You manage AdWords/PPC for clients

Do you generally have the SE dealing with the client as well?

[skibum]

As Oveture launches their own ROI tracking tool and more and more cold calls are received from Google & other engines themselves it seems like everyone is competing for the direct client contact.

As the 3rd party client manager/advisor for PPC stuff do you typically facilitate/encourage any kind of contact between the engine rep and your client?

[bigjohnt]

NO. I encourage them (the clients)to utilize me, and refer all calls to me. Any calls from anything to do with promotion of the site are directed to me. Its all about me-me-me. and the service I give them.
I tell the clients that they can listen to the pitch if they want, but in most cases, I already have the background (and potential questions)to evaluate the call much more effectively than the client.
If the client insists on taking the calls, I ask them to conference me in - my relationship with most clients is strong enough that they know I am on their side, and I won't let them get talked into something they don't understand. And vice versa. If I think it is a good deal, we test it in most cases.

[vibgyor79]

I don't exactly encourage direct contact but I don't have any problems with it either.

I think the client will trust you more than the search engine that is selling its wares. If Overture has launched a new tool, the client will probably ask your advice first.

[anallawalla]

Since the card holder and name serve to connect the client with Google, I can't prevent it (or get the fabled gifts). But the client won't sign up to anything new without consulting me.

[Robsp]

Same here,

My clients expect me to tell them what the SE's are doing and all e-mail is forwarded to us. The SE just provide the medium, they cannot make the medium work for indiviudual customers, that's what we do.

[webdiversity]

The PPC suppliers are providing the service to us as an agency.

Although we are transparent with our clients about who we use and why, they trust us to deliver the best traffic, maximum ROI, best supplier for the job.

In most instances the supplier would have very little detail about our client and I'm aware of the suppliers contacting exisitng advertisers but not cold calling businesses.

You will never stop over-exuberant sales people, where I have a problem is where there is contradiction brought on by lack of understanding.

We've had instances where the supplier have been in a position to talk to clients (seminar, workshop etc.) and offered them things that we have not (content syndicated traffic, broad match traffic). That's not to say we haven't considered them, but it does then get questions asked that don't need to be asked.

We have often taken the search engines to see clients during the pitch process, but we try to protect the supplier from the client and the client from the supplier and generally that works well.