The 5 Key Principles of Client Service with Robert Solomon

Andrew Dymski interviews Robert Solomon, founder of Solomon Strategic and author of The Art of Client Service, about the foundational principles that separate agencies with strong client relationships from those constantly churning accounts. Robert brings decades of experience from leadership roles at agencies like Ammirati and Digitas, plus time as a CEO, and distills that experience into a practical framework any agency can apply.

Why Trust Is the Foundation of Everything

Robert opens with a perspective that reframes how most agency owners think about their work: “Great work doesn’t drive great relationships. Great relationships drive great work. Great relationships are built on trust.”

This distinction matters because many agencies invest heavily in delivering exceptional creative or strategic output while neglecting the relationship layer that makes that work possible. Trust is what carries you through the inevitable rough patches - missed deadlines, campaign underperformance, team turnover. When a client trusts you, they give you the benefit of the doubt. When they do not, even minor issues can spiral into account reviews and RFPs.

Robert points out that agencies with strong trust-based relationships enjoy longer client retention, more referrals, and greater creative freedom. The client stops micromanaging deliverables because they believe in the agency’s judgment. That freedom, in turn, leads to better work - creating a virtuous cycle that starts and ends with trust.

Maximize Value From Existing Clients

One of Robert’s key arguments is that agencies over-invest in new business acquisition at the expense of growing existing accounts. The economics are straightforward: it costs far less to expand a relationship with a current client than to win a new one from scratch.

Growing existing accounts means extending retention and expanding the scope of services. Robert encourages agencies to look at every client relationship and ask what additional value they could provide. Often, the client has needs that the agency could address but has never proposed.

He also introduces the idea that relationships can be scalable. Once you identify the practices that make a specific client relationship work well - the communication cadence, the reporting format, the meeting structure - you can document and replicate those practices across your entire client base. This turns individual relationship success into a systematic agency advantage.

The Power of In-Person Connection

Despite the dominance of digital communication, Robert makes a strong case for face-to-face interaction as a relationship accelerator. In-person meetings create familiarity, build comfort, and reveal nuances that video calls and emails miss.

These do not need to be formal meetings. Coffee, lunch, or casual after-work conversations can be more effective at deepening a relationship than a structured quarterly business review. Robert shares examples from his work with American Express where in-person presence created mutual value that no amount of email correspondence could replicate.

For agencies with remote or geographically distributed clients, this means being intentional about creating in-person opportunities - whether that is attending industry conferences together, scheduling periodic on-site visits, or hosting client events.

The 5 Principles of Client Service

Robert distills his decades of experience into five actionable principles that any agency team member can apply immediately.

Show Up. Agencies have a reputation for being unreliable - sporadic communication, dropped balls, inconsistent availability. Combat this by being consistently present. When a crisis hits, showing up is the difference between retaining a client and losing them.

Follow Up. Responsiveness signals respect. Clients need to feel heard and acknowledged, even when you do not have an immediate answer. A quick “Got it, working on this - will have an update by Thursday” is far better than silence.

Speak Up. Clear, concise communication across every format - meetings, presentations, phone calls, written updates - sets strong agencies apart. Ambiguity in communication erodes client confidence over time.

Make It Up. Continuously generate new ideas and innovative solutions. Agencies that fall into operational routines without bringing fresh thinking to the table get replaced by agencies that do. When you proactively present ideas, clients see you as a strategic partner rather than an order-taker.

Straighten Up. Operational excellence is non-negotiable. Accurate scheduling, realistic budgets, and clearly defined scope of work prevent the kind of friction that slowly poisons client relationships. Constantly asking for more money, missing deadlines, or delivering work that falls short of agreed standards signals a lack of professionalism.

Resources Mentioned

• Robert Solomon on LinkedIn
• Solomon Strategic - Robert Solomon’s consulting firm
• The Art of Client Service by Robert Solomon - The classic guide for agency professionals