My Second Week with a New First

Things really started picking up for me as I entered my second week at the agency. I felt more comfortable with my surroundings and co-workers which enabled me to figure out more efficient ways to balance my time. 

My boss asked me if I’d like to sit in on a meeting with a client. Of course I would. It became a personal goal of mine to sit in on as many meetings with clients and agency leaders as I could. I may have finished going to school but I knew that I still had a lot to learn from the people I was around if ever I wanted to be successful. I was now ready for the real learning experience to begin. This client was from one of the largest and most prolific companies in the world, so I was happy to be in the room.

As soon as I sat down I knew that this meeting would be important. I was just glad that I knew about what was being discussed.  Just because I was new was no excuse to be oblivious to the situation.

I was able to witness the importance of client relationships first hand. Throughout the meeting I was reminded of a great book I read when I was in college written by Robert Solomon titled The Art of Client Service. Solomon illustrates this process by using a triangle with Relationship as the top point and Trust and Great Work as the bottom points (see attachment). When describing the triangle Solomon says, “I used to think that great work would lead to a great relationship. Now I think the opposite: a great relationship leads to great work.” Building a great relationship with the client builds trust. According to Solomon, the only thing that really matters is the work.

This meeting wasn’t about building a relationship with the client; it was about discussing and planning the work. I could tell that the relationship between the client and agency was strong though, which will certainly lead to some great work.