Connecting with Clients: For stronger, more rewarding and longer-lasting client relationships

by Paul Cowan

Overview

CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS

Finding some clients difficult to understand?

Confused when they say one thing but mean another?

Need better, more useful feedback?

Sometimes feel on the back-foot?

Have trouble managing client expectations?

Wonder why they seem impossible to please?

Concerned about being blind-sided by unexpected client loss?

THIS BOOK IS YOUR LIFELINE

Connecting with Clients contains new ideas derived from the world’s leading relationship experts

Insights from over 500,000 pieces of client feedback worldwide

With tips and guidance from an adman, organisational change agent, couples’ counsellor and co-founder of The Client Relationship Consultancy

Dip into short chapters and discover a valuable insight on every page

REJUVENATE YOUR CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS

With the help of this book, you will be able to:

Evaluate your client relationships and diagnose issues

Recognise your part in a problem

Obtain useful and clear feedback

Understand, relate to and communicate with your clients

Manage yourself and your team members

Get the best from your clients so that they get the best from you

CONNECTING WITH CLIENTS WILL SAVE YOU TIME, EFFORT AND MONEY AND MAKE LIFE MORE ENJOYABLE.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857198594
Publisher:	Harriman House
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.05(d)

About the Author

Paul Cowan is a relationship specialist. He had a successful career in leading international advertising agencies and opened his own agency. Fascinated by the effect of the interplay of internal and client relationships he studied at the University of Surrey Business School and Metanoia/Middlesex University, becoming a change agent and psychotherapist. He worked with individuals and couples and consulted with teams and organisations. He specialises in client relationships and works internationally to facilitate change between agencies and their clients. He co-founded the Client Relationship Consultancy and the Customer Relationship Consultancy. This is his first book.

Table of Contents

Connecting with Clients ix

As You Use This Book, Remember the Principle of Marginal Gains xiii

About the Author xv

Already Listening. But Not Hearing. 1

Annual Reviews. What's Not to Like? 4

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. Managing More In Less Time. 7

Bad News Sticks. 11

Best Boss. Worst Boss. The Importance of Emotional Intelligence. 13

Brilliant Basics. 18

Bullshit. The Fastest Way to Undermine Your Relationships. 20

Burn Calories, Build Relationships, Create New Opportunities and Enjoy a Coffee. The Benefits of Walking the Corridors. 23

Call Your Clients Every Day and Keep the Other Agencies Away. 26

Change Blindness. How To Drift Into Trouble. 29

Clean Language. How To Understand What Your Client Means. And How To Help Them Understand What They Really Mean. 31

Communication in the Virtual World. The Impact on Us and Our Client Relationships. 36

Critical Voice in Your Head? Four Liberating Questions. 42

David Ogilvy's Advice for Client Relationships. 45

Effective Listening. 47

Email. The Everyday Opportunity to Miscommunicate With Your Colleagues and Clients. 54

"Everything Is Ok." Is Your Client Telling the Whole Truth? Diagnostic Inquiry. 57

Excellence or What the Hell are You Doing Here? 63

Exit Interview Your Clients. It's Never Too Late to Get Feedback. 65

Extravert or Introvert? Getting the Best From Yourself and Others. 68

Feedback or Feedforward. Why Look Back When You Can Look Forward? 73

Global Account Gain, Local Office Pain. Forced Relationships. 76

"Good Work is Not Enough." Care In Relationships. 82

Hidden Complaints Will Bite Your Arse If You Miss Them. 86

How to Alienate Your Clients. Top Tips From Real Life. 90

Intuition. Aka Trust Your Gut. 92

Just Pick Up the F*****G Phone. 96

Managing Expectations. 98

Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. 103

Micro-Events. How They Form a Narrative. 112

Mindset. Fixed or Growth? 121

Mistakes and Learning go Together. 125

Never Give Up. There is Always Another Option. 127

One Meeting. Two Contrasting Realities. 130

Opening the Johari Window. 134

Optimism Bias. How to Feel Good and Make Poor Decisions. 142

Ownership. Aka a Sense of Agency. 146

Parent, Adult or Child? Ego States - The Hidden Dynamic Affecting Your Relationships. 151

Partnership with Your Clients? 166

People. Too Important to Leave to the HR Team. 169

Perceptions are Reality. 173

Problem A and Problem B. Why Agencies Get Hired for the Work and Fired for the Relationship. And the Real Reason that Emma and Jason are in Couples Counselling. 177

Psychological Games. 181

Red Zone or Blue Zone? 185

Redundancy Effect. What Happens When You Overload Your Client's Mind in a Pitch or Presentation. 189

Self-Development and Personal Growth. Once You Know Something About Yourself, You Can't Unknow It. That Leads to Growth. 192

Separated by a Common Language. Why You and Your Client May Use the Same Words But Mean Different Things. 194

Stop Moaning. Start Motivating. 199

Target Fixation. How to Avoid It Hurting You, Killing You or Simply Wasting Your Time, Energy and Money. 203

Team Change. The Masters and Disasters. 209

The Agency Doesn't Listen. Real Clients. In Their Own Words. 213

The Finger of Blame. Easily Done in a Pressurised Agency World. 220

The Hologram. Understanding a Client Organisation. 221

The Sound Relationship House. 225

The Telephone List. Overcoming Avoidance, the Easy Way. 234

The Unwritten Contract with Your New Client. It's Psychological. 236

The Virus Infecting Your Client Team. Contagious, Airborne and Damaging to Health. And Spread by Even the Most Junior Client. 242

The Working Alliance. Aka the 60-Second Relationship Check. 245

Training Your Clients. And Possibly Your Partner. 248

Trust. "You know it when you feel it." 250

Tzur Nstink, Shitak Khosink. Let's Sit Crooked But Talk Straight. 259

Understanding Your Client's Organisation. Use a Metaphor. 260

Wash Ups. Get the Dirt Out Before It Sticks. 263

What You Look for You Will Find. A Buddhist Tale. 266

When The S*** Hits the Fan. The Importance of Staying Calm When Things Are Hot. 268

Who are You? An Opportunity to Stop Wasting Your Energy. 270

Why Client-Agency Relationships are Always Unstable. Hello Agency Theory. 275

Why Relationships have Become Increasingly Transactional. 280

Your Client is Not Crazy. He is Just Different From You. 282

Your Client Speaks. You Remember It Differently. 285

Your Psychological Contract. 287

ZZZZZZZZ. Staying Alert With the Ever-So-Dull Client. 292

And Finally. This Book Could Not Have Happened Without… 295

Notes and References 297

What Next? 329

Index 331

Editorial Reviews

A must read for every client facing exec from a first day graduate to hardened Global CEO. It is the first book of its kind. Rammed full of insights, top tips and ideas to strengthen any client relationship” —Paul Bainsfair. Director General, IPA

“This book is a game changer for agencies and all professional service businesses. It is a truly practical, effective toolkit based on applying psychology to relationship management. Enjoyable and the ideas work.” —Stephen Woodford. CEO The Advertising Association

From the Publisher