're going to help solve them, I think, is what makes people stand out. And also, persistence." ⚡Turn to your community for agency referrals. Another major concern that companies have is not knowing where to look when they need a good agency. Hedy says she turns to her peers for referrals. She explains, "Community is the first place because you want to hear of successful relationships and what problems they've solved. Just peers, mentors, and reaching out to your network and being like, 'Hey, this is my problem. Who have you seen solve this well?'" ⚡Agencies should be proactive and solution-oriented. A good agency is skilled and experienced. But a great agency is proactive and solution-oriented. Hedy says, "I don't expect every agency to solve everything on their own. This should be a collaboration, but at least help me understand my options and the good and bad of each, so we can make a decision that we feel good about. I think when problems arise and agencies are not solution-oriented and don't think creatively around a solution, that is the part that has frustrated me in the past."