🔒The art of quality client service

Anyone who has spent appreciable time in a client-facing role knows that there is one immutable fact about the profession — it is flat out tough.

You're often pulled in many different directions with conflicting agendas. It is equal parts rewarding as it is frustrating.

It takes a special person to be able to successfully navigate the challenges thrown at you daily — both internally and externally. They come from every direction, often at the least expected time.

Great client acumen involves balancing the wants and needs of many masters. For three-plus decades, I've been immersed in all things client service in the advertising and marketing sector. It's allowed me to have a front-row seat to witness firsthand almost every conceivable client situation that required the escape skills of Houdini and the steely nerve of a tightrope walker.

The following provides guidance on mastering the role and how to elevate your client-service toolbox.

Identify and understand client “careabouts”

There is one common denominator with all clients — they all have “careabouts” that are deeply important to them. Oftentimes, they'll hold them very secretively. You have to get close to them and learn the pressures they're facing and what's important to them.

Many times there are two wins at play — clients want to win personally as much as their brand or company needs to win. Be in it with them and for them.

Be a student of your client's business

Immerse yourself in not only the client's brand but their business as well. Study their competition relentlessly. Walk trade shows. Talk with sales reps. Follow the market.

Knowing a client's business makes you indispensable. Having intimate knowledge often keeps you and your firm “sold in” when your client contact inevitably moves on. These insights are currency with a new client contact. Being “sold in” means they can't afford to let you go.

Bring a gift

You would never think twice about bringing a gift as a thank you for an invitation to a friend's house. Yet, many client-service people go to see a client with only their hat in their hand. The main concern is working on a project or looking for the next one.

Next time, bring something of value — an idea, thought or observation. Render your impact and contribution to their business with thinking that is relevant and thought provoking. It demonstrates that you're into their business in a real way. Clients notice.

Be an order maker, not an order taker

The best client-service people are those who advance the position of the organization that they represent. It is a subtle skill. Much like wait staff people who truly “get it.” They've progressed far beyond the “server” mentality. They're selling transparently at every point throughout the meal. From my vantage point, the best client-service people are really salespeople at heart.

Embrace “clients for life” mentality

Too many client-service people view relationships from a transactional viewpoint — all about the here and now. This is short-sighted thinking. I'm still working with many clients where relationships were forged back in the '80s.

Establish a bond that transcends time.

The difference between serving and servicing is often miniscule — a little thing here or there. It involves focusing on the service being delivered, not the source of the service — your company. Put the client first, no matter what it may cost in the short term. Listen your way into a new project or engagement.

Always remember to service rather than serve. These are words to live by for anyone in a client-facing role.

Bill Field is the founder of FieldActivate, a Connecticut-based marketing firm.