The most enduring agency-client relationships rely on partnership and trust, which can be challenging to achieve after the initial post-pitch, transactional phase. Agency leaders often prioritize short-term goals like meeting revenue targets, which may not align with building a true client partnership.

In this article, I explore the mindset needed for agencies to become genuine client partners, drawing from my own experience.
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The Context

Our headquarters won a pitch to become the new global creative AOR for an established MNC, This was a major win. However, each of the client's business units retained the choice of working with our local offices in their region.

My office was just starting to scale up and not prepared to take on such a large piece of business. Despite the resource challenges, we initiated engagement with two of the biggest business units. For the first 9 months, we struggled with an avalanche of work, to put in the right and enough resource into servicing and managing the account. However, we managed to do some good impactful work and our reputation started to grow within the client organization.

The Dilemma

The 3^rd major business unit, recognizing the quality of our work, then approached us to take on their portfolio of work too.

This was a critical juncture for us. Do we proceed to engage the new client? Our internal situation was still precarious, with limited resources and difficulties in attracting new talent.

The Approach

While eager to onboard the new client, we proceeded cautiously.

Firstly, we deeply understood the client's business, objectives, challenges, and industry nuances, ensuring a solid foundation for discussions.

Secondly, we engaged in transparent dialogue, expressing our interest but also our resource constraints and concerns about overcommitment. The client appreciated our transparency, having encountered issues with agencies that "over promised and under delivered" in the past. This led to a productive conversation where we mutually reviewed upcoming projects based on our capabilities and resources.

The Outcome

Our commitment to quality and ethical practices yielded substantial rewards. We initiated a new partnership with this business unit, gradually expanding our collaboration while continuing to grow with existing clients. Later our remit was further expanded to include a 4^th business unit.

Within a year of working on the account, our agency received "Best Agency of Record" among the client's extensive APAC agency roster.

Key Learnings

From this story, we can draw some important lessons.  In his great book, ‘The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook’[1], Charles Green talks about common partnering barriers for service-based businesses.

Two partnering barriers are relevant to mention here:

A need for immediate gratification
‍When the hunger for quick results takes precedence, it can undermine the collaborative essence of partnerships. Our story vividly illustrates how our willingness to take a calculated risk, where we prioritized a long-term partnership over immediate revenue, ultimately yielded substantial benefits. This underscores the importance of patience and a focus on the bigger picture in forging successful client relationships.

A limited view of problems and opportunities
‍Expanding our perspective is crucial for identifying creative solutions within partnerships. Solely concentrating on challenges could have hindered our ability to engage with the new client effectively. This highlights the significance of adopting a holistic view of problems and opportunities, which can lead to more fruitful collaborations.

In essence, the process of building a genuine client partnership is rooted in trust, a client-centric approach, and the unwavering commitment to advocate for their interests while respecting our own constraints Paradoxically, there are times when strategically saying "No" can open more doors than it closes. This approach, as illustrated in our experience, emphasizes the long-term value of partnerships and the importance of nurturing them with care and foresight.
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[1] The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook, page 53