Become Better Partners: 5 Tips to Strengthen Client-Agency Relationships

The most successful agencies have strong relationships with their clients. This leads to more effective projects and campaigns, greater loyalty and an increased chance of being referred to new clients by happy customers. But such a scenario doesn’t happen by chance and agencies must have solid client retention strategies in place to become the partner brands want to team up with.

Follow the right steps and over time you can build a core client base that works as a foundation for growth. After all, it’s much more economical to retain an existing client than spending time and resources attracting a new one. Here are five things to keep in mind to boost relationships and become a better partner:

1. Appeal to business goals and personalities

All agencies should be able to put together a comprehensive proposal that takes the potential client’s business goals into consideration. While this is important, it may not be the thing that wins you the contract, especially if you’re up against a number of other competent agencies. Start to build that relationship from the beginning and appeal to the values of the team you’ll be working with as well.

You can do this by gathering information on:

• What a dream outcome would look like for the individuals involved
• Where they’d like the business to go once the next phase is a success
• What characteristics the client is most proud of within their organization
• What the company’s USP is
• Which approach to collaboration the team feels most comfortable with

This information will enable you to show your emotional intelligence and personalize your communications from the start. Be prepared to answer their questions in return, as a strong relationship is built on being equal.

2. Streamline your onboarding process

Demonstrate your high standards of clear communication and seamless execution by onboarding your new client in a comprehensive and concise fashion. This means delivering all the information, access credentials and tools they’re going to need in a streamlined and easy-to-digest package. This prevents the client from being overwhelmed by countless emails and offers them reassurance that as a partner you’ll guide them through everything they need to know.

3. Combine stability and flexibility

Being a true partner to your client means offering a stable presence that they can rely on. This should not be confused with rigidity, however, as businesses need to have the ability to be flexible more than ever in an unpredictable world turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.

4. Take ownership for your success through reporting

A key to client retention is proving your worth and the best way to do that is through reporting. Presenting your client with the numbers shows the progress you’ve made and therefore the potential to make more in the future. Effective reporting must be relevant, which means tying the metrics into the client's goals and KPIs and presenting findings in an easily consumable way.

5. Offer value-added services

Giving clients the opportunity to take advantage of value-added services that don’t affect your own bottom line is a great way to boost loyalty. This approach can help your clients see you as a partner as opposed to being in a purely transactional business relationship. Among the extra services you could offer are workshops or seminars, managing communications or setting up a strategic partnership with another organization within your database.