At IWCO, our Marketing and Creative Services (MCS) team believes the strength of the relationship between a client organization and their marketing partner is critical.
Countless studies have shown that we are not alone in our belief that building strong client relationships is vital to our success and that of our clients. In one of these recent studies, it was reported that only 56% of client organizations were satisfied they had an honest and transparent relationship with their agencies.
We believe a solid client/agency relationship is based upon open communication, honesty, respect, and transparency. We understand that our clients depend on us, and are seeking a reliable agency partner that provides value and services beyond what they can accomplish internally. And as an agency, we seek clients who are looking for a strong, long-running strategic partnership.
Our Account Directors each bring more than 20 years of account service expertise to our clients. We understand what is most critical to a successful relationship and strive with each engagement to deliver to the highest expectations.
Hear directly from our Account Directors on what they feel is most important for the success of our client/agency relationships, as we strive to Make Better Happen for our clients.
Brent Doering: Being client-focused and representing the voice of the client is not for the faint of heart. Making Better HappenSM more times than not involves challenging the status quo both in conjunction with our clients as well as working with cross-functional colleagues to identify direct marketing solutions that meet (and exceed) client expectations.
It’s hard (and smart) work. It’s also quite rewarding. It’s utilizing our experience within specific verticals (and across verticals) to help drive remarkable Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI). It’s accurate and reliable test designs that help remove the illusion of knowledge from the equation and makes industry-leading full-scale rollouts happen. It involves always pushing for that one more “thing” from our internal teammates that will “tip the scales” for greater competitive differentiation.
At the end of the day, best-in-class engagement translates to relationships. Establishing and cultivating relationships where our success is intrinsically tied to our clients’ success. Attentive listening is a must. What are your annual goals? Objectives? What does success look like over the next six months? Tell me about the hurdles you’re faced with? It’s being fearless in conveying what they need to hear vs. perhaps what they’d like to hear. It’s an educational consultative approach where make no mistake about it … we’re in this together.
Alex Negrete: From a client’s point of view, we’re acting as that liaison “Ambassador” between themselves and the agency. So, we’ve got this really good view of both worlds. We put ourselves in the world of the client, we learn about what they do, what the industry is doing, really getting under the skin of their businesses, finding out about what challenges they have, their pain points, and bringing evidence-based outcome solutions to them.
Jarrod Preisen: The role of account management is to partner with clients to achieve their marketing goals and objectives. This is accomplished by nurturing relationships to the point where we become trusted advisors and an extension of the client’s internal team. Our account team learns the client’s business and competitive landscape, then partners with strategy team members to propose initiatives that will make a significant impact. Once these initiatives are established, the account team becomes facilitators, bringing the right functional teams together to execute against the strategies that Make Better Happen.
Cindy Schuster: Most important to me personally as an Account Director is being a reliable, credible, and trusted resource to our clients for all of their direct marketing needs. That means looking at everything through the lens of improving our clients’ business―developing thoughtful, effective, results-oriented work, being very responsive to client needs, while fostering an open dialogue in the spirit of true partnership, and continuing to do that together year after year.
Michelle Tufts: At IWCO, we help our clients succeed by always taking a three-pronged approach to enable them to meet their objectives. First, we are constantly building highly strategic test plans with an eye toward innovation and continued growth. We drive results through our contact strategy which includes collaboration between creative and our data sciences experts. Best-in-class is a team sport!
Second, winning means being highly engaged with the client and their stakeholders. It’s our job to make the best recommendations based on their objectives and budgets―especially in this challenging economy with raw materials and postage constantly being in flux. It’s our job to pivot. It’s our job to solve problems.
Lastly, we have the expertise and experience built into every part of the workflow. We pride ourselves on striving to always work smarter: for the client, for the team, for the pride we take away every day knowing that we get to be part of a tangible, measureable channel within the marketing mix.
Want to learn more about how IWCO’s Marketing and Creative Services team can Make Better Happen for your business? Contact us. We’re here to help.
