Recently, we had a tech issue where our emails to a client were not being received. Long story short, one word flagged our emails that kept placing us in email jail. The word was a platform that our client’s security measures deemed problematic, thus made communication rather challenging.

After not hearing from the client via email, we called. And, in COVID times, calling offices wasn’t that simple. With the help of their wonderful assistant, we were able to connect and resolve our communication mishap.

The client was so thankful for the communication and admitted that they thought we were just ignoring their request. We thrive on constant communication, and the client had never experienced bad or lack of communication from us. After some discovery, it was revealed that the client was reliving a past experience with another agency that made its way into our relationship and projected itself onto our current process.

We all do that. In personal and professional experiences, we subconsciously project past-lived experiences onto present moments, which make us second guess everything.

Our client’s experience with the previous agency isn’t a new problem. We’ve all heard stories about problematic agency-client relationships. And that is why having someone on your team advocate for the project is crucial. Advocating for the project means constant communication with the client team and the internal team. The success of the project is the ultimate goal. And reaching that goal means having the conversations, the easy and difficult ones, as communicating is the core of a strong relationship, whatever form or shape it might take.

So, if you all are planning to actively pursue resolutions in 2021, add the following to your list:

Have the hard conversations. And the easy conversations. But resolve to talk and communicate and work together to come to a fruitful conclusion.

You want more inspiring tidbits? Check out our 30-day calendar, “Deuces, 2020,” for more inspo.