“Fireplace!” And with that one word, I knew everything.
After a few years working together, a B2B client and I had developed our own code language. “Fireplace” was short for, “Between you and me and the fireplace, I agree with your point of view on that creative direction. But those with the final say have made their decision, and despite our valiant efforts to convince them otherwise, we need to let this one go.”
You win some, you lose some. It’s the reality of a creative services industry in which the “best option” can be subjective. But it doesn’t matter who won that day. What matters is our relationship was strong enough to withstand the debate, and we continued to champion the ideas we believed in, together.
If you’re in the client service business, that’s the dream: a partnership built on trust, in which both sides are comfortable enough to speak freely because you share the same goals. And you don’t always need a lot of words to communicate, having developed a rapport and shorthand.
Below are some more examples of what we know clients expect, even when they don’t explicitly ask for them.
“Respond promptly.”
When a client calls or emails, it’s best to respond within a business day — or within the hour, if possible. Even if we don’t have an answer or solution — yet — clients want to know we’re working on it so they can set expectations on their end and focus on other pressing matters.
In every client relationship, we establish preferred days, times, and channels for communicating status updates, ideas, or feedback. We know we’re in a rhythm when client correspondence feels constant and efficient even when it’s simply sufficient.
“Match our intensity and propose solutions.”
Because we’re all human, when inevitable challenges or opportunities arise, it’s hard to think about anything else. When clients call unexpectedly with big news, we stay calm and listen. In those moments, they want assurance that we understand the urgency and will handle the situation.
When we’re the ones with news to share, we come to the conversation with solutions. Years of experience tell us that clients tend to handle news about the sky falling much better when standing under an umbrella of options.
“Be a proactive, big-picture thinker.”
We can’t only focus on the next deliverable or milestone. Our clients count on us to think three or four steps ahead. When we proactively offer information to set expectations or pinpoint ways to improve communication or workflow, our clients have confidence that we’ll achieve the best results together.
Big-picture thinking isn’t just reserved for the current scope of work. Most clients stay focused on their own brands, so we keep an eye on the competition and industry for them. Engaging with clients at the macro level leads to stronger partnerships and, hopefully, a deeper engagement.
“Show empathy, not sympathy.”
In a world where multitasking is a job prerequisite and most people are doing more with less, we must put ourselves in our clients’ shoes every day — especially if we’re about to send the 22nd email reminder about something owed to us. Through years of client service, we’ve learned that project delays often are caused by factors beyond the client’s control — and those factors may be none of our business. So a good approach is turning a reminder into an offer to assist.
“Celebrate success.”
Just as we encourage our people to manage up to their supervisors, we manage up to our clients. Although agency and client teammates have different roles and responsibilities, we share accountability when it comes to the quality and performance of the work we do together. If the only time we commiserate is when things go wrong, how do we all get credit when they go right?
Client-agency relationships are like any other relationship: They require constant care and feeding to be fruitful. And sometimes we have to read between the lines to get the message right.
But if you pay attention, you will see the clues. And deciphering that “coded language” — or developing your own — is the path to strengthening your partnership and doing incredible work together.
Even when one of our best ideas ends up in the “fireplace,” we know many more great ones will rise from the ashes.