I read a statistic once about the frequency of floral deliveries in relation to the length of the
relationship and as you might imagine, the longer the relationship had been around, the less
often flowers got sent. It was an old article in Psychology Today and the point of the article was
that in the mind of the sender, because he/she had been sending flowers for so long and
because the relationship was stable — they viewed the flowers as less significant. Interestingly
— from the recipient’s side of things, the exact opposite is true.

The longer the relationship had been around and the less turbulent it was, the more the flowers
meant because they were sent from the heart with no agenda other than to express the
sender’s affection. The fact that they are frivolous and serve no functional purpose was part of
the significance, from the receiver’s point of view.

The article went on to talk about how during the courtship, gestures like sending flowers is
almost expected. But once you’re an old married couple (I am paraphrasing) they’re more
special because it’s not expected anymore.

A few years ago, in one of our Agency Edge research projects, we identified that one of the
triggers for a client to start being susceptible to another agency’s advances is because they feel
like we don’t appreciate them anymore. We take the relationship for granted. When we were
chasing after them — they got all of our time and attention. And we did it for free! But in many
cases, they don’t feel our desire or love for them as much anymore. We don’t send flowers or
write them love sonnets like we did in the beginning.

We need to guard against that.

Every agency should have their own branded, unique way of showering their clients with love
and appreciation. We should make it a big deal because it is a big deal. The longer a client
(assuming they’re a good one) stays with our agency, typically, the more profitable they are.
And we all know how much easier it is to grow an existing client than it is to find a brand new
one.

Don’t assume they know that you appreciate them. Don’t stop sending those figurative flowers.

Keep romancing those clients like you did when you first met.

 

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