The client is your friend

One of the most damaging myths in agency culture is that clients are something to be managed. It shows up in subtle ways. Side conversations to debrief after meetings. Deliberate staging of good cop and bad cop. Internal teams rolling their eyes once the call ends.

It usually starts after the honeymoon period, when the pitch has landed, the vision has been sold, and the energy is high. In those early workshops, everyone feels aligned and excited. Once delivery begins, ideas become real and decisions get hard. That’s when the shift happens. The work becomes transactional. Clients quickly become the enemy.

That mindset is not only short-sighted, it is creatively corrosive.

If you're serious about doing good work, the client cannot be kept at arm's length. You need to bring them into the process, not just for approvals, but as a core part of the team. You're not just delivering a service. Helping someone realise a vision is what you're actually doing. That requires trust, proximity, and care.

Working this way doesn't mean over-servicing. It means being clear. Investing upfront in a shared understanding of the product, the ambition behind it, and the constraints you'll need to navigate together is what matters. If it's a large engagement, give them a dedicated resource. Not to act as a barrier, but as an enabler, someone who can capture expectations, track decisions, and keep the dialogue open.

You do not need layers of process to collaborate well. Small startup teams in a garage do not have account handlers or project managers standing between them and the work. They sit beside the founder, sketch ideas, write tasks together, and get on with it. Moving fast becomes possible because the feedback is direct, the intent is clear, and no one is protecting egos.

That speed and simplicity does not come from chaos. It comes from trust.

You do not need to replicate the structure of a scrappy team, but you can learn from the way they reduce friction. If the relationship with your client is healthy, red tape becomes unnecessary. What you need is shared tools, a shared language, and the space to build together.

This isn’t about creating a buffer. It’s about creating alignment.

There is no need for theatre. You do not have to pretend everything is fine to protect the team's feelings. There is no value in isolating design from engineering or content from business context. When the client is treated as an equal partner, you can speak plainly. Challenges can be shared early. Resolving them together builds momentum and trust.

The way you structure that collaboration matters. Falling into the habit of two-week sprints followed by a big reveal will only create distance. Daily check-ins, even brief ones, keep feedback flowing. Issues can be surfaced and solved in real time. The best work does not come from big presentations. It is shaped in the in-between.

This applies whether you're working on a low-budget MVP or a well-funded platform. The resource levels might change, but the principles should not. Stay close, stay transparent, and stay committed.

The most successful client relationships are the ones where everyone feels like they're in it together. Wins are shared, setbacks are faced head-on. The team understands the client's product inside out and the client understands the creative process well enough to defend it when needed.

That is not easy to build. It takes maturity, structure, and effort. When it is done right, it changes everything.

You do not just ship another project. Creating something meaningful becomes the focus. Together.

The client is not your enemy. The client is your friend.

CR—G