How to Become an Extension of Your Client’s Team – A Client Services Guide

“We don’t see you as an agency; we see you as an extension of our team”. 

In my experience, this is one of the best compliments that you can receive from a client.

Why?

Because it shows that you’ve nurtured a longstanding relationship with them that isn’t necessarily just built on results and performance, but also trust and delivery. 

At Digitaloft, this is something that we strive for with every single one of our clients; we always aim to get to that point in the relationship where their trust in our ability is so strong that we completely remove any concept of “them” and “us”.

A lot of people may be quick to underestimate the impact that having this kind of relationship with your clients can have, but it’s so easy to get it right…

Just like with any new relationship, putting in the time in those early days can make a world of difference to hitting the ground running successfully.

It might be that you’re excited to get to work on a client’s strategy, but rushing things could lead to bigger issues further down the line (and could make you and your team look bad!).

Even if it means that activity is a little slower to start with at first, investing time into your client at the beginning of the relationship helps to omit any risk of your client being disappointed only weeks or months into the contract. 

And when I say get to know them, don’t just talk about business statistics or year-on-year growth. Get to know them! Learn about the real people behind the brands, the ones you speak to daily.

What are their personalities like? How are they most comfortable communicating? What do they expect from you? How can you make their job easier?

The more you treat your clients as human beings, the more likely they will do the same in return. 

This isn’t rocket science, but strong communication is paramount to establishing a trusting and long-lasting relationship with your clients. It’s probably the single most important thing that will improve your relationships with your clients, and it’s an area where I feel there is always room for improvement.

Communicating by email is great if you’re in a hurry and need to get something over to them quickly, especially if there are multiple people to keep in the loop, but sometimes it can waste more time than it saves.

A quick five or ten-minute phone or video call can be much more efficient in the long run; not only is it easier to convey tone and intention, but it also allows you to connect with your clients on a much more personable level.

Remember to keep your clients updated regularly on everything that is going on with their account, and the WHY behind it, but it doesn’t have to be strictly business all the time; clients will really appreciate you just checking in from time to time! 

In the current economy, especially at the beginning of a new relationship with a client, it can be tempting (and easy) to promise them the world – even more so if you’re involved in the sale process.

But always remember; that somebody has to deliver on that promise. And if that somebody isn’t you, then always remember your colleagues – you don’t want to make things harder for them than they need to be!

In my experience, it’s always best to adhere to the concept of “under-promise and over-deliver”, but make it clear that any expectations or KPIs are a baseline, and you and your team will always strive to exceed them.

It’s safe to say that it’s much easier to build a strong relationship with a client because you and your team have exceeded expectations rather than fallen short of them. 

Leading on from setting expectations, always be realistic and transparent about what your clients can expect from you, both in terms of service and performance.

They’ll appreciate your honesty, and everyone will know where they stand. And if things aren’t going well, don’t be shy about it or try to hide from it!

Clients will react much more positively to you anticipating a difficult situation or conversation by being prepared and having ideas for solutions that you can move forward with, rather than being caught out because you’ve tried to avoid talking about something that isn’t going as planned.

To find out if you’re meeting your client’s expectations, one tactic I use is to ask the client to mark you out of ten and ask what is needed to move up another two or three points.  

This might sound brutal, and it might be hard for your client to be this honest with you if you’ve been working with them for a while, but it’s a great way for you to understand how you can make short-term and long-term improvements. 

Remember, we’re all human beings, mistakes happen, and sometimes things are completely out of our control. We all know this but sometimes we still need that reminder that it’s ok for things to go a little off-piste.

Even when we’re having early conversations with prospective clients, at Digitaloft, we’re all about inviting other agencies and teams to share their knowledge with us and learn from the work that we’re doing too.

At the end of the day, we’re all working towards the same goal for a client, and the last thing you want to do is step on anybody else’s toes.

One of the best ways to do this is to let your clients know that they have a wealth of knowledge and expertise working on their account and be clear about how you’re working with other teams on their side or their other agencies.

Ensure you’re not possessive over relationships and don’t feel the need to be overly protective. 

Likewise, appreciate that while you might be the expert in your field, be it SEO, content, or digital PR, the client is the expert in theirs. By treating the relationship as a collaboration and utilising both sets of expertise, you’re bound to drive the best results. 

Some of these suggestions might seem obvious, but when you’re focused on delivering results for clients, hitting KPIs or completing tasks, oftentimes, client services can be the first thing that starts to suffer.

Always remember that it’s worth investing a little bit of extra time or resource checking through these elements of a successful client relationship, and you’re sure to find things will run a little smoother as your relationship with your client develops…even when things might not be going to plan.