THE ART OF CLIENT SERVICE

1. Define success. 2. Be multilingual. 3. Live the clients brand.

58 THINGS EVERY ADVERTISING & MARKETING PROFESSIONAL SHOULD KNOW

ROBERT SOLOMON

3 1. Be brief, be bright, be gone. 3 2. Lead the meeting, dont tyrannize it. 3 3. Always follow up. 3 4. Judgment overrides any rule. 3 5. Credit is for creative directors. 3 6. You cannot lead an account from your desk. 3 7. Avoid the dark side. 3 8. Great work wins business; a great relationship keeps it. 3 9. We are smarter together than we are alone. 4 0. Make no commitment without consultation. 4 1. There is no NO in your client vocabulary. 4 2. Before you tell clients or colleagues what you think, tell them what you know. 4 3. Before you give clients what they need, first give them what they want. 4 4. How to write a letter of proposal. 4 5. The Zen of PowerPoint. 4 6. In a high-tech world, be low-tech. 4 7. Always think endgame. 4 8. No surprises about money or time. 4 9. Deal with trouble head-on. 5 0. If things go wrong, take the blame. 5 1. What happens when I screw up? 5 2. Remember the personal side of business relationships. 5 3. Take on the coloration of your clients, but do not compromise your character. 5 4. No matter how social it becomes, never forget that its business. 5 5. Once a client, always a client. 5 6. Make an investment in your personal style. 5 7. Invest some time (again) in these books. 5 8. Remember to say Thank You. 59. 60.

4. Agree on a strategy, a budget, and a schedule. 5. Always manage client expectations from the outset. 6. Take the word brief seriously. 7. Know when to look it up; know when to make it up. 8. Make the creative team partners in the brief. 9. In writing the brief, provide the clients perspective. 1 0. Get the clients input and approval on the brief. 1. Ask, What do my colleagues need to 1 create great advertising? then deliver it. 1 2. Always ask, Does this advertising pass the So What test? 1 3. Dont fall in love with good work. 1 4. Dont fall for bad work. 1 5. Choice is good. 1 6. Fight about the work with colleagues, fight for it with clients. 1 7. Do not sell. 1 8. Bring your clients into the process early. 1 9. Respect what it takes to do great creative. 2 0. Client presentations are as important as new business presentations. 2 1. No understudies on presentation day. 2 2. No scenery chewers, no dead bodies. 2 3. Be prepared to throw away the script. 2 4. The more informal you want to be, the more rehearsed you need to be. 2 5. Know your opening cold. 2 6. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. 2 7. Support what you say. 2 8. Listening is more important than talking. 2 9. Start on time, end on time. 3 0. Have an agenda and stick to it (most of the time).