What makes up the ideal future/now client service person?
From the conversations we have been having with our agency clients, they are being sorely challenged right now. From multiple angles, too.
We would summarise these challenges are coming from three areas:
Your business – so many are in flux right now, with mergers, takeovers, re-structures being rife across the marketing services industry. Not to mention slowing demand, year-end looming and all the other ‘standard’ challenges coming at them
Your clients – in what they’re looking for in a modern agency partnership
Your industry – it’s changing because the market is changing, and this has all kinds of implications on recruitment, investment, innovation…the list goes on
This means a lot of uncertainty and juggling of priorities. A tough situation indeed.
We can’t pretend to help across all these challenges. The business changes are for those involved in mergers, acquisitions and so on. The industry is changing as a response to clients, new technologies, economics, politics…all the elements of a good PESTLE analysis (Google it for more details!)
In this blog we’re going to focus on the one area that’s at the heart of what we do: Your clients.
We’re hearing a lot from agencies about the changes in their client requirements, and in particular what they want from agency people who work with them. There is a split now, between the service you provide, and the people you provide. We’d sum it up in this quote:
‘You, as the agency, provide us with your great technical services. We get that you do that and we get that we have to pay for that. We’re happy in that respect.
But we also pay a lot for your people’s time. Not just to deliver that service, but to help us grow. This is an area we think all agencies should focus more on, and something your people should be equipped to help us with’.
Wowzers, there are some big implications in this. Not least if you have a me-too or similar service to your competitors.
Fundamentally, it means your biggest differentiator are your people. This certainly chimes strongly with the demand we’re seeing from agencies who have great delivery people, but need those same people to step up for their clients more.
We’d go so far to say that, unless you are lucky enough to have a very unique offering that meets an almost unspoken client need, people are the biggest differentiator your agency can have in whatever situation.
Which begs the question: If people are your biggest differentiator, and your clients are challenging you on whether they want to pay for them, it means you need to evolve. But into what?
Let’s start with your existing clients. Imagine if you were buying a service – could be creative, data, media, whatever you can think of – where you were only getting the deliverable, e.g. the campaign, or just data, or a media plan.
The other part of what you’re buying – those lovely people who sent you that stuff – well, it feels like they could add loads to your work, but don’t. They are either too busy, don’t have the skills or confidence, or aren’t encouraged to do so. Almost feels like a blind spot, something is just out of reach. Frustrating. You want to shout at them saying ‘TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, JUST FOR ONCE!!!!’.
The consequences?
Relationship = transactional
Opportunities = lower than they could be
Reputation = pigeon-holed in one or two areas
Value to the client of your people = low
This operating model simply no longer cuts it for clients. Even more so right now when the future is filled with uncertainty.
And if it’s a model you’ve been relying on you likely have already seen it no longer works as well as before.
It’s just as true of your potential clients as well. All the research on B2B buyer behaviours point to this. They can do their own research on solutions that would potentially meet their needs, thanks very much. They don’t need your people’s help at that point.
But they’ll come to the surface when they’ve found out as much as they can. It’s at that point that they’ll get in contact with you and maybe one or two other of your competitors. They’ll be at the stage of starting to get serious and wanting to choose who they’re going to buy from.
That means that there will likely be a pitch, and that means the chemistry your people create will be make or break in you winning the business. Trust us, we’ve been there, won and lost, bought both t-shirts etc.
That chemistry doesn’t come from trying to be funny, or showing off, or showing super-polished slides. It comes from the passion, preparation and business acumen brought into the session, and a mindset that is fully focused on helping the client take the best route for them.
That means guiding them, advising, sharing points of view. Taking the risk on behalf of them. That’s what clients really want, and they also want the proof that you would thread that same approach through whatever ongoing agreement or project you are pitching for. People-based, not so much solution-based.
Now don’t get us wrong, we know we’re speaking to the converted here. Virtually every agency we’ve ever come into contact with invest in their people in one way or another. But now, more than ever, that investment needs to focus on developing your people to help clients grow. Which means giving your teams the skills, mindsets, behaviours and ultimately confidence to have different conversations with clients compared to what they’re having now.
Which all leads us onto what the future/now client-facing person could look like. Because it’s definitely not de riguer if the feedback from end clients is anything to go by.
We’re also not talking about the future as in 5 years from now. Or even 2. The future client-facing person needs to be pulled into the here and now as soon as possible. Developed. Cherished. Encouraged. Hence the rather awkward future/now phrasing.
You might be getting a sense of what this person would look like. As always, we’re here to help, so below are three of the critical qualities that, if you had to change the job description you’re using to recruit, or need to benchmark your existing teams against this future/now picture, would be borderline essential ones to have or develop.
Plus of course, our world-famous first steps to get started:
1. Curiosity
By its very nature, curiosity is self-propelled and a growth-mindset way of thinking and finding out things. This valuable way of thinking needs to be pointed at the client. Not in an annoying ‘I’m going to ask you millions of questions to find stuff out about you’ kind of way. In a ‘I reckon we can help our client more than we are, let’s find out how and then share our thoughts and see what they think’.
These kinds of client service people are pretty rare but everyone can develop their curiosity, and quickly too. Our one kick-start piece of advice here is to task your client service people to find one part of their client’s business that they are currently not helping with, and work out a way that they can. Then make this a habit and watch the number of conversations and opportunities rise.
2. Low self-orientation
If you were a client, which person would you rather meet:
Someone who you can tell has just forgotten your name on introduction, seems keen to talk about themselves and doesn’t seem to be listening to you very well, or
Someone who’s total focus is on you, seems genuinely interested in finding out more about how you view the world, puts forward ideas and hypotheses based on what you said, and feels like they’ve got your back
I know if I saw the name of both these people in meetings in my calendar, which meeting I’d be looking forward to more.
This goes hand-in-hand with curiosity as a critical quality to develop. If you were to ask the client about what their priorities are just so you can think about how to cross-sell a solution to them, you may as well go into that conversation and say right at the start ‘I’m here to destroy any trust you have in me, as I only want this conversation so I can get money from you.’
That’s high self-orientation. You won’t be able to hear what they’re saying, won’t be able to find out how you can help them more, won’t be able to deepen your relationship or even start one. Plus, the client can feel your self-orientation leaking out. Not pretty.
That’s how important this one is.
Now, this is a lifelong journey to keep self-orientation low at the right moments. The good news is that your client service people can start it today, right now. Our one tip:
Listen to understand, not to reply
Seems simple and in practice it can be. But it takes practice. Get started now.
3. Prescriptive
Those last three words are an example of being prescriptive [although not too bossy, we hope]. We’ve just given you advice that we’ve seen on countless occasions improve client relationships and ultimately drive growth.
Do your teams do that for your clients?
Before you start thinking that this could mean opening yourself up to liability, we don’t mean that you have to sign your company away backing your point of view. It simply means:
You deeply understand your client’s problem
You have lots of experience in dealing with this problem, across your company
Given your experience, this is how you would tackle that problem
From your client’s perspective, you, as a person, have just become even more valuable and interesting to them.
On the winning new business side of things, being prescriptive rather than just providing information is critical in helping the buyer buy. You have got to take the above approach, and not just provide information, because it’s highly likely they’ve got all the information they need already. They are now looking to cut through the noise and find someone who can make it easy for them to make a decision.
There are four more elements that we believe make-up the future/now client service person, but these will definitely stand you in good stead to start off.
Remember, this is a demand coming from the very people who pay your and your people’s wages. And it’s a good thing. They want your people to get closer, to find out more about their business, to come armed ready to debate, hypothesise, give points of view, share opinions and experiences. What client wouldn’t?