Working with large business-to-business clients is a demanding process and making the transition to serving large accounts can be difficult. However, businesses of every shape and size are beginning to work together—whether it’s to improve market reach or PR relations. Access to lending and a global talent market mean that your business may land a contract with a big company. If this happens to you, here’s what you need to know.

Big B2B will change your business. A bigger client means a bigger budget. The extra revenue may help to fund resources you need to go after other businesses (both large and small), so think of large B2B contracts as investments in the future of your company. Additionally, larger companies will often have people in place to make your job simpler. Prominent clients can dramatically raise your profile and working with well-known businesses can boost staff morale and aid in employee fulfillment. A big B2B contract will allow you to “plug in” to larger networks.

Your small size is an advantage. Though your company will benefit from big B2B relationships, the larger company will also benefit. They’ll get faster responses, fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and personal relationships to make the process more enjoyable. Additionally, your team will likely be able to provide the outside perspective creative services many big companies seek.

Understand the risks. Working with large clients is both fulfilling and challenging. When taking on a massive client, it is essential to recognize how the contract can negatively impact your business. See below for our complete list of risks.

• If you lose a major client, it will take a long time to replace the revenue source. Additionally, losing big clients will often happen without warning, leaving you and your team scrambling to make up the cash. Be sure to maintain additional clients to safeguard against disaster.

• They will be demanding, and large clients will generally have several checks on process and approval requirements. They’re going to use up a lot of your time. To reiterate: do your best to maintain additional clients for the duration of the contract.

• Price negotiation may be out of the question. To that end, becoming reliant on a big client will leave you without bargaining power when renegotiating fees and retainer arrangements.

• They can cost you money. You will likely need to hire additional staff and subcontractors. Additionally, meeting the expectations of a large, demanding client will increase workplace pressure levels.

While entering a contract with a large-scale company will, in most cases, dramatically change your business for the better, it is essential to consider every side and outcome of the relationship.

Big companies are impressive, and their actions can impact the lives of every American. But what is it like to actually work for one of these massive corporations? Whether you’re flirting with a job offer or simply curious, working at a large company may not provide the lifestyle you’d expect. Below, we’ve outlined the benefits and disadvantages of working at one of the world’s largest companies.

You’ll become part of a large community. Sure, you’ll be working at the same company as a brilliant CEO, or perhaps a company pioneering a new type of technology. It’s never a bad idea to rub elbows with those types of colleagues, but—more importantly—you’ll be launched into a global network of big company workers. Large companies often participate in global and country-wide networking events, meaning you’ll have a greater professional exposure.

It will probably come with a lot of perks. Large companies often have some extra money to spend on their employees. In addition to earning a competitive salary, you’ll likely have access to great office amenities, such as a gym, a canteen, or new technology. You might be able to finagle partial funding for another degree, or you could be sent on training retreats around the world. Regardless, your perks will be larger than those at a smaller company.

You’ll have more obvious structure. When you’re a part of a large company, you’re entering a machine that’s been in use for a long time. There is an established way of doing things, allowing you to learn the system quickly and effectively. Additionally, you’ll know exactly how you fit into the system, learning the best pathways for promotions and other benefits. Conversely, you won’t have as much room for creativity, but you’ll have a greater sense of stability.

You’ll have more room to grow. While your initial role may be specialized, you’ll have the ability to change positions and explore new areas without leaving the company. While you’ll still need to do some hunting, a lot of large companies prefer to hire and promote from within—that’s one less thing for the recruiter to worry about, and the onboarding process will be far easier.

Changes happen slowly. If you want to shake things up at your job, a big company may not be the best choice. Even if your company is open to new ideas, getting your department to move to a new model or create a system can take a lot of time, effort, and convincing.

We all know the benefits and disadvantages of working for large and small companies. However, few resources are able to address what it’s like to work at a fast-growing company. Making this step can be very difficult; these companies can experience a variety of growing pains, and you might not have the type of security that comes with working at a large company. However, signing a contract with a fast-growing company can change your career for the better. Here’s what you need to know.

You’ll never get bored. Fast-growing companies are consistently innovating, allowing employees to truly test the bounds of their creative abilities. Additionally, these businesses often hire individuals to do a variety of jobs. At a large business, you might get a job as a social media monitor. At a smaller, faster-growing company, you may be in charge of generating social media content, engaging the audience, and monitoring.

You’ll always have a voice. Employee opinion is the bread and butter of fast-growing companies. If you have ideas, you’ll have the opportunity to pitch them to the people who matter. If accepted, your ideas could be implemented quickly and efficiently—without the bureaucratic mess that may come with introducing ideas at a larger company.

You’ll likely have stock options. If you join a company at the ground floor, you might have the opportunity to invest. In small, fast-growing companies, you might be able to turn a substantial profit on this investment.

You’ll have access to company leaders. You could spend a decade at a large corporation without ever meeting your CEO. At high-growth companies, you’re likely to get a lot of face time with the executive team. These interactions are incredibly valuable—for both professional connections and educational opportunities.

You’ll experience some frustration. Companies often grow faster than they can keep up. Whether that means increasing your personal workload, failing to regulate a specific function, or not understanding the hierarchy within the business, these growing pains can lead to severe frustration. In some cases, this frustration passes as the company is able to catch up with its projects. In some cases, the company is never able to catch up.

Today’s biggest companies aren’t the same as they were a generation ago, nor with a few exceptions were those companies the same as the biggest companies from a generation before that. And this is a sign of a healthy, dynamic economy. Fortunes are made by finding and creating the next big thing, not by entrenching in existing industries until their decaying utility makes the entire system collapse and reset. Nevertheless, it’s worth looking at the current-day behavior, effects, and larger consequences of today’s biggest companies.

A Conversation Starter

We recently heard an online interview with PJ O’ Rourke, economic and political writer, who was talking about the new, digital economy when he said:

“You think back 20-30 years ago and you think of the top ten companies and you knew them. You knew what they did; they made stuff. They provided services, and you used that stuff. They made Chevrolets. They made electricity. They made toothpaste. Now, you look at the top corporations and they make what?…Money. Money and trouble as far as I’m concerned.”

Marketing Today’s Big Companies

We’re not sure how much we agree with this view. As was also mentioned in the interview as part of the larger panel discussion: With Amazon, people like being able to buy things online and have them show up at their door step. It may be a different kind of service, but the digital economy delivers, in large part, digital services that make things easier, if the tech itself is complicated to understand.

On the other hand, it’s not entirely satisfying to say that appropriating and then monetizing the world’s social networks is just a different version of making toothpaste. So maybe here’s a better way to put it: We’re not sure how much we disagree with O’ Rourke’s larger point, either. And with this dueling perspective in mind, we wanted to take a deeper dive into how today’s big companies are marketing themselves.

Loyalty Marketing and Customer Success

If, like us, you keep tabs on trends in the marketing industry, you know that many of the buzzword practices currently include loyalty marketing and customer success. You have experts in the industry blogging about how companies need to understand the difference between customer support vs. customer success—with the obvious implication that many businesses need to put more emphasis on the latter. You have big-time digital marketing publications with articles discussing “how businesses can use AI tools to improve customer engagement. You have major marketing agencies, like rDialogue, out there talking about how loyalty marketing is “the root of their company.”

In turn, we wonder if, and how much, this new emphasis on businesses making a deeper connection with their customers is a reaction to the perception that the only thing “today’s biggest companies do is make money and trouble.” Loyalty marketing and customer success are more important than ever because being associated with a positive customer experience is necessary to reassure the customer that the company is offering any “real value” at all.

A New Generation of Socially-Conscious Monopolies?

What are the stakes if the new digital economy continues to churn out winner-take-all companies based on their unquestioned loyalty to their customers. Where does this path eventually lead us? Are we to believe that a new generation of socially-conscious monopolies is going to deliver an economic utopia? With the interconnectedness of customer networks and a business culture in which customer success is so deeply ingrained, will customers continue to have leverage if their success depends on a single company and for which they have no other reasonable choices? Or will the old rules of monopolies apply and loyalty marketing is just a Trojan Horse for price-gouging down the road? We noticed that Amazon Prime membership has gotten more expensive yet again, while you need to use more of their ever-expanding roster of benefits to make the higher membership fee worth the cost. Likewise, we’re skeptical that Facebook’s investment in network security and self-monitoring infrastructure (the one that took a big bite out of future profit projections and thus the company’s market value) was out of any obligation to their customer. Rather, it was to guard against governmental action that would change how the company was regulated, a potentially bigger threat to its bottom-line.

In a previous post, we discussed tips for working with big clients in B2B contracts. However, we need to cover the ways in which smaller companies should enter into these relationships and negotiations. Corporate companies and smaller, start-up-type businesses handle negotiations differently, so you should do your best to prepare for intense, ongoing talks. Here’s our advice for entering these relationships.

• Develop personal relationships. Understand the role and function of the people you meet during negotiations and try to build personal relationships. This will allow you to cater your pitch to their individual interests, highlighting one of the key reasons why working with a smaller company has advantages.

• Be clear and forthright. Focus your pitch on where you can make the most impact for the larger company. Utilize quantitative data to quickly and succinctly tell them that utilizing your services will save X money, X amount of time, or generate X measurable PR benefits. Speak their language and use empathy to make a big impression.

• Value your work. You may be tempted to cut your price in order to snag a big client. In reality, these large clients are the businesses who can and should be paying more; they have the resources, and they’re going to take up a lot of your time. Don’t low-ball price negotiations.

• Understand how your size works in your favor. Don’t change who you are or how your company operates to cozy up to a large client. In most cases, large companies are pursuing you because of the way small businesses operate. Delivering the goods on time and sticking to a budget are essential but remember to incorporate the personal touch you’re known for. Don’t posture your company to seem larger than it really is.

• Find an excellent lawyer. Odds are that you don’t have experience in negotiating commercial contracts. Prevent yourself from getting pushed into a corner by hiring a good lawyer. This resource will tell you what’s normal, if you’re getting a good deal, and how to stick up for yourself when negotiations get tough.