17 Tips On How To Enhance Your Agency Client Relationship

Consider a fresh client onboarding at your agency. You’re excited to kick off a new project and support the client in achieving their goals. But as you and your team start to unravel the details, you quickly realize that your client has no idea what’s happening. Their confusion makes sense; they haven’t worked with an agency before and are new to your processes, jargon, and tools. The next thing you know, your team is scrambling to get the client up to speed.

They’re anxious, and your team is frustrated. This all-too-common scenario can be avoided with effective agency-client relationship management. With the right approach, you can ensure smooth sailing from the get-go so that your team and the client are happy and ready to tackle the project. This guide will explore why agency-client relationships matter, how to improve them, and how the best agency management software can help. 

Growth is a key focus when it comes to improving agency-client relationships. The better your team gets at managing client relationships, the quicker they can get to work on delivering project results. Orchestra’s solution, grow your productized service, offers an all-in-one toolkit that helps you achieve your goals by improving your agency's client relationship management.

Essentials of A Strong-Agency Client Relationship

The client-agency relationship is when a client appoints an advertising agency to make his ad. It continues till the ad agency provides satisfactory services to him. Such a relationship should always be cordial. The two parties should have mutual trust, confidence, and understanding. It is so since both sides aim to make a successful advertising campaign. There’s no arguing that the quality of the client-agency relationship is the single most significant predictor of success.

Get it right and enjoy fame, leads, customers, and awards. Get it wrong, and you’ll waste heaps of money, miss incredible opportunities, and probably end up hating your job. It’s just not worth letting this relationship fail. Research from R3 recently revealed that the industry average for the length of a client-agency relationship is 3.2 years. It also showed that the average size of the 40 best client-agency relationships is 22 years—a good relationship results in the business's loyalty.

Essentials of Agency Client Relationship Clear Communication

Establishing open, transparent lines of communication is crucial. Regular updates, feedback loops, and setting realistic expectations help maintain alignment and prevent misunderstandings.​

Trust and Reliability

Clients should feel confident that their agency understands their goals and can consistently deliver on promises.

​Mutual Understanding of Goals

Both parties should have a shared vision of the project’s goals and objectives. This allows the agency to align its strategies with the client’s expectations​ .

Transparency in Processes and Costs

Clear insights into project management, timeframes, and transparent billing practices foster trust and minimize surprises​ .

Collaboration and Flexibility

A collaborative approach, where the agency listens to the client’s needs and adapts when necessary, helps build a positive, results-driven relationship​ .

Accountability and Performance Tracking

Delivering results and being accountable for performance with measurable KPIs ensures both sides stay on the same page regarding expectations and outcomes​.

Adaptability and Problem Solving

The ability to navigate challenges together and adapt strategies as needed strengthens the relationship, demonstrating the agency's value and problem-solving skills​ .

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• What Is A Productized Service
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Benefits of Strong Agency Client Relationship

Client Retention: Why Strong Relationships Matter

A solid relationship between clients and agencies boosts client retention rates. Clients who feel understood and valued are more likely to remain with an agency long-term. This loyalty stabilizes agency revenue while reducing the costs and effort of acquiring new clients. Consistent performance and an understanding of client needs nurture thriving relationships.

For example, Ogilvy and Dove have worked together for over 60 years. Dove’s commitment to actual beauty campaigns has been enhanced by Ogilvy’s deep understanding of the brand's vision. Ogilvy has consistently aligned its strategy with Dove’s goals, resulting in iconic campaigns and a long-term partnership. Dove’s continued loyalty to Ogilvy reduces the need to scout for new agencies, saving time and money.

Employee Satisfaction and Retention: Happy Clients, Happy Employees

Satisfied clients contribute significantly to a positive work environment. When clients express satisfaction with services provided, it boosts employee morale and job satisfaction. This, in turn, aids in retaining top talent, as employees prefer to work in rewarding and appreciative settings. The stability and growth satisfied clients provide create an environment where creativity and productivity thrive.

For instance, when an agency receives positive feedback from a significant client, like the long-standing relationship between Coca-Cola and McCann, it positively impacts employee morale. McCann’s employees feel proud to contribute to a globally respected brand and enjoy working on campaigns that reach a broad audience. The satisfaction of working on successful projects for valued clients encourages talent retention and a positive work culture.

Reputation and Referrals: Strong Relationships Boost Agency Credibility

A reputable agency draws new clients, significantly fueled by referrals from satisfied existing clients. Positive word-of-mouth and testimonials act as powerful endorsements, reducing marketing spend and increasing the effectiveness of new client acquisition efforts.

A strong reputation built on successful client relationships attracts new business and enhances the agency's standing in the industry. Wieden+Kennedy’s work with Nike has led to a strong reputation and opened doors to new clients inspired by the agency's creativity and results. Satisfied with Nike’s endorsement and visible success, other sports and lifestyle brands have sought Wieden+Kennedy for similar creative excellence, leading to organic client acquisition through referrals.

Efficient Operations: Communication Is Key

Clear communication is a hallmark of a well-functioning client-agency relationship. This transparency leads to smoother operations, with fewer misunderstandings and delays. Efficient operations allow for the timely delivery of marketing campaigns, which can significantly enhance the client's market response and overall satisfaction with the agency's service.

An excellent example of this is the partnership between Airbnb and TBWA\Chiat\Day. The agency’s proactive and transparent communication with Airbnb allowed efficient, on-time campaign rollouts. When Airbnb launched its "Belong Anywhere" campaign, the clear, consistent communication and collaborative approach minimized delays, helping Airbnb make a powerful impact at the right time.

Increased Revenue Opportunities: Growth Benefits All Parties

When clients trust their agency, they are more likely to invest in additional services, seeing the agency as a vendor and a strategic partner. This opens up avenues for increased revenue through upselling and cross-selling, benefiting both parties by maximizing the value of their engagement.

For example, VMLY&R’s relationship with Wendy’s grew from a simple social media partnership to handling more significant parts of Wendy's advertising strategy. Due to trust built over time, Wendy's invested in additional services like television advertising, product marketing, and digital campaigns, leading to increased revenue for VMLY&R and more value for Wendy's overall.

Innovation and Growth: Collaboration Fuels Creative Solutions

Collaborative relationships are fertile grounds for innovation. When agencies and clients work closely, they can co-develop unique solutions that push creative boundaries and lead to market differentiation. This collaborative spirit is essential for innovation and helps propel both the client's and the agency's growth.

Apple and TBWA\Media Arts Lab have developed groundbreaking campaigns, like the famous "Think Different" campaign, which helped differentiate Apple in the tech market. Their close collaboration spurred creative innovation, producing ads that became cultural touchstones, benefiting both the agency's and the client’s growth.

Strategic Partnership: Strong Relationships Foster Long-Term Success

Long-term relationships transform into strategic partnerships where both parties benefit from deep mutual understanding and aligned goals. These partnerships go beyond transactional interactions and involve planning and executing long-term strategies that substantially impact the client’s business. The relationship between P&G and Grey Advertising is an example of a strategic partnership, where both parties work closely to co-create strategies for long-term product development and market adaptation. This strategic alignment helps Grey understand P&G’s evolving goals, creating a powerful partnership that enhances P&G's market position and strengthens Grey's role.

Competitive Advantage: Stand Out in a Crowded Market

Agencies with solid client relationships stand out in a competitive market. Clients looking for new agencies often seek those with a reputation for maintaining excellent relationships, which indicates reliability and quality of service. This competitive advantage is invaluable in a crowded industry.

An agency like Saatchi & Saatchi, which has had a strong relationship with Toyota for decades, enjoys a significant competitive advantage. New clients seeking automotive advertising services often see Saatchi’s commitment to Toyota as a hallmark of trustworthiness, reliability, and deep industry insight, making it a top choice for other auto brands.

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17 Tips On How To Enhance Your Agency Client Relationship

1. Use Agency Management Systems Like Orchestra

Orchestra's all-in-one growth toolkit allows you to launch your productized service effortlessly. Designed for creatives, Orchestra provides a branded client portal, task management, and real-time analytics, with no coding needed—just your Stripe account. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra streamlines your workflow, letting you collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. Add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and deliver a branded experience.

2. Communicate Effectively and Consistently

Timely, efficient communication should be a priority. When everyone is busy focusing on getting work done, communication can fall by the wayside. That’s why it’s essential to clearly and consistently communicate throughout the project. Make it clear from the beginning that you will work with your client to develop value statements that align with their business goals and evaluate progress against these agreed-upon value statements as the project progresses.

3. Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

This might contradict the “overpromise and overdelight” approach we discussed above, but it’s not. There’s a difference between pushing the envelope on projects you have undertaken and spreading yourself thin across accounts that exceed your team’s bandwidth. For most agencies, it’s tempting to say “yes” to every new client in your pipeline because of the feast and famine cycle: you are overbooked some months of the year, and you hear crickets the rest of the time. This is especially true if you’re an early-stage agency that hasn’t found lucrative retainer opportunities with big-ticket clients. And that’s even more reason to consider improving the relationship with existing clients.

Just because there are business opportunities doesn’t mean you should grab each of them—significantly if you cannot scale your operations. It’s a death wish to take on commitments you can’t fulfill. Instead, revisit everything we discussed in point #1. Focus on providing deep value to your existing clients so that you can make more profit by focusing on a few key clients instead of trying to boil the ocean. For agencies, saying “no” is a sensible business strategy. Be ruthless about rejecting opportunities that don’t fit your expertise, politely decline projects with overbearing scope creep, and avoid clients who lowball you on a project’s budget.

Saying no to opportunities that don’t align with your agency’s values gives you control over your business in the long run. Let me cite an example to drive this point home. Wieden+Kennedy is a Portland-based ad agency with branches worldwide. It’s most famous for working with brands like Nike, Anheuser Busch, Samsung, and Montblanc—household brands everybody has heard of. The agency had Bud Light (Market cap: $90.827 billion) as one of its critical accounts for a long time until last year. That’s when Bud Light management decided to re-open its contract for other agencies to bid.

4. Be Positive and Confident

As an independent professional, you carry several responsibilities. As stressed out or overwhelmed as you may feel, showing your clients a cheerful face is essential. Exude the energy and confidence you want your clients to think about your work. Enthusiasm and zeal are attractive personality traits that people enjoy being around and that clients enjoy working with.

5. Choose the Right Tools to Collaborate with Clients

In today’s digital business environment, your communication with the clients will happen mainly in the virtual plain—and likely in asynchronous cycles. And thanks to the widespread popularity of SaaS, you have apps that can help you work closely with clients in almost any category you can imagine.

6. Treat Your Client as an Individual

While your relationship with your client is professional, acknowledging that you see them as a person—that is, more than just a paycheck—can go a long way. The extent to which this personal connection is appropriate will vary depending on your industry, client type, and the individual client’s personality. If you know your client is a parent, you may ask how their children are doing. If you have a closer relationship with your client, something more personal, such as emailing them a news article about their favorite musician, might be appropriate and appreciated.

7. Explain Your Process

If your client doesn’t understand your area of expertise, they may feel ignorant about the intricacies of the process and, therefore, disconnected from the project's development. This is your opportunity to share information that will help the client understand what you do, which will build trust and confidence in the process. Explain to your client what you did, why you did it, and how you decided it will help them feel knowledgeable and in the loop.

8. Be Their Strategic Partner—not Just a Vendor

The level of strategic involvement agencies and their clients share is the difference between a good and a great relationship. Good agencies do everything the clients expect from the relationship—a straightforward transaction between them and the vendor. However, if you want to deepen your relationship with clients, it’s not enough to be a vendor—you have to try and be a strategic partner in their growth.

Assume you are a critical part of your client’s company and a potential lever to their growth. Offer them your business expertise based on my experience dealing with previous clients—even if it’s beyond the scope of my partnership. Contributing to their business strategically helps you become an indispensable extension of your client’s organization. It enables you to build a powerful moat against competitive threats jeopardizing your partnership.

For instance, many clients end their contracts with agencies when they start building out their in-house teams. But if your agency can give the clients the value they can’t get elsewhere—not even from the in-house teams—they will be eager to continue the partnership.

9. Share Your Opinion

To build solid and lasting client relationships, clients must trust and rely on you as an expert. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain a policy of openness regarding your professional opinions and points of view regarding the project's best interests. It can be tempting to want to appear agreeable and avoid uncomfortable confrontation by telling a client what I think they want to hear or withholding my genuine opinion about their project.

However, these practices are counterproductive and can damage your reputation, decreasing your chances of a lasting relationship. By confidently expressing my honest opinions, clients will respect my initiative and desire for excellence.

10. Exceed Expectations

One of the best ways to help build strong client relationships is to develop a reputation as an independent professional who delivers exceptional results. I must ensure that I don’t oversell myself and promise unrealistic results. By setting reasonable expectations, I allow myself to thoroughly impress the client with the final project and position myself as someone they want to continue working with.

11. Have a Client Success Playbook

You must replicate your success with a few clients in other relationships to improve your agency-client relationship. And building a client success playbook is a perfect recipe for scaling the best practices of one account to many. The best thing about creating a playbook is that it automates several parts of your relationship-building process—like templatizing meeting conversations, training your account managers, and understanding the different touches clients expect.

Here’s an example of what that means. Let’s say you are a Singapore-based Salesforce partner company with an impressive set of B2B tech companies in the North American region. You recently bagged a deal with a rapidly growing company that has secured a Series D round of funding and needs development help to set up the right tools to meet its new growth mandate.

If you can earn a 10 out of 10 from this client, it’s a sign that things worked for them (and your agency) in this relationship. It also means you should curate and extrapolate those best practices to boost your relationship with other clients from similar domains—and the exact location. Once again, a conversation intelligence solution like Avoma is an excellent fit for you to facilitate this goal. Avoma lets you organize your client conversations in easily digestible and accessible formats (e.g., audio, video, and text) so that your teams have insights to refer back to when onboarding a new client.

12. Understand Your Client’s Goals, Both Macro and Micro

You’ll need to understand your client on a micro and macro level to succeed. On the micro level, you’ll want to understand the goals and objectives of the project at hand. On the macro level, you’ll want to know how this project fits into the organization and any key details about the client’s culture that might help you in my engagement. Understanding your client’s goals will help build a relationship of trust and mutual respect.

13. Offer Smooth Onboarding and Offboarding Processes

Customer onboarding is the origin point of the customer lifecycle after your agency and clients officially shake on an agreement. It helps you make a great first impression and sets the tone for everything that’s to come in your relationship with the clients—you can’t afford to give it a lukewarm treatment.

Give your clients a tremendous welcome experience from the get-go. Create a standard client onboarding template to offer an above-average and consistent induction experience. If you don’t have a defined onboarding process for new clients or if it’s a tepid welcome experience, it will make your clients question their decision and plant a seed for churn later in their customer journey.

Here’s a simple three-step onboarding process that you can build to offer a delightful client experience:

• Create a clearly defined, step-by-step onboarding process

• Offer frequent (e.g., weekly once) touches for the first month

• Give them a rundown of what’s to come during the entire project tenure

• Each of these steps has nuances, but those are the three high-level steps you should incorporate into your client onboarding program.

On the flip side, you should make peace with the fact that everything that begins has an end, including the time clients spend with you on a project. Customer offboarding happens for many reasons: when their expectations are not met, when the project's scope is over, due to budget issues on the client side, and so on. If clients are churning away because of bad customer experience or unmet expectations, try to understand the reason behind their decision so that you can avoid casualties like that with other customers. If they end the contract for some other, it’s business as usual.

In any case, have a thorough offboarding program to offer them a memorable break-up experience. Make sure they feel valued even when they have decided to part ways with your agencies. Giving them a stellar farewell experience has several benefits. For example, you can use the opportunity to understand how the clients perceive my agency and the work I did for them.

Clients are more open to voicing their raw feedback when they are about to leave a brand. Therefore, the offboarding program is a golden opportunity for you to capture their valuable feedback—either good or bad. Secondly, it allows you to leave the door open for the clients to come back to you when they have similar project requirements in the future. A formal offboarding process earns you the trust that I appreciate the opportunity to work with them and would love to work with them again.

14. Adapt Your Style

Successful consultants can adapt to their client’s style, formality, and preferred method of communication instead of sticking only to the tools where they may feel most comfortable. For example, your client may prefer video meetings or text messages to email. As Customer Experience Specialist Matthew Small said, “Every interaction needs to be modified to accommodate that particular person. Everyone communicates differently.

Some individuals just want facts, while others are more conversational. The key is flexibility;

don’t go into a conversation with a pre-determined dialogue, but have a strategy for what you hope to learn in the interaction.” Tap into your emotional intelligence by understanding why the customer feels and/or approaches situations in a certain way. Try to tailor your communications and engagement accordingly.

15. Stay Humble

You were hired for your expertise, but any good consultant knows the client is the expert on their business. Maybe they know the best way to approach a key stakeholder or have insight into their market positioning that can help you achieve your project’s objectives.

Defer to your client as the expert on their specific company and line of business, remaining humble in your inquiry about how to approach the problem and the solution in a way that will work for them.

16. Adjust Your Work Processes

While establishing client boundaries is essential, there are times when going above and beyond can help your business. Keep limits in place, but be on the lookout for moments when you can go the extra mile. Getting stuck with old habits can be easy if you’ve been in the industry for years. Instead, consider each client's situation individually, and don’t be afraid to adjust your work processes.

Some clients may value hands-on access and want to be included in each stage of your process, whereas others may simply prefer a written, detailed weekly summary of what you’ve accomplished. Remember, communication is critical to establishing a trustworthy relationship; talk to your clients to get a feel for what they value most and then incorporate their preferences into your workflow. A bit of thoughtful listening can go far in building respect and appreciation.

17. Ask for Feedback

Asking for feedback allows your clients to express their opinions about how you delivered your services and recommend ways to improve. This will be valuable to you in building better relationships with other clients and also shows the client you ask how much you value their opinion and how much you value my quality of service.

Create a survey through a platform like Qualtrics or send them a PDF or Word doc questionnaire that allows them to answer specific questions and provide general feedback. After receiving it, follow up with a thank you and let them know I appreciate the time they spent providing it.

Mistakes To Avoid For A Better Agency Client Relationship

1. Show Your Clients the Money: Demonstrate Value Consistently

You must demonstrate the value of your services over time to retain clients. The key is balancing delivering realistic results and occasionally taking the time to ‘wow’ clients to show the agency knows exactly what they’re doing and why clients should stick with their services over others. – Gareth Bull - Founder of Bulldog Digital Media.

Not effectively demonstrating the value of their services and the impact on clients' business outcomes can make agencies seem expendable. This situation can breed several long-impacting issues:

Clients may question ROI

Clients invest in marketing services expecting a return on their investment (ROI). Suppose the agency needs to demonstrate tangible results or communicate the impact of its efforts on the client's business objectives. In that case, the client may perceive their investment as well-spent and delivering sufficient value.

Become reluctant to invest more.

Clients may question the value of continuing to invest in the agency's services if they need clear evidence of the benefits and impact on their business. Clients may hesitate to allocate a budget to ongoing marketing efforts without tangible results or proof of effectiveness.

May start exploring alternatives

Suppose clients feel their current agency needs to deliver value or meet their expectations. In that case, they may explore alternative options and consider switching to a different agency that offers a better value proposition and ROI.

Lose interest in additional services. 

If clients are not convinced of the value provided by the agency's core services, they are less likely to invest in additional services or expand the scope of work. This limits the agency's ability to grow revenue and maximize client lifetime value.

2. Stop Chasing Short-Term Targets and Focus on the Bigger Picture

A client who stays for the long term is bought into everything you do, not just the ads. At Megaphone, we take the time to understand our client's priorities and long-term goals so that we can lead their strategy as marketing experts and strategic business partners. - Sarah Tikfesis - CEO & Head of Operations @ Megaphone

Prioritizing short-term targets over long-term growth can have detrimental effects on client retention in a marketing agency and, with time, lead to:

Lack of strategic planning

Concentrating on quick wins and immediate results at the expense of long-term strategic planning can lead to a lack of alignment between agency activities and client objectives, resulting in ad-hoc tactics that fail to deliver sustainable value or drive meaningful outcomes for clients.

Inconsistent performance

Short-term thinking can lead to inconsistent performance as agencies chase after short-term gains without considering the broader implications for client relationships.

Missed opportunities for value creation 

By focusing solely on immediate needs and quick wins, agencies may fail to invest in strategic initiatives or creative solutions that could set them apart from competitors and add long-term value to client engagements.

3. Prioritize Open and Frequent Communication with Clients

Poor SOPs and communication can often lead to missing deadlines or not responding to clients promptly, which isn’t good for a long, successful relationship with clients. - Matt Pyke, Founder of Fly High Media.

Failing to maintain open and transparent communication with clients can lead to misunderstandings, missed expectations, and dissatisfaction. In more concrete terms:

Clients might have unrealistic expectations

When communication is lacking, clients may have unrealistic expectations about the scope of work, timelines, deliverables, and results. Misaligned expectations can lead to disappointment, frustration, and dissatisfaction, ultimately impacting client retention.

Deadlines and deliverables missed 

Clients rely on the timely delivery of marketing campaigns, reports, and other assets to support their business objectives. When deadlines are missed or deliverables are delayed due to poor communication, trust, and confidence in the agency's ability to deliver results can be eroded, leading to dissatisfaction and potential attrition.

Lack of strategic collaboration

When communication is lacking, engaging clients in strategic discussions, brainstorming sessions, and planning meetings can be challenging. This can result in missed opportunities for innovation, creativity, and strategic alignment, hindering the agency's ability to add value and drive business growth for the client.

4. Set Realistic Expectations From the Start

The first mistake I see marketing agencies usually make is overpromising and underdelivering; it has to be the opposite, or you lose your client's trust. Setting the right expectations from the start is vital to client retention! - Dylan Hey - CEO @ Hey Digital

Making unrealistic promises or guarantees about results can set unrealistic expectations and lead to disappointment if those expectations are not met. The problems that can arise from this situation include:

Loss of trust in the agency’s competence: 

Clients rely on their agency partners to accurately assess what can be achieved within the scope of work and timeline. When an agency overpromises and fails to deliver on its commitments, it undermines clients' trust and credibility in the agency's capabilities.

Unrealistic expectations

Overpromising can set unrealistic expectations for clients, leading them to expect results or outcomes that are not feasible or achievable within the constraints of the project or campaign. When the agency fails to deliver on these unrealistic expectations, it can lead to disillusionment and a sense of betrayal on the client's part.

5. Align Marketing With Client Goals for Strategic Value

Identify what drives their business and be a strategic partner in making those dreams a reality. Build trust by managing their marketing effectively so they can focus on what they love—running their business and creating unique products. - Josh Gazelka - Director of Account Management @ Thrive

Failing to align marketing strategies and tactics with clients' business goals and objectives can lead to ineffective campaigns and wasted resources. The resulting issues may develop as:

Disconnection from the client's objectives

When there is a need for alignment, clients may feel that the agency needs to be fully invested in helping them achieve their business objectives. This disconnect can lead to frustration, dissatisfaction, and a breakdown in the client-agency relationship.

Ineffective campaigns and tactics

Without strategic alignment, agencies may develop marketing campaigns and tactics that are not well-aligned with the client's target audience, brand identity, or business goals. This can result in ineffective campaigns that fail to resonate with the target audience or drive meaningful results for the client.

6. Be Proactive and Innovative to Drive Client Success

The biggest mistake in our industry is made by agencies that need to remember their role as proactive contributors. Agencies that strictly follow the client's brief will ultimately disappoint, unlike those that push boundaries and offer ideas beyond the initial scope. - Pierre-Baptiste Borges - Head of Business Development @ Odace

Failing to adapt to changing market conditions, trends, or client needs can make agencies seem outdated or irrelevant. As a result, agencies risk:

Missing opportunities to offer innovative solutions

Adaptability and innovation enable agencies to identify and capitalize on emerging trends, new technologies, and untapped markets that could drive business growth for their clients.

Failure to meet evolving client needs

Agencies adapting to these changes must stay in line with their clients and meet their evolving needs. Clients expect their agency partners to be flexible, responsive, and adaptable to changing circumstances, and failure to do so can lead to dissatisfaction and attrition.

Weak differentiation and value proposition

A lack of adaptability and innovation can make agencies seem indistinguishable from competitors, leading to commoditization and price competition. Clients may need more differentiation between agencies and be more inclined to switch to competitors offering more innovative solutions.

7. Don’t Skip the Client Onboarding Process

The first is not setting expectations with a client and having a poor overall onboarding process. Many agencies bring the best people during the pitch and then assign others to the project, often leading to client frustration. - Vedran Karaman - Founder @ Karaman Digital.

Inadequate onboarding processes can lead to confusion, misunderstandings, and dissatisfaction early in the client relationship. The risks that stem from this situation include:

Misaligned expectations: 

Practical client onboarding sets the stage for a successful partnership by establishing clear expectations, goals, and deliverables. When client onboarding is good, clients may have realistic expectations about the scope of work, timeline, and outcomes.

Lack of clarity and direction

Client onboarding allows the agency to communicate its processes, workflows, and project management procedures to the client. When onboarding is poor, clients may feel confused or uncertain about the agency's approach, leading to a lack of clarity and direction in the partnership.

Underutilization of agency services

When onboarding is weak, clients may need to fully understand and appreciate the value of the agency's services, leading to more resource utilization and missed growth opportunities.

8. Build Strong Relationships With Your Clients

Provide value beyond contracts - offer insights, additional services, and expertise beyond the contract. Don't just be a service provider but build a personal relationship with clients. Understand their industry and business culture and be integrated with their in-house team. - Vedran Karaman - Founder @ Karaman Digital.

Refrain from building robust and personal client relationships to make agencies seem transactional and disposable. Building rapport, trust, and mutual respect with clients can foster long-term partnerships and increase client loyalty and retention. Otherwise, agencies may experience:

Limited client loyalty

When agencies fail to prioritize building strong client relationships, clients may feel less invested in the partnership and more inclined to explore other options. This lack of trust and confidence can lead to dissatisfaction as clients seek partners they can rely on and trust to deliver results.

Difficulty resolving issues

Strong client relationships provide a foundation for effective communication and collaboration, making resolving issues and addressing client concerns easier. When agencies need to build strong client relationships, communication breakdowns and misunderstandings may arise, making resolving issues and meeting client needs more difficult.

Missed opportunities for upselling & cross-selling

When agencies fail to build strong client relationships, they may miss out on opportunities to expand the scope of work and increase revenue from existing clients. This can result in stagnation and missed growth opportunities for the agency, ultimately impacting its long-term success and viability.

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Orchestra Helps You Maintain Client Relationships

As you scale your agency, worrying about how growth will affect client relationships is natural. After all, productized services typically have less room for customization than fully bespoke projects. Orchestra helps you maintain the feel of a fully personalized service for your clients.

The platform streamlines your workflow so you can collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. With Orchestra, you can customize the experience with integrations like Slack and webhooks to shore up your communications and deliver a branded experience.

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