Strategic Partnerships don’t just happen. They are the result of a carefully structured and nurtured plan that a whole team are aligned around and work together to deliver.
The value of strategic partnership is enormous.
Clients are trading high value benefits such as having a seat at the table, providing visibility of where their attention is and the problems they need to solve. They are more open to value pricing as well as referrals across the business.
Your client development plan just got a whole lot easier.
But the economic climate is driving ruthless selectivity. Agencies have to demonstrate the right skills, expertise and relationship from the first project.
This means having a Strategic Partnership gameplan – a framework of process, skills, behaviours and actions that the whole team provide at every touchpoint. Everyone signing with one voice so the client experience is overwhelmingly positive.
In our Masterclass “Building Balanced Partnerships” we discuss what the clients need as well as what the agency needs in order to find the Partnership Zone.
Relationship building is often seen as an expensive cost – or rather, its intangible effort translates as overspend on a project cost sheet. Yet, as just stated above, the value of a strategic partnership is immense.
So why is relationship-building effort not given clear metrics, and is treated as another measurable goal?
Our approach to building Strategic Partnerships enables Client Service Leaders to define measurable outcomes so the effort becomes trackable and the achievements can be recognised.
Attendees leave the session with a set of metrics that work for them, connected to agency goals that can be reported on and achieved.
Too often, relationship builders feel forced into over-servicing in order to deliver achieve a good relationship. But this just leaves the team exhausted and projects in overspend.
When you focus your energy on Partnership Zone activities and experience, both parties benefit in equal measure. And after all, that’s what a healthy, positive and long-term relationship needs. Without mutual benefit, it’s just one-sided and we know what they say about one-sided relationships – and how long they last.
Throughout the Masterclass, attendees develop their own specific Partnership framework, and start to populate it with actions, ideas, initiatives and measurable outcomes so everyone leaves with the beginning of a really robust and rewarding plan.
Strategic Partnership Plans works in harmony with, and in support of, your Client Development Plan.
Most Client Development Plans fall by the wayside by midyear. This is often because they are either “wishlists without substance” or the client relationship wasn’t ready to grow. The trust and influence wasn’t quite there.
The Strategic Partnership Plan is about shaping the foundations of the relationship so that business can grow.
In two 90 minute sessions, attendees will create a partnership-building framework, strategy, goals and actionable steps. This is the most valuable 3 hours a client service person can spend all year – and set you up for a successful 2026.
Find out if you are Strategic Partnership Ready
Email me for a link to take our diagnostic to see where you sit on the Partnership Readiness scale. hello@joannaanthony.com
I work with creative agencies and inhouse creative operations teams to translate strategy into systems, behaviours, and results. As a client service and change specialist with 30+ years’ experience inside agencies, I am skilled at ‘making it happen’.