It is complicated. Agreed. But you got to run a business and hence you got to deal with the business givers with extreme patience and care.

Since a major chunk of forever hungry souls reside in an advertising agency, let’s take an example that shall keep you engaged. Mutter is a plain veggie, and Paneer is something that makes it special.

Similarly, in itself, you are the mutter and the business that the client gets you is something that makes you special, or in this case one of a kind.

Now, mutter paneer together makes it special, likewise, you and client need to be collaborative in your efforts to reach great heights.

So today, we tell you all the ways in which you can meet the client halfway through in making a gourmet success.

1. Be Transparent In Your Dealings

You, as an advertising agency, need to ensure that there is absolute transparency when it comes to dealings with the client. For instance, if the requirement of the client is social media marketing and you would need time for the same- be it the social media marketing creatives itself or the copy that goes on it or the campaign ideation, be absolutely clear about it in your initial interaction itself with the client. Your transparency shall always put you in a better light in front of your client, in comparison to your competitor. When you keep the client in the knowhow of things, the chances of them being anxious or suspicious about your contribution will be next to zilch.

2. Do Not Over-Promise And Under-Deliver

In the marketing and advertising world, businesses need to be extremely careful of what they say. Because if you say something you don’t mean, it might land you in trouble with your clients and thus hamper your business. So your mantra should be under-promising and over-delivering. Have a sit-down with your client and have his expectations or goals regarding the framing and execution of the marketing strategy laid out clearly for you to understand what the KPIs are, and then go about explaining the time-frame needed to achieve them, and again, be extremely honest and upfront.

3. Practice Strategic Team-Building

Every client comes to an advertising agency with certain requirements. As an advertising agency with a skilled force of creative talent onboard, you know better about who would be most suitable for the job at hand and you want to make sure you have the right people in the right seats at the right time for your client. For instance, if the client requirement is that of social media marketing, the people at the forefront for client interaction should be ones that excel at it. Ensure you have social media marketing people who hold the ability of going toe-to-toe with the senior-level staff of the client, the authoritative stance that they then project can only benefit the relationship. So it is of extreme importance to have a set of point-of-contact staff that possess the required skills and know-how to face the client confidently and thus strengthen the relationship. Show your client that they are in capable hands and hence, can rest assured!

4. Exist As An Extension To The Client’s Team

Being outsourced for a certain client requirement need not make you feel like an outsider. If the client-agency relationship starts out on that note from you, it might as well be in the ruins. Because then you would end up working for the sake of it, and not as a binding part of the client’s team. For example, a social media marketing requirement would merely be treated as submitting a set of creatives and a set of copies, and not too comprehensive. 

This sure would not pose to be good for the client work, but at the same time, it can restrict you from exploring the horizons of creativity and capabilities, and why would you want that being a creative advertising agency? An advertising agency is the medium for the client, which brings their offering to the right audience, in expectation of a sale. And hence, the advertising agency needs to be highly cautious of what they plan and execute, they should be ready to face the repercussions if any, head-on.

Any relationship has its ups and downs. Likewise, this client-agency relationship also comes with its own bumps. One thing you do need to remember is that there are humans on the other side of this relationship equation. And thus, errors are expected and should be accepted with patience and confidence. You should not let your foot falter due to the bumps that come in occasionally in the relationship.