Bridging the gap

In my decade-long journey with advertising and agency life, I’ve journeyed from the Creative department to Client Service. Having split my time evenly between the two has granted me a unique perspective on account handling when it comes to keeping both creatives and clients happy.

As the bridge between agency and client, you’re tasked with managing relationships on both sides—being exposed to and working with diverse personalities and varying perspectives. In the agency, it’s all about creativity, boundary-pushing, and aiming for those coveted awards. On the flip side, clients are all about hitting targets, sticking to brand guidelines, and keeping the higher-ups happy. Balancing these contrasting worlds is an art, but with savvy account handling, you can find that sweet spot where everyone’s happy, making your day-to-day a little easier.

Here are five actionable tips derived from my experiences:

Clients:
Make your client’s goals your own, and become an extension of their team. Understand their pain points, offer solutions that address their needs, and gain their trust. Cultivate a collaborative environment where agency and client teams work seamlessly together towards shared goals.

Creatives:
Roll up your sleeves and pitch in wherever needed, enabling your creative teams to focus on their strengths. Whether it’s diving into competitor research, tidying up files, or hashing out details with clients through multiple calls to ensure crystal-clear objectives before involving your team—every little bit helps.

Clients:
Keep up with the ever-evolving world of advertising, especially in the digital space. Stay attuned to new trends, formats, and tech, and pass on that know-how to your clients. It not only helps them stay ahead in the game, but also ensures that you speak the same language, which in turn, opens avenues for creatives to experiment, and for you to upsell.

Creatives:
Staying current enables both you and creatives to sync up, and welcome fresh ideas. The more people involved in the research process, the more likely you are to come up with great ideas.

Clients:
Position yourself as more than just a service provider. Become an invaluable partner by anticipating needs and offering proactive solutions to your clients. Support them authentically—they want to feel heard and understood by their agency.

Creatives:
While you may work in different departments, aligning creativity and client service isn’t just about tasks—it’s about understanding and supporting each other. Dive into every department to grasp their methods and hurdles. Understanding the creative process enhances planning, scoping, and briefing. Prioritise collaboration, foster relationships, tackle challenges as a team, and make working together fun.

Clients:
Let’s face it, your clients juggle a lot. By staying organised, planning projects meticulously, and ensuring smooth operations that are adaptable, you make their lives a whole lot simpler by lightening their workload.

Creatives:
Smooth operations aren’t just about efficiency; it also frees up your team’s time to concentrate on the task at hand. Streamlining processes with clear briefs, straightforward file structures, and easy access to resources significantly simplifies your creatives’ lives.

Clients:
Every client delivery should sparkle like a gift wrapped with care. Take every piece of work personally—it reflects on both you and the agency. If something doesn’t meet your standards, chances are it won’t meet your client’s either. Initiate the conversation if your team requires more time to craft something truly remarkable, by being upfront and honest. Transparency builds trust and sets the stage for exceptional outcomes.

Creatives:
As the gatekeeper, it’s on you to ensure that everything leaving the agency shines. Challenge your teams and yourself to strive for excellence. Sure, it might entail some tough conversations, but when approached constructively, creatives are more open to feedback. And when they witness the final results, they’ll see the value.