MANAGEMENT.

Client Services are the source of truth for both clients and internal teams. We drive projects forward rather than waiting for direction, and make informed recommendations and decisions rather than purely relaying information. We are project managers as well as relationship builders.

High-quality execution and delivery is at the forefront, but client growth is the overall goal. Managing expectations with the client and internal teams is crucial — monitoring scope and commercials without crushing creativity or delivery.

Take time to learn your clients' needs: their industry, their pain points, and the level and platform of communication they prefer. Grasp the client's team — who makes decisions, who influences, and who your quick-responding day-to-day contacts are.

Building trust is key: be transparent, but always come to the table with solutions. Add value by offering your opinion where appropriate — it's okay to push back. Judge the level of formality for each client, and keep in touch between projects to keep the relationship going for future opportunities.

All work originates from Commercial / BD, Account / Project Leads or existing client requests. Before anything reaches the Studio, the objective, deliverables, realistic timelines, budget (confirmed or indicative) and key players must be defined. Once this is clear, the job is set up in Asana.

When a brief comes in from the client, review it and assess whether it is sufficient — clear objectives, key deliverables, timelines, budget and any client assets. Provide the Agency Briefing Form to help the client complete the brief, customised to the client and project and copied into your own client folder. Depending on the level of detail, you may need to rewrite it in the Paradise template.

Every project enters the Studio via a structured briefing session — first internally, then externally with the client. Briefing happens ahead of time so people can absorb it. Key considerations are shared with the team, including budget parameters, examples of work aligned to the scope, watch-outs, no-goes and nice-to-haves.

Briefs are always written and set up properly — a full brief gives great work and saves time. Slack briefs, verbal briefs and quick favours stay out of the process.

All teams work from Asana. Account Directors/Managers own each Asana job. New projects use the new project template, with roles added so the right people can see what's going on. The Asana creative briefing form is used for large projects; the task function for smaller ad-hoc work.

Each stage of the project is a subtask with a delivery date. These tasks need time buffers, and Account Directors watch for timeline creep and how it affects the wider project. The team uses the Asana timer for managing time — and all parts of the job are included, not just studio time. This is a TEAM project.

Google Drive folders are set up by Account Directors with clear project folders and job numbers. Inside you'll find the Client Briefing Form, Decks, Working Files and Final Files — all linked via the Google Drive element of Asana.

Scope of work / OAs need fully fleshed-out, agreed deliverables to keep clients and teams accountable — as itemised as possible: an overview, deliverables, agreed timelines and milestones, budget, number of amends and whether working files are included. Smaller projects go directly into the OA on Paprika; larger projects into a scope of work document; larger companies may need an MSA or PSA.

For new clients: set them up on Paprika and complete the onboarding form. Some clients require an MSA/contract signed before work commences. Every project needs an OA, SOW and billing schedule, signed off by the client before we proceed.

It's the Pillar Lead's role to resource each project efficiently, with internal team or external freelance support. Ask what each person's slate looks like, whether they're a good fit, whether they're excited by the project, whether they'll learn something, and whether any annual leave would take them out of it.

Manage your own workload and be aware of others across the whole agency. When getting AS support, check that team member's capacity first, and flag ahead of time when capacity is close to being reached. Prioritise based on deadlines, sensitivity of the project or client, and value of the project. Be aware of creative and production workloads to avoid bottlenecks.

Timelines are checked and confirmed internally before confirming with the client. If something might go wrong, flag it internally as soon as you suspect it — we find the solution together.

Align internally on time options first, then offer slots to the client and secure. Share the agenda with the internal team ahead of time (and the client if relevant). Where relevant, remember the power of a face-to-face meeting.

Account Directors set up the calls, with clear roles on every call: make sure everyone is introduced, and agree ahead of time who is sharing the deck and who is talking. Client Services lead the meeting — at minimum intros, the agenda and close-out. All cameras on.

Every meeting ends with a clear outcome and decisions — if in doubt, spell it out. Take notes and share them afterwards in the contact report on Slack with clear action points, and always hold an internal next-steps debrief.

For decks, align on the type (InDesign for creative pitches, the latest Paradise template otherwise). Agree upfront who completes which slides, tag people and share a deck completion schedule. Skeletons are filled out by Client Services with clear instruction and content. Design requests go via Asana and are resourced. Always proofread and check external access before sharing.

In email, we're friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Keep your signature on display, proofread, sense-check sensitive emails with a teammate, and cc the relevant Paradise team for visibility.

When clients provide feedback, assess whether it all makes sense. If there are gaps, go back to the client or hop on a call so everything is 100% clear before it goes to the creative team. All feedback runs via Asana, with a Slack or verbal notification on top. Typically clients have 3 rounds of amends — judge case by case whether more are appropriate or chargeable.

Before sharing amends, check every feedback point has been hit. All creative is approved by Carly before going to the client, and all client approvals are in writing — especially print or production. Download assets from Asana, file them in the external folder and present with the rationale. Asana holds the source of truth; email chains include a senior team member.

Keep Paprika accurate, update the commercials sheet before each weekly commercial meeting, understand your project profitability and keep the CS invoice tracker up to date weekly.

We push for as much upfront payment as possible to support Paradise's cash flow. Standard terms for time-only jobs are 30/70; for larger or longer-term projects, agree a staged schedule. Where production, travel, tech or other third-party costs are involved, speak to the Budget Manager early and structure billing so funds are in before supplier payments are due — e.g. 50/25/25.

If budgets change considerably, meet with team leads to rework what's possible — adjusting profit and management fees rather than eating into creative. A significant budget change means we pause and reassess openly, keeping every decision visible.

Always attend the weekly CS meeting (job profitability, client challenges, resource), the weekly Project Status and the fortnightly Finance check-in — it's essential to keep check.

Prepare one to two weeks ahead of handover — how can you minimise it? What can be closed down before you go?

For anything included in handover, write it up in great detail following the handover template, and hold a meeting with all relevant team members to talk it through.

Make sure clients know about your leave, who their point of contact is while you're away and what they can expect to happen. Don't forget the 'actions that happened this week' column.

After each project we hold a clear debrief of every step to see where we can improve — from how the pitch was set up, through the brief, resourcing, idea, quality, client management, revisions and budgets, to delivery and how the project ran overall.

A strong setup makes everything after it easier, and a strong brief makes strong work. The debrief helps us carry what went well into the next project.