Creating Valuable and Meaningful Client-Partner Relationships 

While the pandemic has forced many businesses to change the way they operate, one thing remains the same: people need to make connections with others in order to succeed. From personal relationships to professional ones, it’s more important than ever to build strong partnerships with friends, family members, colleagues and clients to ensure personal and professional growth.

As a result of the pandemic and associated economic pressures, many companies were forced to scale back on spending that was not crucial to keeping their business afloat. Marketing budgets were slashed for many while some chose to invest in their business in hopes of coming out of the pandemic stronger. While these investments can pay off in the long run and create a competitive advantage, this approach does come with some risk.

It may seem illogical for companies to increase any investment in marketing while sales are down, but if done properly, the relationships developed and reinforced can help alleviate those complications. It is up to you and your sales and marketing team to help earn the trust of your client contacts. When they feel safe with your business and your brand, they will safe investing their own hard–earned resources to help grow and sustain their work.

By bringing in external communications resources to view a company’s current practices, a business can receive an outside perspective on what will work and what won’t work. For public relations and communications professionals, this relationship begins with an introduction. Whether the potential client connects through an online form or someone from the company introduces themselves at a networking event, that first contact is often the easiest and the most important touch point. From that moment on, nurturing the lead is key. CRM systems such as HubSpot, Keap or Zoho allow you to track the progress of a lead until they sign on and become a client.

But knowing what to say is just as important as knowing who to say it to. Recognizing the state of the world, being empathetic, and framing yourself as a trusted partner, in addition to doing great work, will speak volumes. Show that you are a true brand advocate and set yourself up for success from the start.

Recently, a potential client reached out to our firm through our website, requesting help with an event they had planned for the next month. Based on their needs, we would have only four four weeks to create and implement a complete communications plan – and as serve as a project manager for the launch. While some would have viewed it an impossible task, we positioned our firm as a true partner and dug in – from day one – by responding quickly with insightful counsel, advising on best practices, and showing great value and expertise through our work.

Building strong client-partner relationships like this are key as we continue through and come out of the pandemic. Brands are trusting marketers during a difficult time, so it is crucial to develop a partnership where the client contact feels completely comfortable relying on your expertise to create measurable results for the brand.