Building client relationships beyond the booze

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Screen Shot 2017-06-15 at 1.47.24 pm.jpgBy Adam Mumford (far left), managing director, Men At Work Communications

 

One of the great perks of our industry is how social it is. It’s nigh on impossible to think of a single business – whichever side of the media coin they’re on – that doesn’t live by some sort of ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra. And that generally stems from the fact the two have heavy overlap.

There definitely aren’t as many long boozy lunches as there used to be in this industry, but client relationships are still frequently cemented over a drink (or several), and I can’t help feeling like this misses a major part of the equation.

 

Of course, being able to have some social drinks with clients is one of the great perquisites of an industry that generally attracts sociable people, where good relationships are paramount in creating new business opportunities.

 

But, like any relationship that’s going to be worth maintaining in the long run, at some point there needs to be a shift from cocktails to something with a bit more depth (and no, I’m not referring to the depth of the pint glass).

 

Think of the first few dates you go out on: while they will likely take place in a restaurant or bar, and it’s all laughs and liquor, at a certain point it needs to become more substantive. Before you commit to something that could turn long-term and important, you need to get to know this person away from their social façade.

 

It’s exactly the same with client relationships.

 

When courting a new business, it makes sense that frothies and frivolity are a part of the initial encounters, but at a certain point it becomes far more beneficial to both sides if you actually get to know the individuals that make up a business, what they stand for, and what they aim to achieve professionally and personally.

 

I recently took the founder of Rhino Rack, Richard Cropley (pictured above, right), to Zimbabwe to see rhinoceroses in their natural habitat. We walked with the rhinos and learnt a lot about their conservation. We also indulged in a bit of fishing and a round of golf. We learnt more about each other in 10 days outdoors, than we would have in two years in a ‘normal’ working / social drinking relationship.

 

We make this work closer to home as well. Once we’re involved in a business, we make a point of getting to know not just the people that work there, but the product they’re actually selling – our staff get hands on. Members of our team who are set to work with CPM Realty or Harcourts take a real estate 101 course so they’re better across what they’re dealing with – likewise those working on Wealth Within take a trading course with the client. We are talking their language, and not because of the beer.

 

It’s all about building a proper relationship based on real, workable knowledge of the client’s product.

 

Of course, all this is decidedly easier said than done.

 

Speaking to the New York Times, Terry Lavin, an ad-sales executive with Forbes magazine, spoke of how much harder it was to get meetings during a six-month stint when he decided to go dry.

 

“I would call guys I was friendly with, guys who had their hands on big ad budgets, to see if they wanted to go to happy hour or get something to eat.

 

“And they’d say: ‘Are you drinking? No? Don’t worry about it.'”

 

What’s more, knocking back a few coldies is so entrenched in Aussie culture that it can be seemingly impossible to get ahead without it. Think Bob Hawke, the longest-serving Labor Prime Minister in our nation’s history, who in large part attributed his political success to the fact he once held a world record for the fastest sculling of a yard of beer.

 

And, indeed, I’m not advocating that all business dealings should be based on teetotalling. I’m merely pointing out that to get the most out of a partnership, both sides are best served by a more detailed understanding of one another.

 

Jim Dougherty, a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, has argued that a good start to a working relationship is when a client likes you as a person and respects you professionally. But eventually they need to admire your “whole person”.

 

Dougherty wrote in the Harvard Business Review: “Over time, as you get to know people better, other aspects of their life become part of the conversation. Are you active in church or charity? Do you volunteer? If you have children, how much time do you spend with them? Are you living a life worthy of others’ respect?”

 

Aspects of a person that go above and beyond how well they hold their booze become determining factors.

 

As an agency, you are asking your clients to become invested in your success. And, more importantly, they are asking you to become invested in theirs. A genuine relationship is a great start.