Ted Leonhardt is a consultant to design firms and one of the topics he often discusses with them is building stronger client relationships -- the exact same topic as his SVC workshop.
3. Making Your Clients Love You
A good, trusting relationship with your
clients—whether in-house or external—can
inspire higher quality work, defuse arguments
about costs, and overcome problems when
something goes awry.
Together we’ll look at ways firm leaders,
project managers, and creative staffers can
strengthen their client relationships, including:
Communicating the value of what your group
brings to your client
How to define success for a project
Living the brand and getting to know the end
customer
Building a personal relationship with your
clients
How to listen.
5. Learn the secrets of creating
long-term, trusting client
relationships. Whether
you're a freelancer or
running a design firm or ad
agency, you'll pick up
practical advice on how to
defuse conflicts,
communicate the value of
your services, and pave the
way for better work.
44. The New Business Team
The heartbeat of the agency is new business.
Targeting, planning the chase, the win. The
power of it can be intoxicating.
The best, the brightest, the most experienced
are on the team. They work as a group at the
fastest pace in the agency addressing client
marketing problems on the fly in a life and
death competitive environment.
They know how to translate the agencies past
experience into relevant stories that captivate
prospective clients. And the winners are very,
very good indeed.
Those who get ahead fastest in the agency do
so by attaching themselves to the new
business team.
I recommend doing anything to get on the team
and learning from the best.