A senior bench is a list of experienced people an agency can technically call on. Senior access means a named senior person runs your account personally, every week, with senior specialists brought in for specific work. To tell them apart, ask who will do the work in month six and see if you get a name.
Our services page sets out how we work and what it costs. This is the distinction behind it.
Why the words matter
Most agencies say they are senior. Many of them mean it. The question is where the senior people sit.
On a bench, they sit above the account. They approve the plan, join the quarterly review and come back for the renewal. The work in between, the buying, the calls and the weekly numbers, is done by someone further down.
With access, they sit on the account. The person who writes the strategy also does the buying, takes the call when the numbers are wrong, and says so.
Both models can be honest. They are different products, and they should not cost the same.
What a senior bench looks like
A pitch team of directors and heads of.
An org chart with impressive names at the top.
A day-to-day contact you meet after signing.
Senior people "available" for escalation, which means you have to escalate to see them.
The bench is real. You pay for it in theory and see it in practice when something goes wrong.
What senior access looks like with us
Every account is run by Elaine and the senior people you meet in the Growth Plan. Run, not overseen. Never a junior team standing in.
Nobody learns on your budget, because there is no floor below us to hand the work down to.
Senior-only is easy to say and harder to deliver. We built the agency around it, so every client gets the same senior attention in month six as in week one.
Three questions that tell them apart
Take these into any pitch, including ours.
Who will run our account day to day in month six? Ask for a name, not a role. If the answer is a team, ask who on it does the buying.
How much of that person's week will we get? A senior name spread across too many accounts is a bench by another name.
What does it cost if a specialist is needed later? You want to know now, not on an invoice.
Then get the answers in writing before you sign. A good agency will not mind.
What it costs
Senior time costs more per hour than junior time. What you are paying for is judgement: the person making the call has made it before, and you speak to them directly.
Our retainers start from $5,500 + GST a month, with a three month minimum and no lock-in after that. The Growth Plan is free.
FAQ
What does senior access mean in an agency?
A named senior person runs your account personally, every week, with senior specialists brought in for specific work. A senior name on the org chart does not count.
What is a senior bench?
A list of experienced people an agency can call on. They often lead the pitch and review the work, while someone more junior does it day to day.
How do I check who will actually work on my account?
Ask who will run it in month six, and ask for a name. Get it in writing before you sign.
Is a senior-only agency more expensive?
You pay for senior time, so the hourly cost is higher than a junior team's. Our retainers start from $5,500 + GST a month, with a three month minimum.
Next step
Want to meet the person who would run your account? See how we work on our services page, read about Elaine, or get in touch.
Book a free Growth Plan. Thirty minutes with the person who would do the work. No deck, no pitch.