Once considered a ‘nice to have’ the strategic importance of marketing to an organization’s success is no longer open to question.  Marketers are judged on their ability to be creative and produce stunning media campaigns that support the sales effort. At the same time, they are expected to be au fait with the latest marketing technologies being introduced at an ever-rapid pace, all of which are supposed to make their lives easier.  The life of a marketer is no walk in the park that’s for sure.

So it comes as no surprise to me that the number of marketers looking for help to transform their patchwork of disjointed platforms (and this includes both technology and people) into something that’s streamlined and effective – is on the rise.

I’ve just spent 6 months onsite at a client, an ideal way to get to know your client’s business, understand their culture and fast track the relationship. This level of intimacy allows you to add enormous value and improve your client’s performance, but is not without its challenges.

If not handled positively, being up close and personal can do more harm than good.  It can damage the relationship and impede future business dealings. Client issues like corporate structure, managing growth, management re-organizations and opposing company visions, can negatively impact an onsite engagement.

Under these circumstances, delivering on the task at hand becomes secondary because one is thrown into a political mine field where a lot of time and energy is spent decoding unclear communication, and managing skewed perceptions.  In this situation, the relationship can be compromised irrespective of the quality of work.

So what can we do to succeed in building trusted relationships and helping clients to improve performance?  Based on my experiences, here are my top tips:

1.Get buy in from the top. Partnering with the CEO and senior management will ensure one focuses on issues and opportunities at the highest level. In this way, solutions are more likely to be supported and integrated across all business units in the organization.

2. Build collaboration, not competition. Working with the client team and their agency partners helps generate innovative ideas, builds support and momentum and allows you to come up with relevant, practical solutions. This level of collaboration will also ensure cohesive implementation of the strategy across all communication channels.

3. Assemble the best resources for the job. While this is easier said than done, do not lean on the nearest and most available people. They may not be sensitive to the client’s culture, or adequately skilled to handle the task. Not only is it disruptive when team members are replaced, but it impacts the relationship with the client at a deeper more fundamental level opening up questions around performance and trust.

4. Manage the service delivery. A solid focus on results and reporting metrics helps to tell a story, it makes performance tangible. It also provides the evidence behind recommendations, giving the client confidence in their decision.

5. Be Switzerland. When based onsite, one is privy to information from many groups. Irrespective of the type of information and the source, it is advisable to maintain a level of confidentiality and objectivity at all times. By remaining impartial, you are more likely to build respect and trust.

In reality, a client’s internal environment cannot be controlled. Working onsite can be chaotic, frustrating and messy. Even with passion and the necessary expertise, complications and unpredictability invariably get in the way. As professionals, we have become hard wired to believe that such difficulties are the stumbling blocks to renewed contracts and future engagements. Rather than resisting these inconveniences and hoping for smooth sailing, we need to acknowledge them, open up to them and work to apply the principles suggested above.