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Alpaytac PR seems to have discovered the formula for long-term client retention and recently signed their founding client, SharkNinja, now a leading global housewares company, for the 12th straight year.
Here are some tips for creating lasting client relationships:
1. Always treat your client as though you are in year one of the relationship: One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is that they get comfortable in long-term client-agency relationships and take the situation for granted, paying more attention to new accounts or accounts that are having issues. Like marriage (or dating), the first year of a relationship is always exciting. When there’s a learning curve, you are very engaged with the client and there is tremendous attention that is being paid to the newcomer. It is important to maintain that energy and engagement after the honeymoon period has ended. The more likely you are to make a client feel like they’re still at the front end of the relationship, the less likely they are to look for someone new. Work with your long time clients as if there is always a threat of them leaving anytime, and by continuing to show the same enthusiasm, passion and drive in day 2000 as you did in day 1.
2. Understand and appreciate the value of your long-term clients: Longer client retention brings more stability to your agency allowing you to attract better talent but also enables a PR agency to build a stellar reputation in the industry. Loyalty (from both the client side and the agency side) goes a long way in positioning the PR agency as a dependable partner in the industry that can be trusted as a long-term ally and one that plays an important role in the growth of its clients. This is what every company is looking for when they are seeking a new PR partner and it the kind of accolade that should be highly valued.
3. Long-term relationships require investment – embrace it! : Manage your new clients by keeping in mind that they may become your long-term partners in the future. What this means is that view the additional work you do for them as an investment in your future and do not approach them only as profit centers. Yes, your parent company may be pressuring you to keep those hours in check to reach your 30 percent profitability, but the truth is, it will be impossible to retain clients long-term if your sole focus is on profitability. Client turnover will lead to an erosion of your reputation and ultimately drain away your profits. Show your clients that you care about them and their businesses and are willing to go the extra mile by putting in additional work and hours when necessary without necessarily charging them for this extra work.
4. Anticipate, anticipate, anticipate: One crucial key to developing a long-term client is being able to anticipate potential issues, challenges, problems, clients’ questions and needs so working with your agency becomes “easy” and “effortless” for your client. You need to stay one step ahead of your client’s needs. For example, if the media is reaching out with specific questions about the client’s products or services, instead of simply forwarding this inquiry to the client, go through the exercise of crafting effective responses for them highlighting areas that need the client’s input. This sounds like a no-brainer to many PR experts, but you would be surprised how so many PR executives simply forward media questions to clients without taking the time to draft responses for client’s review, expecting the client to do all the work. It is the number one sign that the agency is getting lazy and that maybe it is time to start looking for another one.
5. Develop trust by having quality check mechanisms in place: Anything that goes to your client needs to pass through a stringent “quality” process that your agency should set up for itself. First, ensure that you have a stellar team in place and that they are ready to meet the challenge. At Alpaytac, our team knows that before anything is presented to the client, it needs to pass the Alpaytac quality test or what we call being “client ready.” When that test is tough and the standards are set very high, you minimize your exposure to client criticism while internally building rock star teams. Implement internal check mechanisms (it can be checklists, levels of adherence, etc.) that are fool proof. When you have these in place, your clients will trust that anything coming from your agency is of the highest standard and you will develop a reputation for yourself. This also goes a long way toward building client trust.
6. Stay on top of your client’s industry trends and you’ll stay sharp: Especially in agencies with long-term clients, teams get comfortable and start taking their industry knowledge for granted. Ensure your team is on top of ongoing industry trends. The fact that you have a long time client in a certain industry does not mean that you are an expert in that industry if you are not keeping up with rapidly changing trends, and you’re not closely following what your client’s competition is doing.
7. Be proactive and teach your team to adopt an “owner’s mentality” when running accounts: When I first started representing SharkNinja 12 years ago – then an emerging housewares company - I worked on the account as if my life depended on it because honestly it did. It was my founding client, and the food I put on my table was directly related to my success generated for this client. Meanwhile, I treated their business as my own – saving them money where I could, going the extra mile and over-delivering as much as possible. This also meant being proactive, not waiting for them to push me but for me to push myself to ensure I always continued to exceed their expectations. I am very fortunate that I have a team that exhibits the same dedication, passion, attention to detail and commitment to excellence as I did when getting this agency off the ground 12 years ago.
When your clients see how much you care, how dedicated you are, and how you deliver the results they need to build their businesses, you ultimately will become indispensable to them. When you’re indispensable, more often than not, you’re in the relationship for the long term.
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Huma Gruaz is president/CEO of Alpaytac, New York
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