Why do some agencies have a significant amount of client churn, while others maintain long client relationships? I posed this question to one of our clients, James Mustarde with Twisted Pair Solutions in Seattle.
James has a unique perspective on this topic because early in his career he worked for a PR firm on the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars account, where one of his job duties was to manage test drives by European motoring, lifestyle and mainstream news journalists. Today, he works “in-house,” and has managed scores of vendors (including PR firms, ad agencies and web designers) over his career.
The agency and client-side experience give James a unique perspective on building long-lasting agency relationships, and I think PR practitioners everywhere would be smart to adhere to his best practices, which I have recapped below.
1) Strive to have a deep knowledge of the industry. To wow clients you need to work hard at understanding their industry. For instance, do you know the top competitors, the competitors’ positioning and how they rank in the industry? Are you knowledgeable about the current strategies and tactics the competition is employing?
2) Go “above and beyond” to add value. Just doing the work is not enough. Sure, it is easy to focus on the day-to-day work, but you also need to add value by regularly sharing information that will help your client’s organization be successful. You can do this by flagging a competitors’ campaign, demonstrating new ideas, introducing them to a new influential contact or uncovering and sharing market stats.
3) Convey a sense of confidence and trust. Clients need to know that you will provide them with current, complete and actionable information. They need to know they can count on you during good times as well as stressful ones, and that you care about them and their business.
4) Be reliable and dependable. They also expect you to follow through as well as do what you say you will do and check back if there is a problem. These types of behaviors also build trust and are essential to long-term successful relationships.
5) Drive to produce tangible results. Your client also needs to know that he or she can count on you to exceed goals successfully. You need to demonstrate you can steadfastly push yourself, your team and your client to secure results. Results might be placement of articles, securing speaking opportunities, setting up a press tour or briefings with analysts. Find out what your client values and deliver.
We at Communiqué PR strive to demonstrate these behaviors. We also regularly work to secure input from our clients so we understand their perceptions around our work and service ethic. We also understand that, while James’ values these performance dimensions, other clients may have different needs or be looking for different contributions.