For 23 years at Y&R, Shelley Diamond, the newly appointed Global Chief Client Officer, has had longstanding relationships with many of our clients. Her relationship with Xerox spans 25 years and two agencies, and she has been helping to build Campbell's business over 16 years. Here she presents her six tips to being your client's most important partner.

1. SHELLEY DIAMOND
CHIEF CLIENT OFFICER
6
WAYS TO BE YOUR
YOUR CLIENT’S
MOST IMPORTANT
PARTNER

2. BE PATIENT
Relationships take time to build. You don’t
ask someone to marry them on the first
date. This is someone you hopefully will be
flying around the world with, attending four
hour meetings with. Sometimes it gets off
to a slow start.

3. UNDERSTAND
YOUR CLIENT’S BUSINESS
How they make money, who they compete
with, and what keeps them up at night.

4. $
UNDERSTAND
YOUR CLIENT’S MARKETPLACE
They have a lot of things to do. But 100 percent
of our job is understanding how markets and
consumers, and customers interact with
brands. We are specialists in that. They do a lot
of other stuff. They have to rely on us to be
their eyes from the outside in.

5. HAVE A MUTUAL RESPECT
FOR EACH OTHER
Clients get the work they deserve. Really good clients are up
for a debate, a discussion, and the occasional argument. If
they want a “yes man,” what do they need an agency for? If
you want people who think like you do, you have them in
your company already. Why would someone trust you, if you
sell an idea and then leave? If a campaign doesn’t work, you
recover together. Being your clients’ most important partner
requires you to never stop bringing ideas.

6. DON’T GET COMPLACENT
Never stop trying to surprise and delight each
other. Do things to keep it interesting. There’s no
room for complacency. You can’t take for granted
that your client doesn’t have 1,000 choices every
day.

7. BE A GREAT LISTENER
Everyone will have a conversation with you, if you have
something relevant to say. Add value. If you can help
them, it changes the dynamic. If you can actually listen
to what they need – communicate, then you’re
speaking the same languages. Sometimes you speak
French and they speak Spanish.