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'Trust' isn't generally the first topic of choice between agency and client on conference calls... Generally it's more about improving sales, marketing campaigns, sales strategies, advertisement placement, etc. Today's featured article is written by Derek Walker for AdAge. Derek shares with us that when we as agencies do our job correctly our clients should feel comfortable coming to us for more than just creating ads. We'd love to hear your thoughts. When has a client reached out to you or your agency for more than just ads? Tweet about it @seedingideas Read more on Derek's thoughts below:

 

"I want to talk to you about our new director of sales," said the voice over the phone.

"Uh, OK," I responded, "What about him? I haven't met him."

 

"That's because we haven't hired the person yet. I want your opinion about what we should be looking for," said my client and the owner of the company.

 

That threw me off a little.

 

"You do realize that you called Derek, don't you?" I asked.

 

"Of course. I called you because I trust you. You always try to give us great advice, even when it is something you think we don't want to hear," she said. "I know you'll tell me what you really think."

 

We talked about her company's needs, her goals, how she wants her company to grow and what type of culture she wants to maintain. We compared all of the candidates to see how they fit into her vision for the company's future and created a list of those she will present to her board to consider for an interview.

 

Right before I hung up, she said, "See, I knew I could trust you to help."

 

Over the course of our relationship, my client and I have talked about anything and everything. The relationship between her company and my agency hasn't always been "comfortable," but it has always been about moving her company forward.

 

There was something about the comment "I trust you" that won't leave me alone. I keep coming back to the idea of a client trusting us this much, and what it really means. I wish I could say that our agency had planned for this to happen, but we didn't. We never sat around and asked, "How can we get the client to trust us?"

 

"We should have a plan for developing trust," I tell myself. But the more I think about it, the less I like the idea of having a plan. It doesn't feel sincere to plan to develop trust.