By: Emily Taylor
PR professionals know trust isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the foundation of a successful client relationship. Whether you’re working with a small business owner or a globally recognized brand (or, in my case, both!), how you connect with your clients can directly impact your success, collaboration and long-term growth.
Below are three ways you can foster trust with a client from the beginning to set you on a path for a great partnership:
Let’s Be Clear
The first step in building trust is transparency. From onboarding to your first strategy session, set clear expectations and be truthful about what you can and cannot deliver. Consider what feels like a win for your client, but be realistic when discussing outcomes for media, events and more. Overpromising and underdelivering equals losing credibility (and therefore trust!).
Build a strategic plan with deliverables, timelines and KPIs. This should be updated frequently. When both sides know what to expect, trust naturally begins to grow. Be sure to reach out early about potential crises or setbacks — clients respect honesty more than misleading, positive updates.
Meet Them Where They Are
For communications professionals, effective communication extends to clients. Prioritizing strong client communication is essential, and it starts with understanding their preferred methods. Ask yourself these questions to determine the best way to reach your clients.
- How do they prefer to communicate? Be sure to save your client’s cell number, email and office number. Ask your client how to best reach them with any urgent needs. Some clients want detailed emails, leaving no questions unanswered, while others respond best on the phone or Zoom. The last thing you want is a media interview request drowning in an unread inbox!
- Who needs to be included in your communications? Determine who you will be working with day-to-day to ensure requests, questions and key details get to the right person. We all know how much happens behind the scenes in PR, so make sure you account for everyone on your client’s end, too. Create a spreadsheet of the team, their role and when they need to be looped in to make it easy on the PR team.
Report + Rapport
Weekly/monthly updates, event recaps or scheduled check-ins can go a long way in showing clients you’re on top of things. We build trust when our client knows where things stand. Let them know what is and isn’t working with the media and share how you plan to strategize your next approach.
Be sure to call out the good, too! Celebrating small wins and sharing where you are seeing momentum is a great way to build rapport with your client. Share highlights of your social
listening with the client, such as screenshots of positive social media comments in your reports or links to heartfelt customer testimonials in a quick message!
Overall, relationships are the currency of PR, and that includes your relationship with the client. By being transparent, communicative and strategic, you not only build trust, but you also build long-term partnerships that mark PR success.
