You’re a big kid now. It goes without saying that you give a damn about your job, right? It means more than a pay cheque at the end of the month. It challenges you, calling for drive and tenacity and, if done well, leads to a sense of wellbeing and contentment. I feel content when I feel heard, valued and when I feel informed. In my role as Client Services Director, contentment is something I aim for personally, for my team and for our customers. If there is contentment, there is equilibrium and all is well.
We have all had brilliant experiences in the service industry. What was it that made you feel special? Was it attention, flattery or simply speedy competence? What of the times you were left feeling indifferent, frustrated, or even reeling by being let down by a service you’d invested in (train commuters I hear your cry)? Was it caused by lack of communication, proficiency, or just bad manners? Many issues in the service industry traverse in agency life and indeed personal life. We have all been at the receiving end, it doesn’t feel good does it? Making people feel good sounds trite, but if they feel good, they have energy, a more positive output and greater ability to connect; vital in all elements of the Manager/Team/Client dynamic.
And if you make them feel good, they feel like you really do give a sh*t.
Start as you mean to go on
The wise man built his house upon the rock and all that; foundations are key. In this sense, the success of a client/agency relationship starts with the curator, you. You have to be a cornerstone in whom they trust. Your client needs to have confidence in the integrity of your practice and your ability to deliver. Personal accountability and moral investment in a working relationship will aid transparency, honesty, and maximum output. At the start of any new relationship make a conscious effort to find out the communication style of your client. Ascertain how they work, what makes them feel valued and then, wherever possible, honour them in that way. Some flourish with time spent on them, others marvel in news of obliterated deadlines. Establish and deliver.
Tell them NO
On becoming a mother, I was advised to ‘keep all threats and promises’, through this, children learn you really mean what you say. Carrying this into my professional life, I am true to my word. Be bound by it. It is senseless to over promise and in turn, under deliver – it only serves to fracture relations. As the saying goes ‘what value is your yes if you never say no?’. When you say something will happen, it will and when you say no, you mean it. Maybe it’s to establish a boundary or maybe it simply cannot be achieved. You can’t be cajoled into a ‘yes’’ when you know it’s not feasible and, ultimately, people will feel let down, not only the client but also your team for falling short of the mark or compromising quality. Be courteous and gracious in your delivery, identify alternative solutions and make a counter offer to soften the blow. Have the conviction to use your ‘no’.
Know all the little things
It’s the little things combined together that make the bigger picture, in house and in the field. A team needs to feel appreciated, and you need to work out how best to do this. Your client needs to feel cohesion and that they matter to your company. It’s arguably a sad sign of the times that you’re likely spend more time with work colleagues than friends and family. More often than not, you don’t really understand what makes them tick. Do they revel in the thought of personal praise or baulk at the very notion? Would recognition inspire them or turn them off? Find your answers. If you use the same blanket approach with different colleagues/clients, you can get very different outcomes. There are a plethora of variables in every project which calls for a personal relationship in order to really understand a client’s needs. All communications, correspondence and decisions can be tailored to each individual client’s circumstance to ensure they feel heard and tended to. To nail this, to make the long game a good one, seek to find, and take action on, every little thing.
Give ’em the old razzle dazzle
Whether their budget is vast or meagre, if a client is on the books, they matter. It doesn’t cost anything to greet someone politely and dare I say it, with enthusiasm. How many times have you walked into a shop and been ignored by a surly or gossiping sales assistant? Amount of sh*ts given, zero. Makes you die a bit inside, right? To progress forward, look back to the golden times of MANNERS. People will remember you if you have very good manners and they will talk about you more if you have bad ones. Greet your client, make eye contact, ask after their quarterly results/ Aunt Maud or climb up Kilimanjaro or whatever else you know to be important to them. Interact with them, do they need help, do they have a complaint, do they just need a bit of time? Reflect back and verify, then thank them for their time. If you mess up, don’t pass the buck, shirkers suck. Cry ‘Mea Culpa’, fess up and then make it right. ‘Please’, ‘Thank You’ and ‘I’m sorry’ go a long way in service. So, sometimes, does an all out charm offensive. It’s not rocket science but it all makes for smooth sailing.
Listen, learn, adapt
Leadership is an evolving practice, not a stagnant role and you must aim for your agency to be a place of passionate purpose and balance. In recent years, there’s been an insidious, ruthless blame culture seeping into office life. where colleagues willingly throw others under the bus to get ahead. This leads nowhere. Team work makes the dream work. And there is no ‘I’ in team, unless of course you’re a smart arse who quotes the meme that illustrates there is – and who likes a smart arse?! Accountability breeds strong relationships. If an organisation is culturally aligned, employees will be more engaged in their work and your clients will reap the benefits.
Photo by Borna Bevanda on Unsplash
