Long-term client relationships are what everyone in the PR and marketing world strives for, but not so often do they happen. Working within an agency the phrase “it’s agency life” or “it’s how agencies work” often gets thrown around when a client leaves after a short period of time.
Building and nurturing relationships is what PR is all about – whether that’s with a journalist or a client, and they are generally built over time on respect, understanding and transparency. When you prioritise client care, you showcase that you value and understand the needs of the business above all else, and it’s from there that you’ll start to see the power of long-term client relationships, which often have a knock-on effect with positive referrals and sustainable business growth.
We’re extremely lucky that we’ve worked with many of our clients for several years, some for more than a decade and one in particular, for 25 years this year! But how does that happen, and how did we get here?
· We genuinely care about our clients, their business and our contacts. From a business perspective, we work with clients to understand the overarching objectives and curate plans that will help them get there. We’re also great friends with our clients and can quite easily laugh with them.
· We are honest with our clients; we won’t shy away from difficult conversations and will quite happily push back or challenge ideas if we don’t think it will work. Equally, we will hold our hands up if something goes wrong, or if something hasn’t quite hit the mark as we had hoped – it all goes into learnings for improvements next time and provides transparency between the two parties. This has helped us to build trusting relationships.
· Open lines of communication – our clients know they will get a prompt response from us during office hours, and we are open to whichever method of communication works for them. Whether that’s email, Teams, Slack, WhatsApp or carrier pigeon, we’re flexible!
· Proactive problem-solving – we’re a small team which means we can be agile and adapt ideas and plans quite easily and quickly. Quite often we’ll work on an activation and have backup plans in case plan A can’t go ahead, or have statements prepared in case they are needed, rather than scrabbling around at the time it’s needed.
· Creativity is key! Working with the same contact for the same brand year after year can be challenging when it comes to developing new ideas or campaigns. However, that is where we excel! We bring together our decades of outdoor and marine PR experience and often challenge the boundaries of what’s been done before and/or how we execute these plans – we love a challenge!
· We act as an extension of our clients’ team – whether you are a team of one, or a global team made up of 50 professionals across 10 countries, we work with you to offer additional resources, experience, expertise and contacts. Two brains are better than one, and often, working with an agency, means that you can tap into an extra three (or more)!
· We go the extra mile. We know what makes our clients tick and what will enhance their role within their company. Whether that involves developing new reporting standards, supporting with content for presentations or leading with seasonal PR briefs for supporting agencies, we are proud to work so closely with our clients and always strive to support them in the best possible way.
· We know our industries and we are inspired by news and developments. This means we’re reading about company developments, industry changes and new regulations, so we can help inform and update our clients on what matters most – as well as what the competition is up to!
Relationships are such an important part of our role, and we are proud of the growth we have experienced with our clients. Every client and their team are different, so it is important that we adapt, learn and develop with them.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to one of our team of experts to support your next PR campaign, please get in touch via hello@adpr.co.uk.