Firebelly Book Club: The Art of Client Service
We believe lifelong learning is one of the most important pillars in personal and professional development.
Each month, our team is tasked with reading a book based around our field. After finishing, a book report of sorts is created describing the important lessons gleaned from the source text.
The Art of Client Service was written by Robert Solomon, a brand strategist who has handled a wide range of consulting assignments. The text involves servicing clients and solving problems on accounts that will keep the relationship between social marketing agency people and their clientele satisfied. Because of the rapid changes in technology and media, decision-making in regards to a demanding marketplace is a crucial component in account management.
Maintaining the relationships between clients and teams has never been more difficult — two-way channels that require equal participation on both sides, with communication often dispersed (and misconstrued) through a remote workplace. The rapid evolution of media, technology, and competition demands instant decision-making and leadership. Managing clients and teams is a crucial component of any social marketing strategy. Here are the best tips and tricks we gathered from The Art Of Client Service:
Client Service Art Tips
Elements Of Service
First and foremost, there are elements one must practice — a foundation laid down, a template established in client service.
Basic skills include:
Communication — other synonyms to this include concision, clarity, style, organization. It’s not just about speaking, but also listening.
Quick thinking — good on your feet — in meetings, on the phone, presentations, over dinner, on Zoom.
Competency — as a presenter or communicator in your agency. Be good in the moment, or hold your tongue if inappropriate.
Advanced skills include:
Integrity — key in building trust.
Judgment — crucial in arriving at the right decision when circumstances are vague.
If both skillsets are practiced in abundance to handle complexities, ownership and resolution will be achieved.
The Pitch That Gets To “Yes”
In order to foster these relationships, the difference between winning and losing a client is the thinnest of margins, including money, work, people, and the initial pitch.
We’ll focus on the latter:
Always practice the presentation, even if it’s only five minutes before. For whatever reason, talking in front of your colleagues is more nerve wracking than the client. Once you get the jitters out with a rehearsal, the team should be ready to go.
Additionally, the order in which to present should be established ahead of time.
The length of the presentation should also be clocked. Plan to use half the allotted estimated time. A presentation will always run long. Clients could ask questions; good ones lead to discussion. Obviously, discussions take time.
Some good presentation etiquette during the meeting:
Forbid dead bodies – meaning, no one can sit around idly. Everyone should speak, and be introduced before doing so.
Hand-offs – transitions should be smooth and seamless.
Never walk over a colleague – If the first person is struggling trying to find the right response, don’t come in and say “what Bryce was trying to say…”. This shows an agency at odds with itself.
Remove the guesswork – If someone doesn’t know the answer, they should transition to the presentation leader, or whoever is best qualified to respond.
Manage Client Expectations From The Outset
Pay attention to signals about lack of a full endorsement for a project or associated cost. Manage expectations about what the finished project would look like and deliverables. Initiate the kind of conversations that address a client’s concerns. Then, satisfy those concerns by concluding to find another way to tackle the issue.
Make sure your clients understand how you and your colleagues approach a given assignment, next steps, what the agency will deliver at the aforementioned steps, when they will see work (in what form), who will present the work.
Again… Lifelong Learning
Be multilingual.
For advertising agencies, the biggest tool is understanding an ever-expanding marketing landscape. You need to be multilingual if you are going to provide your client good counsel. Speak brand advertising, digital…. basically every discipline and medium available to clients. Always seek out new sources of information and insight.
This also applies to experiential. You can’t accurately market a product unless you try it first. Learn to speak the lingo. Know the history of the company. Speak with those who buy the brand. Form a SWOT analysis of the brand.
How To’s
Author Robert Solomon breaks down some of the most important steps to creating documentation for your clients. We selected the most important instructions as follows:
Conference Report
Once established with your client, you will have meetings — and plenty of them. Following a meeting, make it a habit that — within an hour — a quick email is sent to recap the specific conference call.
This should include:
The decisions reached.
The items outstanding still in need of resolution.
Who is responsible for resolving them.
Immediate next steps for both the agency and clients to take.
A good conference report isn’t long, it’s short and detail specific. This creates confirmation and prevents confusion with client’s desires and wants.
The Meeting
Here are the no brainer steps:
Start on time, end on time.
Create an agenda in advanced.
Come to the table prepared.
Guide the discussion.
Follow up.
Scope Creep
A fair warning: this is an issue that happens in every agency; even Firebelly Marketing isn’t exempt. So, what exactly does the term mean?
Scope creep is the gradual and mysterious growth of an assignment in size, duration, and complexity. However, the team’s fee remains the same. Client requests work that is out of scope, meaning not accounted or budgeted for. This encroaches on the agency’s bottom line.
Here are five ways to mitigate a scope creep:
Rule 1: Do only one scope of work. Yes, do one for every assignment, no matter how big or small it is. This clearly defines what needs to be done, including fee estimates and scheduling. Restrict to a mere three paragraph email.
Rule 2: Make sure each scope fully and precisely describes the tasks your agency handles. Take the time to understand every aspect of an assignment, no matter how minor.
Rule 3: If scope isn’t possible, build contingency dollars into your fee estimate to deal with the unexpected. If the job goes better than expected, profit margins will be higher.
Rule 4: With fixed feed scopes of work, be sure to include a clause that stipulates a 90-day review.
Rule 5: Avoid disclosed contingency fees to your scope of work. This will turn off the client. Instead, add language to your scopes of work that will protect the agency in the event of scope creep.
Conclusion
Great work wins business, and great relationships keep it.
Client agency marriages aren’t necessarily meant to last. However, there are numerous tips and tricks to keep the connection going. With clients demanding rapid turnaround, consider more than one concept, and make meaningful choices. Base all company decisions on your knowledge of the client’s market, your grasp on the target audience’s needs and interest, and a comprehension of the client's expectations and culture.
Here at Firebelly Marketing, we have memorized The Art Of Client Service by Robert Solomon. If you want to form a book club with us, or see the concepts implemented into your brand, give us a holler right over here.