Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Borislav Miljanović, CEO, Represent Communications
When agencies receive an invite to participate in the pitch for a new client, presentations are prepared with the intention to impress the potential client and to offer innovative solutions for business improvement. The entire agency invests a lot of effort, and often engages additional resources to help get the “wow effect” that will make it stand out from the competition. And here things are quite clear.
However, what happens when in front of you is a task through which you need to re-win the trust of a client with whom you’ve been collaborating several years, or even more than a decade? Many think that this is a far easier task than when you first bid for someone’s attention, but the fact of the matter is that this thing is far more complex.
Just imagine that you have to make the same person fall in love with you all over again after ten years together, during which you have been through a lot together, and have got to know each other so well that it sometimes seems that between you there can be no surprises. When you look at the things this way, you realize that the task ahead is not really as simple as it sounds.
Represent Communications has just renewed collaboration with Coca-Cola HBC Serbia after 12 years of working together, through which we have proved that the multi-year partnerships in our line of work are possible. But in order to be able to really win the same client over and over again, you need to fill some important prerequisites.
Every time is like the first
Here we return to the story of “falling in love all over again”. One of the reasons why we managed to be re-selected by Coca-Cola HBC Serbia again as their agency for public relations and communications after all this time is that we approach each task as if it was the first time we work together. This is something that many take for granted, but clients greatly appreciate it when they see that you have made an effort to look at the task from a new, different angle, not relying solely on past experiences and not repeating patterns that have proved successful in collaboration to date.
Be inventive, not just innovative
The dynamics of business in the sphere of communication today has reached acceleration that was unimaginable just five years ago, primarily due to the development of technology in the field of communication. It is therefore important that in addition to innovation (which everyone offers) you are also inventive, ie that you know how to translate innovative ideas to serve the needs of your client. It is not enough to just create new solutions, it is necessary that these solutions are implemented in a way that will contribute most to the improvement of client’s business.
Dedication has no price
When you are truly dedicated to what you do, your clients are going to see it and feel it. What also emerges from dedication is loyalty. When clients can feel the passion that you have for the job through your work, and your desire to accomplish the set goals, they will not seek any other confirmation of loyalty. Passion can be seen from the way in which you present and defend your ideas, how ready you are to anticipate potential problems or crisis situations and how proactive you are in solving them.
Be always ready
Agency’s task is not only to have the answers to all the questions, but also to all the follow-up questions. Therefore, it is necessary that you are well familiar with client’s business, but also the environment in which they operate. You need to monitor industry trends, analyze competition and consumers or audience you are speaking to on behalf of the client. Take care about the reputation of the client in the same way you take care of your own. Do not stop when you reach the leadership position, because your work actually just begins there. Justify this position and always raise the bar one step higher.
Build trust through honesty
We believe that one of the key factors of our successful collaboration with Coca-Cola HBC Serbia is the trust that we’ve built thanks to the sincere relationship. Long-term relationships are always based on a great deal of sincerity and trust, which is why it is important that all obstacles and problems are overcome with a maximum dose of openness. Evaluate the tasks, measure results and learn from them, especially when they are not in your favor. When you manage to find a way to get out of difficult situations with the attitude that this is the best thing that could have happened to you, you win over ego, and then you are really ready to grow together and create great works.