Eric Gilbertsen is Chief Client Officer at REQ, a digital agency specializing in Advocacy, Reputation, and Brand Marketing.
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What is it that bonds clients to partners when so many alternatives exist? When does a vendor become a strategic partner, no longer at arm's length but seated at the table?
As I approach a quarter century of leading client engagements for national and global marketing and communications agencies, I've settled on Nine Commandments that will serve anyone in the agency business:
1. Be responsive. Better yet, anticipate.
With work increasingly done behind screens, the clock starts ticking when your client emails a question or task. As the hours pass by, your client may wonder, "Was it received?" and "When will I hear back?"
An immediate answer or action is not always needed, but a quick acknowledgment is key to demonstrating that your client is your priority. Staying glued to your inbox will distract you from higher-value activities, so schedule breaks to write, call or text your client a quick, "Got it! I'll get back to you by COB."
The only thing better is anticipating the question or task before it arrives. "With your board meeting coming up, I thought we could showcase the results of [blank]. Should I get started on that?"
2. Don't nickel and dime.
Yes, agencies must value their expertise, time and differentiated experience, but there are times to toss in a favor to make your client's life a little easier.
From behavioral economics, the social norm of reciprocity means that your favor may be rewarded with more work, a five-star review, a sales reference or some extra leeway when a mistake happens in the future.
3. Be your client's best advocate. Make them shine.
Your clients have managers and performance reviews, too. Help your client and your agency by showcasing your collective achievements. It could be a year-end infographic that illustrates key results that your agency and client produced together. You could also submit for awards and deliver a trophy for your client to proudly display at their office. Or it might be a compilation of highlights from your video shoots throughout the year. As one teammate of mine likes to put it, "How can we help our clients walk on water?"
4. Understand that customer experience is the sum of every touchpoint.
Every meeting, phone call, email, text, deliverable and gift becomes a piece of your agency's customer experience. Make no mistake—working with clients is about delivering an experience. Did you make a decision easy for your client? Did you deliver data with context in a clear, informative way? Did you have some fun along the way? Could you break the routine with a guest speaker, off-site event or dinner reservation?
5. Think of your work as the highlight of your client's day.
Agencies are full of diverse, talented, creative people creating new things. Your client's typical day might not be quite as interesting, so let them in on it.
Agencies often use the "big reveal" when presenting their work to clients, with the idea that everything must be perfect before the client sees it. The problem is, your client isn't included in the process and thus feels no ownership. The agency is on stage and the client is a spectator, unable to fully appreciate the process, thinking and effort.
From behavioral science, the endowment effect shows that people overvalue things they own, possess or even touch. So let your client join the brainstorm, debate the ideas, share in the passion and become a champion of the work—not a judge.
6. Refer to your teammates by name.
"I'm not sure, but let me ask the designer." We've all said it.
When your client's boss disagrees with a recommendation, what motivation does your client have to resist? Humanize your teammates, allow them to build relationships, and put their talents on a pedestal. Your clients will likely grow to appreciate—and often defer to—their expertise and believe more strongly in the value of your agency.
7. Collaborate. Realize that great ideas can come from anywhere.
In recognizing that great ideas can come from anyone at any level, client service should think of themselves as the orchestrators. Your teammates will need information and insights to spark ideas. What can you provide them to read, listen to or watch to understand the client's history, organization, audience and challenge(s)?
An orchestrator also thinks about the environment. A conference room with coffee and whiteboards might be fine for brainstorming, but is there someplace relevant and experiential? If your client sells a product, where do they produce and sell it? Can you observe customers using it? If it's a service, can your team observe how leads are handled or witness real delivery of the service?
8. Recognize when to say 'no.'
You will have to say "no" to your clients many times for many reasons. The request might be impossible. The timeline might be unrealistic. The idea might have fatal flaws.
It takes time and practice to grow comfortable saying "no" to the hand that feeds you. Redirecting the question, being honest and empathetic, explaining why, and offering alternatives are among the best tips.
9. Phone is better than email, and dinner is better than lunch.
There is a hierarchy in client communications. Email is fine if you need to deliver data or attachments asynchronously. But if your goal is to persuade, equip, escalate or calm your client, phone calls work best.
Likewise, relationships are not built in emails, but rather around those shared experiences that don't happen at work. The occasional client lunch is necessary, but dinner is even better because it requires committing after-hours time to your client and reduces those midday distractions.
For me, the jury is still out on text messages. While they are highly personal (good), nuance is easily lost in short-form messages tapped out on a mobile phone.
I try to keep these Nine Commandments in mind at all times and share them with new teammates entering the agency world. What lessons would you add to the list?
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
