The word “service” reeks of reactive behavior. Someone asks for something and someone else responds by filling the request. When client service providers remain in this reactionary mode – as too many do – they are seen as nothing more than “order takers” by their clients. They traffic work back and forth listlessly between agencies and clients. They give clients what is requested – but nothing more. They are seen as old-fashioned sales people who simply take and fill orders. They are not perceived as adding value. They form transactional relationships, not strategic partnerships.

It doesn’t help matters when the word “service” is embedded in the name of the team: account or client services, which is usually led by a director of client services. This simply reinforces and perpetuates clients’ sub-optimal expectations of client service providers and the agencies they represent.

To begin the process of exceeding clients’ expectations, two things need to happen. First, immediately remove “service” from the name of your team and your vernacular. You may not have any control over the official designation used within your agency, but you can control how you describe your role to your clients. Rather than account services or client services, try account team or client leadership team. If you do have control over the official title, make the change official, at the earliest opportunity. This will create a more positive external perception and it will yield internal benefits, as well. The word “team” suggests that the members can and should be working together and learning from one another. Even though everyone on the team has assigned clients for whom they are personally responsible and accountable, it shouldn’t be an “everyone is on their own” situation. When a client account is particularly busy or facing trouble, people not assigned to the account should be offering to help – even if just behind-the-scenes. The client service provider who received help from the other team members will be more than happy to return the favor down the road.

More importantly, everyone in a client service role needs to dramatically shift their mindsets. This may not be easy, but it is necessary. Client service providers need to move beyond simply “providing service.” They need to understand the leadership role they play in building client partnerships for their agencies – and they need to attack this role in a passionate, proactive and consultative manner.

TELL YOUR CLIENTS WHERE TO GO! focuses first on this mandatory mindset shift – and the positive impact it will have on client partnerships. Other books for client service providers focus only on fundamentals. This book will review fundamentals, too, by discussing the qualities and skills you need to develop, and proven practical tips you can employ, in order to put these qualities and skills into practice successfully. But, if you don’t start with the right mindset, the rest won’t matter. A model mindset provides the foundation upon which to build the proper fundamentals.

Accordingly, the framework of this book is a simple 3-step approach to becoming a high-impact partner to your clients:
- Step 1: Start with a model mindset.
- Step 2: Develop quintessential qualities and skills.
- Step 3: Apply proven practical tips.

The third step comprises the majority of this book. It is full of practical tips you can start employing today. These tips are brought to life with a plethora of successful examples in which I have participated or witnessed firsthand.

If you want to captivate your clients and catapult your career, this book is for you. It is relevant to any industry – but indispensable for people who work in advertising agencies, marketing consultancies and any other professional service firms.

While it is primarily intended for account people, this book is perfectly appropriate for anyone who is the least bit client facing in their role. If you engage with clients to any degree you have an impact on the perceptions they form of your agency – and, thus, on the quality of the partnerships your agency builds with them.

Furthermore, while this book is largely intended to serve as a training tool for those in the early stages of their career, it can also be a great refresher – with a unique perspective – for even the most senior leaders. Many senior-level managers generously reviewed the manuscript for this book. Almost all of them shared with me the fact that they were reminded of client leadership fundamentals which they realized they had forgotten – or don’t practice as much as they should.

TELL YOUR CLIENTS WHERE TO GO! also provides valuable perspective for people on the client side of the relationship. It will help clients interact with their agencies and provide a valuable tool with which to discuss and agree on partnership-related expectations. In addition, this book will guide clients to manage more passionately and proactively their own clients – including their managers, shareholders, trade customers and consumers.

Your actions as a client leader should not just be focused on providing good “client service.” You need to become an indispensable business partner to your clients. That’s what clients want. Survey after survey among clients confirms this point. True partnership-oriented behavior among agency people is ranked consistently as one of the strongest desires of clients and, unfortunately, one of the biggest perceived outages. And keep in mind that it “takes two to tango.” So, if you want your clients to act like partners and treat you like a partner, you need to behave like one. As you strive to build strong client partnerships, you should never be satisfied with what you deem success. This leads to complacency. Strive to build and strengthen continually your client partnerships. The ultimate goal of this book is to show you how you can become the best partner possible to your clients.