We worked with a marketing agency to deliver a two-hour workshop as part of their annual away day. They wanted to help their teams engage in knowledge-sharing discussions and to generate ideas on how to build great client relationships and manage the client / agency dynamic.
The aim was to help team members engage in cathartic and encouraging conversations, revealing coping strategies, tools and techniques to provide a consistently high level of client service and to deal effectively with the intense levels of pressure this often creates.
We arranged the 25 participants into small groups and invited them to share hints and tips with each other on how to build effective client relationships.
We suggested topics for discussion including: how to build rapport, how to consistently offer a high quality service, how to remain innovative over the course of a long-term retainer contract, and how to effectively manage the client-agency dynamic. For each topic we created a series of prompt questions to spark conversation, for example:
After each discussion the groups presented back their conclusions to the wider team, and a Creative Huddle facilitator invited comments and feedback, drawing out useful ideas for concrete actions the agency could take in the future.
The three facilitated discussions each generated at least ten ideas for managing and building client relationships. Participants found the workshop energising and enlightening, and were able to take away simple, tangible ideas to implement in their work.
