I think one of the best ways we can create strong relationships with our clients is to try to understand our clients better. What are their biggest problems? What are their motivating forces? Try to put yourselves in their shoes, and suddenly that “unreasonable” request starts to be more, well, reasonable (or at least understandable).
Creativity online has a great piece right now–a creative round-table discussion on the advertising (deign, interactive, etc.) industry(ies). It’s quite eye-opening for those of us on the periphery. Please note the issues of intellectual property and monetization and keeping great creatives at the firms (about half-way down).
Read this piece and you’ll have a better idea of the issues your clients are facing in their business. Now, how can you help be a part of the solutions?