I’ve been working in and partnering with agencies for over 30 years – for the past 14 years as CEO leading Digivizer and Gotogame – and I’ve seen it all when it comes to client-agency relationships. I wanted to share why some become long-term, trusted partnerships that drive incredible business outcomes and others fall apart before they ever really get going. Whilst I am proud of the many decade-long client relationships we have at Digivizer, there is much to learn in understanding any failures.
So what makes the difference? It’s not just about delivering great work. The strongest relationships, the ones that truly stand the test of time, are built on something much deeper: trust, shared goals, and a willingness to adapt and grow together. A client’s needs today won’t be the same in a year or two. Business priorities naturally shift, leadership changes, and market conditions and competition are constantly evolving.
Agencies that can’t adapt to these changes for their clients don’t just struggle; they become obsolete. It’s not enough to deliver what was promised months ago; it’s about anticipating what’s needed in the months ahead.
Building strong foundations
The starting point for any successful collaboration is ensuring clear business goals and measurable outcomes are understood and agreed upon upfront. This means aligning on strategy, budgets, roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators (KPIs) from the very beginning. Establishing clear expectations around timing – when deliverables will be made and when results are expected – sets the tone for the entire project.
Investment must also be made in understanding the client’s business, industry, and competitors. The agency should be deeply familiar with the pressures faced by all stakeholders and the KPIs they are being evaluated and remunerated by. When you look to create a deep understanding of the client, brand, and market, you ensure complete alignment with the agreed program and approach. This includes documented agreement of the strategy, plan, budgets, targets, timeframes, and outcomes.
Taking time to agree to meeting schedules, communication processes, and approval workflows – and ensuring these systems are in place – lays a strong foundation for a successful relationship.
Periodically Reassessing Client Needs
One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is assuming they know what a client wants without regularly checking in to see if that is still the case. I’ve seen teams continue with previously agreed strategies and focus areas, which in time are no longer relevant or working. If you’re constantly asking your clients, “What matters most to you right now?” and “How would you rate our performance out of ten?”, you’ll uncover if anything is misaligned. It also creates opportunities to realign, educate or quickly pivot if needed.
Successful partnerships are never transactional – they’re dynamic. Agencies need to make a point of constantly recalibrating their approach and scheduling deep-dive sessions with clients. It’s important to ask your client where they’re seeing success, where they’re finding challenges, and most importantly, “What does success look like for their business?”. It’s just as important to ask “What could we be doing better?”, and to see if their senior leaders feel the same way as them. The more we understand their evolving needs, and explore with curiosity, the more we stay on the same page. Curiosity underpins all working relationships. I firmly believe agencies and clients should be open to proactively seeking, measuring, and acting on insights. This approach allows you to anticipate and welcome change – rather than merely reacting to it.
Managing Expectations with Data-Driven Conversations
Misaligned expectations can be a major relationship killer. I’ve seen clients with ambitious goals, like wanting to double their organic reach in three months or reaching a growth milestone, but their budgets and plans just won’t deliver to those ambitions. While these goals might sound great, without a solid strategy, data, resources, and budget to back them up, they can quickly become unrealistic and unreachable.
It’s important to avoid conversations based on opinion or one-off data points. I’ve observed clients reacting to a single person’s comment or personal opinion, which isn’t supported by data. In those instances, it is best to respond with concrete data. As we all have access to real-time insights, we can either substantiate or challenge those individualized opinions with data-backed facts.
The best client relationships are built on open, data-driven conversations. When you bring performance data into the discussion, you remove the emotion from the conversation and help shift the focus to practical solutions and new hypotheses.
Balancing Ego with Data-Backed Experimentation
Ego is a factor in any business, whether client-side or agency-side. Over my years of experience, I’ve learned the key to managing it is balancing passion with pragmatism. The most successful partnerships I’ve had have been those where we created a culture of experimentation – testing, and learning. When you prioritize data and insights over opinions, it encourages everyone to have a more open and collaborative mindset.
Rather than shutting down an idea, it should be viewed as an opportunity: “Let’s test this approach and see what the data tells us.” With a test-and-learn approach, the best ideas rise to the top – not just the loudest ones. It’s crucial to continuously test, be open to the results, and share the learnings, insights, and recommendations for what’s next.
I’ve seen how shifting from “my way or the highway” to data-backed testing transforms relationships and leads to better outcomes. It creates space for all voices to be heard, and the results speak for themselves.
Spotting Risks Before They Become Problems
Even when things are going well, it’s essential to still stay proactive. The most successful agencies don’t just react to change; they anticipate it. Subtle shifts in a client’s business, market dynamics, competitors, or even platform changes, can often signal bigger issues on the horizon. Whether it’s leadership changes, new decision-makers, market shifts, or a change in focus – it’s crucial to recognize these signs early and adapt accordingly.
The stronger the relationship and commitment to continuous testing and learning, the better equipped you’ll be to navigate these changes together. Staying attuned to these shifts and proactively assessing where value can be added is key to staying ahead of the curve and ensuring you deliver results that matter.
Celebrating Success and Growing Together
Long-term partnerships aren’t just about avoiding failure – they’re about celebrating success together. The best relationships I’ve had have been those where both sides are committed to long-term growth and acknowledgment of the progress and wins along the way. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your team passionate about the clients they work for, fully invested in their success.
When an agency becomes an extension of a client’s team – integrated into their goals, challenges, and vision – that’s where the magic happens. We also ensure our team bonuses are tied to client growth and satisfaction with us., aligning everything our team works on with the client’s success. This mutual growth results in success for our employees, our clients, and our business.
We make a point to celebrate milestones with clients, whether it’s a shared case study, a simple note of appreciation, or a celebratory lunch. Acknowledging these moments creates momentum, and it’s in those moments of celebration that the true strength of the partnership is felt.
The Enduring Power of Partnership
From my experience, successful client-agency relationships don’t just last because of great work. They endure because both sides are willing to evolve, communicate openly, and invest in long-term growth.
There’s nothing more rewarding than looking back at photos of your client and your team from earlier years, seeing how far you’ve come, and still celebrating wins together. Those are the relationships that stand the test of time, and they make all the hard work worthwhile.