Helping your clients grow is vital to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, no matter what line of business you’re in.
Building your client’s business leads to building your business.
Forbes/Committee of 200 Contributor
by Beth Bronfman, CEO and Managing Partner of View, the Agency. She joined C200 in 2003, and is currently on the board. Beth is also an IWEC colleague.
Helping your clients grow is vital to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, no matter what line of business you’re in. When your clients know they can rely on you for growth strategies, they are more likely to stay with you, give you a larger piece of their business and refer other firms to yours. In other words, building your client’s business leads to building your business.
How do you help them grow? By serving as a tireless steward of their brand. This means knowing their business intimately, understanding the competitive environment they work in, developing powerful strategies and solutions, and helping them look forward so they can anticipate and prepare for new challenges and opportunities. Go the extra mile by making connections for your client with individuals or groups in your network that could be helpful to them, inviting them to participate in relevant face-to-face and online events, and serving on boards relevant to their business.
As a creative integrated advertising agency, View is all about brand stewardship. We have a reputation for helping each of our clients leverage their unique attributes in ways that help them grow and maintain leadership status in their respective fields. You can do this for your clients through an approach that includes these steps:
1. Get under the hood of their business. Your work begins with due diligence. Research your client’s company and the competitive landscape before your first conversation. Be informed so that you understand what they’re talking about when they share their perspectives. Then ask them provocative questions that encourage them to give you a glimpse into the good, the bad and the ugly: What’s their unique sales proposition? What are they trying to achieve over the short and long terms? What kind of headaches are their competitors dishing out? What keeps them up at night?
Listen, learn and ask questions. The better you know your client’s business, culture and goals, the more prepared you will be to diagnose their issues and recommend solutions that will put them on track toward success.
