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While many clients will remain through an initial project, other clients choose to continue working with us year after year. As such, below are the factors which make this decision process unique to iARATech and the lessons that have been learned along the way. To begin, let me say that while many agencies may initially believe that a successful onboarding process is key to building lasting relationships, a strong proposal process is critical for obtaining new projects, and a competitive pricing model is essential for winning those projects; these are merely “table-stakes” for creating an opportunity to grow into a long-term relationship with your client. The real factor which determines whether or not a client chooses to engage in a long-term relationship with an agency like iARATech is not necessarily based upon how well the first campaign performs. Instead, the reason why some clients choose to continue working with iARATech is due to the quality of service and support provided by the agency during each subsequent campaign.
The same holds true for how clients view the level of honesty and transparency demonstrated by iARATech when issues arise. For example, if the client experiences difficulties in month seven related to a particular campaign and no one at the agency makes excuses or tries to hide from the issue, the client appreciates this level of honesty and develops trust in the agency. This is the type of service and communication that creates long-term relationships. So, let’s take a look at how a service relationship can either be transactional (e.g., you want something – we deliver something) or it can be a partnership (where both parties are invested in the success of the client).
A service relationship can be broken down into two types: Transactional (the customer orders a product/service and receives that product/service) and partnership (a collaborative approach between both parties). iARATech chose to develop a partnership-based model versus a transactional one. Why? It wasn’t because of profit margins or anything else related to profit; however, it was because only a partnership-based model allows the service provider to evolve and improve over time, as opposed to simply delivering the next product/service. When an agency becomes a trusted partner, they become much more familiar with their client’s business operations, allowing them to identify potential future requirements before their client articulates those needs themselves. Only a partnership-based model produces results that truly benefit the client.
That transition from vendor to partner does not occur overnight. It requires intentional effort, consistent delivery over time, and a willingness to demonstrate value through actions. Below are some ways iARATech demonstrates its commitment to partnering with our clients:
The iARATech Approach to Client Services
→ How We Understand Your Business (Not Just The Brief)
Each time we start a new client engagement at iARATech, our first question is one that extends far beyond your project scope: What does "success" really mean for your business over the next 12 months? Success in this case means more than just the results from this campaign. More than just the output of this data project. It means success as a business overall.
This single question can profoundly change the quality of all that follows. Teams that understand where they're headed as a whole will be able to make better decisions along the way. They will recognise when items in the brief don't help them reach their ultimate objective. They will develop and present suggestions that were not originally requested, yet are specifically what are required. Most importantly, they will care about outcomes, not simply about producing an output.
→ Communicating During Difficult Moments
There is one unpalatable fact regarding long-term relationships (whether personal or professional): all have ultimately reached a point of great strain. Missed deadlines, failed deliverables, and misunderstandings that snowball out of control before someone catches them.
The issue is not whether these situations occur; they will. The question is what a team does when they do it. At iARATech, the response has consistently been the same: acknowledge the problem directly; communicate promptly; accept responsibility for the gap without making excuses; and provide solutions to the client prior to them asking for one. This may appear obvious. However, in actuality, it requires significant self-discipline. The tendency in stressful situations is typically to pause, to wait and observe if the situation will resolve itself, and to tone down the communication.
Those clients who have remained with us for extended periods of time will attest that it was our directness and immediacy in communicating during the challenging times which developed the greatest amount of trust, not the good times. Our willingness to remain transparent in the midst of complication.
THE CLIENT RETENTION STORY
The long-term client relationships we build are in the day-to-day small stuff and the many times each week/each month that will never be documented in a "case study". They are built on the 6AM email reply and the internal meeting where someone says, "Is this the BEST THING FOR THIS CLIENT?" The people on our team care so much about delivering what they said they would deliver that they search for problems before shipping.
Our longest-standing clients at iARATech didn't stay due to convenience or a contract. Our longest-standing clients stayed because somewhere along the way the "service" they received from us turned into something realer. Something better than just a "service arrangement", something more honest. A group of people that truly had their backs.
This isn't a marketing language. This is 10 years of showing up, one project after another and one challenge after another and making the choice every-time to choose the right thing to do over the easy-thing. Long-term relationships developed through this process will not turn over. They will GROW.