Is the balance between client and agency like a tennis match?

CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS AS EXCHANGE "Can the cooperation between agency and clients be compared to a tennis match?" As everyone surely knows, a couple of weeks ago at the French Open, one match lasted five and a half hours,it was the longest final in Grand Slam history,between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

As an agency, we obviously want client relationships to be the longest in history and, in this respect,we strive to jointly create the conditions and the environment,so that the relationship between agency and client is fruitful, successful and intense,and brings with it brilliant results.

At this point, it doesn't quite match a tennis match.

I'd say that, for me,matches always involve competitiveness, facing someone,and we don't face our clients, we act together.

And that's why agreeing on a shared strategy,like in doubles tennis where, after each rally — or before each rally, depending how you see it — they must agree on a strategy for the next point.

And for that, a lot of transparency is required.And first of all, it takes an assessment of your own abilities,as well as those of your partner.

That is, what can I really expect from this client,aside from the financial conditions of the project.

What can I expect in terms of content,how can we support each other throughout the work.

That's why the doubles tennis analogy fits so well:we work creatively with clients jointly,we develop joint ideas,we move together in the ecosystem,to come up with the best ideas possible.

We work in a very agile way.In the best case, it works like doubles tennis,where one thinks: "Okay, what are your strengths?

What are mine?How can we bring them onto the court together in order to get good results?" You've also said how, when working with new companies,financial difficulties often arise,not internally in your company, but due to the collaboration with different clients.

Would you like to expand on that?Of course, no problem. There's always some risk.

We're a service company, that's clear.And naturally, we create products, individual products,not for mass consumption,and the risk that the financial compensation doesn't match what we ask for a service,exists, logically, especially with new companies.

If you work with start-ups,which may not make it to the next round of funding,so they won't be able to pay you the agreed fees,or if they're in the middle of a change in the financial conditions of a project.

That's something we must protect ourselves against as a system.

It's important to anticipate in time,or be able to identify it in time.

That we implement early warning mechanisms,to avoid exposing ourselves to that risk.

Especially regarding...very big projects,big projects, or when we work with big clients on big projects,sometimes it happens that, of the 25 or 30 people on our team,half may end up working for months for a single client.

Not exclusively, but dedicating most of their time,maybe 70, 80 percent.

And that brings with it a clear risk,because the organisation gets thrown off balance.

Especially when, with large companies, payment deadlines are very long,then we have to manage cash flow carefully.

That plays an important role, because sometimes it takes...

three, four or five months from the start of a project until we receive the first payment.

That is, until the bills are paid and so on.That's an important part of our financial ecosystem:keeping cash-flow management under control,having systems in place to know in advance if we need to act,allowing us to have conversations with our clients to clarify our situation so they understand: "Right, now you're working with us with half of your people, more or less exclusively.

That means we should also make some concessions,perhaps adjusting our deadlines to this specific case,or to this specific project."