At AWP we love applying our expertise to create brands with impact. We want to spend our time working with clients who are doing good to help further their missions. We’re a small team so it’s important that we determine a good client fit before we engage.
If you are responsible for creating new client relationships and you work in a small agency like ours, my advice would be to develop a list of qualifying criteria for consideration with each new potential client that contacts you. Having a go-to list will help you stay on course when cultivating the types of client relationships that keep your agency satisfied. Keep your list short, not more than 10 big-picture items that speak to your agency values and principles. Here’s our list:
10 questions we ask ourselves before engaging in a new client relationship
- Can we have impact?
- Can we seriously get behind their mission?
- Is our expertise the right match for their needs?
- Do we have experience that will support this relationship?
- Will the engagement align with our core principles?
- Will our work be supporting something innovative?
- Are they socially and/or environmentally conscious?
- Will our engagement have dynamic and creative energy?
- Is there an entrepreneurial spirit?
- Are there respectful and realistic expectations of time and cost?
Take our list as a starting point and adapt it to fit your own agency’s mission. Being able to vet a potential client against your list to determine if they’re a good fit will ensure that your agency’s time and effort is well spent on work that is fulfilling and rewarding.