Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

While watching President Obama's first State of the Union address, I found myself wondering, "What if he had tackled some easier issues earlier and gotten some small wins under his belt? Would it have made a difference if he had developed a better working relationship with Congressional Republicans before tackling the complex task of healthcare reform? Would he have had more success if he had tempered his ambitions early?"

I don't know the answers and it's easy to be the Monday Morning Quarterback on politics. But I do believe there are lessons we can learn from Obama's first year to inform how we build new client relationships. Here are four:

• Trust is earned, not assumed. I sometimes have the sense that agency people believe clients should take their advice because, well, we're the experts. That strikes me as arrogant. No matter what your agency or personal credentials are, you have to build trust in each individual client relationships. That means backing up your recommendations with facts and research. Doing what you said you would do. Assuming accountability.

• Nurture relationships. It's easy to get focused on doing the work and forget about building the relationships and processes to execute. The best way we've found to build relationships is to ask questions. Learn how your client contacts like to work. Understand their priorities. Find about their typical day. Know how they are evaluated and how the work you are doing fits into their goals. From this starting point, you can build a relationship that will sustain the rough patches.

• Score quick wins. Working with your client, identify early opportunities for success. Within the first 90 days generate quick wins. The wins will help establish trust and build momentum for the long march. If you haven't had any wins in 90 days, chances are the relationship is in trouble.

• Keep focused on the goal. Some would say Obama failed in communicating the big picture to the American people. That he allowed the healthcare reform debate to get into the weeds without keeping people focused on the challenge and the potential. We often face the same challenges in client relationships. We get distracted by tactics and get off course. One way we have approached this is to keep our top three goals for the client's organization front and center in all communications. We have posted it in meetings and used it at the top of recommendations and reports. Repetition helps.

The good news is most client relationships don't start with presidential-level expectations, a 24-7 news cycle or with an opposition party. Paying attention to a few basics upfront a can set the stage for a successful first year.