1.13.22 | read time: 5 mins
The CS Filter: Fostering Productive Feedback
116 & West
As the front line and point-of-contact in all client communication, the Client Services (CS) team has a little saying when someone asks, “what do you do?” To put it simply, we’re the voice of the client to the agency and the voice of the agency to the client.
That’s often easier said than done, but thankfully (for us and for our clients) we have an incredible team to make sure that both voices are always heard loud and clear.
While many of my coworkers have naturally charming personalities, we can’t totally attribute that to our successes when acting as the filter between the client and the agency. It takes work from everyone. Moreover, there are a few proactive steps everyone can take to ensure smooth, clear communication between an agency and our clients.
Adapting to Different Communication Styles
A big part of our role, and a major factor in ensuring positive interactions, is building relationships with our clients. It’s no secret that everyone has a different communication style and processes information in various ways. That’s where we come in. Part of building those relationships is learning each client’s communication style, which oftentimes is influenced by their personality.
As discussed in a previous blog, every client is different. Some respond better to emails, while others prefer phone calls. Still, some enjoy small talk and love to chat about the weather and their weekend, while others want to get straight to the point. Having a good feel for the client’s personality also helps discern tone, especially in written communications.
Our job is to identify a client’s preferred communication style and adapt to it–kind of like a communication chameleon. The next step to ensuring smooth interactions is taking a client’s discourse tendencies and applying that knowledge to how they give and receive feedback.
Receiving Feedback from Clients
We do our best to notice how clients provide feedback and take notes on any trends in what they say. Are they specific, or are they vague? Do they know exactly what they want going into a project, or do they need to see something to which they can react?
It’s imperative for the CS team to accurately synthesize a client’s feedback, and it might require asking clarifying questions. For example, if a client shares that they aren’t in love with something, we ask them to do their best to explain the specific aspects of what they didn’t like. We ask if there is a certain mood or feeling they want to elicit with the creative.
The relationships we build with clients also tend to inform some of the feedback we receive from them. All human beings have quirks. Getting to know these quirks can help us understand the why behind a requested change.
Sometimes, we work together internally to figure out the questions that best get to the root of what our client is trying to communicate. This means taking the initial client feedback and discussing it with a designer, digital team member, or one of our media wizzes.
Ultimately, this helps our creative, digital, and/or media teams get the right information to make any necessary changes.
Giving Feedback to Clients
While it’s imperative to learn how clients communicate when giving feedback, we must also learn how clients receive feedback from us as an agency. Some are more open to feedback and suggestions from the agency, and others might be more committed to their original thoughts.
As a CS team, our job is to take the comments from our colleagues within the agency and provide context and a filter that makes it easy for the client to digest, all while keeping in mind how that particular client handles feedback.
A good example of this is when agencies have to shoot down a client’s idea–AKA gently guiding them in a more strategic direction. As long as we do it with kindness, reiterate the fact that their idea may not serve the campaign’s ultimate goal, and meet them with their preferred mode of communication, what can be a difficult conversation turns into a relatively easy interaction.
Simplicity and clarity are just as important for our teams as they are for the client. We often don’t realize that what makes sense to us on the agency side might not make sense to someone outside of the industry.
We use terms, abbreviations, and acronyms (SOW, KPI, CPC, and don’t even get us started on the various file types) in internal communications that make sense to our teams. But if we used that exact same language with clients, we could be more confusing than helpful.
So, keep it simple! The best explanations don’t need the most complex words. Plus, it saves time and frustration, which is something we can all appreciate.
Sharing Client Feedback Internally
Because this filter is a two-way street, there are things we need to keep in mind when sharing client feedback with other departments within the agency. With feedback coming in all different forms–long, short, sometimes confusing–it’s the CS team’s job to filter that information from the client so that it’s easily digestible for our creative, media, or digital teams.
Our goal is to take the reactions we receive, filter through to find the most necessary information, provide context to anything that may be confusing or open-ended, and get down to the core. From there, we need to think about who is going to receive the feedback, and what other information they may need to successfully make changes.
By providing clear and detailed feedback for our team, we can cut down on unnecessary back-and-forths and ultimately save time on the project.
The Unfiltered Truth
So, while Client Services is the voice of the agency to/from the client, that voice is filtered. It’s filtered so we can always be as clear and detailed for the rest of the agency. It’s filtered so we can best explain work to our clients. It’s filtered for the sake of clarity, detail, and efficiency. Every day we learn something new to help us be that much better in our role.