Building trust in client / agency relationships

Some months back I did a piece of work for the IPA that sought to understand how clients could build mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships with their agency partners. Called Partnering for Growth, the report captured the inputs of a broad range of industry and non-industry experts, academics and both client and agency-side practitioners. I still get asked about it a lot, and earlier this week I presented it to a group of procurement specialists at an ISBA event.

Understandably perhaps, underpinning a lot of the feedback was the importance of trust. It came up in the interviews again and again. But I felt it was one of those things that is easy to say yet much harder to define in terms of specific behaviours. So using the inputs from the various interviews I developed a simple model to articulate what a trusted client/agency relationship actually looks like. The model is based around the acronym C.A.R.E, representing the critical elements of trust in client / agency relationships (a client agency trust pyramid if you like):

Credibility

This is the foundation of trust. Without credibility and good judgement (on both sides) it’s very difficult to build a meaningful relationship. This relates to competence, skills and knowledge in relevant domains but also confidence in capabilities and judgement. Credibility is something which can be established at the start of a relationship but is also something that builds over time. It can be demonstrated at an individual, team and organisational level.

Alignment

Credibility means nothing if goals are misaligned. Having clarity around shared objectives and ambitions ensures a clear direction of travel and measures for success. Alignment comes from good communication and understanding. Which is why transparency around business challenges and objectives is essential. The client needs to be open about the reality of the business context and needs. The agency needs to work hard to understand the client’s business and the dynamics of the sector and the audiences. Alignment also means creating a well-understood commercial model that supports mutual benefit (there’s quite a bit in the report about commercial models, building on the IPA’s ‘Pricing for Success‘ reports). A client/agency team that are aligned around shared objectives, a good level of understanding, and a mutually sustainable commercial arrangement are set up for success.

Reliability

Reliability is especially important in promoting trust over time. It relates to the dependability (on both sides) that is demonstrated in everyday working and is resonant of a true partnership. It’s key here that people’s actions match their commitments and promises, that they act with integrity and honesty in consistent ways, perhaps going above and beyond where necessary to deliver or support (discretionary effort), and act with respect in accordance with stated beliefs or values.

Environment

The environment and culture within a client/agency team plays an essential role in supporting mutuality, trust and effective working. Everyday behaviours that promote openness, transparency, and psychological safety. Google famously found that psychological safety was a critical factor in defining high-performing teams in its business. But what does it really mean? Harvard professor Amy Edmondson has defined psychological safety as ‘a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking’. A healthy team environment should mean that team members feel safe to contribute ideas, share their knowledge, ask questions, and even challenge norms without fear of blame or repercussions. This is how problems are solved. But it also means recognition and appreciation of contributions and good work.

Each of these elements are essential to building trust in a client/agency relationship and play a big part in generating a healthy, mutually sustainable partnership. But they are also highly interrelated, each supporting the others in an inter-woven web of arrangements, understanding, culture, and behaviours that can set a client/agency relationship up effectively from start, and then enable long term, mutually beneficial growth.

You can download the full IPA report here (reg required).

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