Business by and for humans
Five guiding principles of strong client partnerships for better business
I often forget that I hold minority opinions and practice uncommon approaches as a business leader. Opinions and approaches such as—get ready: businesses are composed of humans and should be operated as such.
Building relationships with our clients has reminded me of my deep-seated values that inform how I approach client partnerships as the foundation of strong business. It’s also confirmed that I have a lot of strong opinions about how companies should manage their clients and accounts, as well as conduct business development—most of which you won’t find in a typical business book or Linkedin post.
These values inform specific frameworks, actions, and advice that, together, lead to impactful client interactions and savvy business development. Unfortunately, since these types of approaches aren’t seen as tangible, teachable skills (much less the way I apply them as valid business methods), they often aren’t taught or appreciated.
My ultimate advice for being better at client partnerships as a key driver of business, at its simplest, is: “the more human you are, the more people want to work with you—and, thus, the better your business will be.” I’ll break that down into five guiding principles that make for stronger client partnerships.
1. Act like a human
If you want to be good at working with other people, you have to understand them. It’s what some people call “emotional intelligence” and what I call being human. But maintaining your humanity in a business context is quite a feat. Modern capitalism has isolated, devalued, and altogether avoided being human wherever possible. In my experience, though, how you work—how you are—with other humans is one of the most important drivers of good business.
It’s not enough to just be a human, either. You should be a “good” human. And shockingly, a lot of leaders think it’s necessary to behave and act counter to the best human qualities in order to succeed, especially with clients: Lie to get the deal; talk to clients only when absolutely required; try to squeeze as many dimes out of a project as possible with change orders, upsells, etc.
I’ve walked the walk long enough and successfully enough to know differently. Being a decent human with clients leads to better business. I get to know clients as human beings. I learn their challenges and fears, hopes and dreams. I know what our project means in their world, and what they’re up against. I know a bit about their lives (to an appropriate degree) and check in on them, especially when I know they have a big moment happening, at work or in their personal life. I actually care, and that inspires them to care about me and the team in return, which leads to—gasp—a relationship!
When you have a mutual relationship with someone, you ride out life’s twists and turns together. Clients want to work with you again because you showed up, and saw them as more than a sack of coins. They want you to succeed, too, so they recommend you to colleagues and peers. And they call you again when they move to a new company because they trust you, and want you by their side to help solve the problems they’re facing now.
2. Lead with trust
It can be hard to ask other humans for their trust, especially in a business world which rarely rewards it, and often betrays it. Most industries with a client/agency relationship are built on an assumption of no trust, which typically leads to an “us vs. them” tug-of-war.
Trust, though, is a choice. Choosing trust can be a powerful way of transforming a client relationship, especially from the outset. Show up to client interactions trusting their intentions rather than assuming harms. Trust is a multiplier: when you give trust away, it has a way of growing and replicating itself.
Trusting other humans doesn’t mean being oblivious to what’s happening. It doesn’t mean that you ignore abusive behavior or when things are going awry. It also doesn’t mean you don’t have contracts. But it does mean letting go of the assumption that the client is “out to get you,” or trying to “ruin” your great work. On the contrary—trust allows you to cultivate a healthy creative environment, establish honest communication, and nurture mature relationships, all of which lead to better work.
3. Plan for no plan
The only constant is change. You’ve heard that many times, but let’s consider what it means in a creative/digital services business context, where organizations and work are controlled as much as possible in order to meet targets.
Work-for-hire is managed by defining goals, locking in deliverables and budgets, setting timelines, signing contracts, and making The Plan. But The Plan is a fantasy. Projects rarely go according to the original plan, especially if they involve technology, creative vision, or innovation, all of which should be in constant flux by definition. Change is always there—it’s the one thing we should expect to be reliable in all circumstances.
So the team does what it can to complete the work according to The Plan, but everything connected to it, from resource availability to client circumstances, changes. A dogged insistence that The Plan can’t or won’t change starts to strain the client relationship. Every request for change is met with a negative: it’s not what was agreed; that’s not in scope; there isn’t time. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, the team changes The Plan every time the client makes a request, leading quickly to creative burnout and eroded vision.
These situations can be avoided with a mutual understanding that circumstances will change, that the plan is just a starting point. With this shared clarity, a sense of ease and calm confidence can take root. “No plan” doesn’t mean chaos, it doesn’t suggest no management, it doesn’t equal confusion. Projects should be managed more fluidly with flexible frameworks, evolving approaches, and agile structures that actively lead everyone, with vision and strategy, toward the goal.
4. A contract won’t protect you
Relatedly, constantly referencing the scope defined in the contract as a way of saying “no” is one of the fastest ways to erode a client relationship (short of lying to get the work in the first place). When a client requests a change, it’s rarely frivolous or contrived, so it’s worth understanding the problem or need that underlies the request. If your immediate response is “that’s out of scope,” you’re not solving the client’s problem… so, really, what’s the point then? You are there to help—so, help!
This doesn’t mean saying yes automatically. You need to assess, understand why the client made the request, and calculate how the team might address the need. Weigh the need against your team’s capacity. Take the opportunity to recalibrate, with both the team and the client, in the spirit of the mutual goal-seeking that aligned you in the first place. Often the best response is not “yes,” but “we understand the need. What if we solved it this way?” The best solution is rarely what the client suggests, and it’s rarely what your team originally planned to do. It comes from collaboration and iteration.
By contrast, going to the contract to say “not in scope” should be your last resort, because it often comes back around. Once you start scrutinizing the contract, the client does, too, which can lead to an ongoing, unproductive power struggle. A contract shouldn’t be used like a flotation device—think of it more like CPR.
If we center our focus on how best to facilitate the most innovative work, it’s worth the effort to set up engagements through well-defined projects rather than long-ranging amorphous deals. The ugly secret is that retainers or AORs often aren’t the best thing for everyone. It’s not to say they never lead to great work, but it takes a lot of care and intentionality. Retainers lock both client and agency into an arrangement that often stops making sense after just a few months and things inevitably change. (Biz dev/sales, executives, and shareholders certainly will bristle at this opinion; retainers give a sense of the revenue security they seek.)
When you build a business based on ambitious, well-defined projects, the client can feel confident they will get something innovative that meets their needs and the team shows up as their best selves with their most creative minds to make the best work in order to practice their craft—and win more work with the client. That’s the key: the entire team has to understand how they can show up and what they need to do to contribute to a human-centered client partnership with excellence in craft at the center.
5. It all comes down to the work
In the end, it really is all about the work. If the work is great, the relationship is more likely to be good and a client more likely to keep working with you. There are only so many promises you can make and tap dances you can do for the client that will keep a relationship from eroding if the work doesn’t deliver.
So, what makes the best work? A clear understanding of the goal, a truly diverse creative team, a dynamic, collaborative approach, and a workplace organization that fosters creativity. Nothing’s more human than creativity—and nothing crushes it more certainly than an organization that’s driven primarily by a need to maximize profit margins. That’s why the best thing an agency or studio can do for their business is to prioritize actions that allow everyone on the team to make their best work, individually and collectively. That’s ultimately how you solve client problems and maintain great client relationships.
Each of these principles relies on specific actions that either foster a relationship or erode it. Actions are never relationship neutral—they either give or take. When you think about the actions you choose daily in your client partnership, are they fostering a mutually beneficial relationship or are they only in service of your needs? Is your work defined by an insistence that “this is how you do business,” or by a desire to be a thoughtful human, helping other humans solve their problems? You can’t fake actually caring—but you can choose to value it.
