Your scope should explain who decides. The agency recommends a promotion. The cl
By Simon Ellicott · October 30, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Your scope should explain who decides.
The agency recommends a promotion.
The client’s marketing lead agrees.
Finance has concerns about margin.
The supply team has stock committed elsewhere.
The account manager waits.
Then someone asks why the promotion has not gone live.
“Promotions management” is clearly included in the scope.
The decision behind it is much less clear.
Who assesses the commercial case?
Who checks availability?
Who approves the discount?
Who resolves conflicting priorities?
A service list can describe the work while leaving the decisions needed to deliver it unowned.
That creates a difficult position for the agency.
Act, and risk exceeding its authority.
Wait, and risk being held responsible for the delay.
Neither is a dependable way to run an account.
The client should not need to approve every routine adjustment. Equally, an agency should not assume that access to an account gives it permission to make every commercial decision.
The useful agreement is more specific.
The agency can adjust campaigns within an approved budget and agreed limits.
A promotion needs a named client approver, informed by margin and stock checks.
A change to the overall investment requires a separate decision.
The exact boundaries will differ by client.
An experienced internal Amazon team may retain decisions that another brand expects its agency to lead.
That difference should be reflected in the service, fee and ways of working.
It also matters when introducing automation.
A workflow needs the same clarity about what it can change, within which limits and when it must stop for approval.
For agency owners, this belongs in the sales conversation and delivery handover, not just in an escalation after something goes wrong.
Agreeing who decides protects the client’s control and gives the team room to do its job.
Pick one live account: if an important recommendation stalled tomorrow, would everyone know whose decision was needed next?