Working as an office manager in my early 20s, I read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
Many of its principles still hold true today, and they guided me through multiple career transitions. Success in most careers comes from our interactions with people – whether clients or coworkers.
For years, those principles of human connection, combined with technical knowledge and expertise, helped digital marketers succeed.
Agencies made sense of the machines for clients, and strong relationship-building allowed them to retain those clients over time. That model is now being challenged.
As AI has become fully embedded in PPC platforms, the question has become unavoidable: what prevents clients from relying on an entirely AI-built approach?
What agencies have that AI can’t duplicate is their relational side – the ability to connect with others and understand, strategically, what business owners are actually after.
1. Ask questions
The key to discovering who people are and what makes them tick is to ask.
Sounds simple, really, but so much of communication gets lost in translation or is left up to assumption.
When I go into a sales call, I bring a list of questions. How much can we find out about this potential client in this half-hour window?
Likewise, when I conduct a strategy call, I have a list of questions: some for me and some for them.
What is this potential client looking to accomplish? What about their current strategy is or is not working? How can we improve upon this strategy?
AI can’t do this yet. Our interactions with it are primarily one-sided (at least at the time of this writing).
We may be able to have a conversation with it, but AI is never the initiator. We go to AI asking it what it can do for us using ideas we already have.
AI is not interested in who we are as people or in sussing out our specific pain points.
We can never discover a new pain point without asking, and we also can never find it out if we don’t listen, which brings me to the next point.
Dig deeper: 6 tips to build PPC client relationships
2. Talk less, listen more
How often do we find ourselves in conversations with others, only waiting for the silence so we can interject with our own thoughts?
I’m guilty of this. I’ve also found that clients and client prospects really just want to be heard.
So, let them explain themselves, then ask them more clarifying questions, and let them talk more. Continue to listen.
It’s amazing what you can find out about a person if you go into a call with absolutely no agenda beyond learning about the other person.
Let them continue to talk, do not interject, and see what you are able to find out.
Try not to fill the silence unless it becomes uncomfortable and you, yourself, have agenda items to cover based on what you’ve learned.
I find this type of approach is usually easier to do in sales calls.
Typically, we go into these thinking we need to prove ourselves and our abilities, but if it is the first call, we ideally want to find out what they are seeking and spend as much time as possible getting them to discuss that goal.
Using this approach with an existing client, I find it most beneficial to hear their nuances, strategy pushes, and ideas.
These assist with collaboration and generate ideas more quickly than anything I can say on the call.
This approach also builds agreement with the client, which is another important foundational building block of relationships.
Dig deeper: 8 questions to ask your new PPC clients
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3. Find common ground
If I can, I always like to find commonalities between myself and anyone new I meet.
Building on these commonalities creates rapport and supports personal and professional relationships.
And, regardless of whether the person you are communicating with is a friend or colleague, be personal and specific in your conversations.
I’ve always enjoyed remembering things about people and following up on those things in our conversations together.
People like to be remembered, and they enjoy it when someone values what they have to say.
Memory is a facet that AI is just starting to develop.
However, finding commonalities and shared experiences with another person will never (hopefully) be rendered obsolete by artificial intelligence.
Dig deeper: When and how to fire PPC clients
4. Smile, be less serious (when it’s appropriate)
In the ever-changing world of marketing, it’s easy to fall into an all-serious, never-ending analytical cycle of data observation and testing.
However, we also have to remember not to take ourselves too seriously. After all, this career is still relatively new, and who knows what it will look like in the next five years.
Consider why you got into this occupation in the first place. I think we all have an innate desire to help people and connect with them – at least I hope so.
So, let’s connect with others by allowing ourselves to be less serious when we can be and throw in the awkward joke when applicable.
We are humans, too, and it’s important for the people we work for to see this. It’s important in any relationship.
Dig deeper: How to set and manage PPC expectations for teams and stakeholders
What differentiates a partner from an algorithm
In a world increasingly dominated by AI, the balance between technical expertise and human connection is shifting.
While AI excels at data, analysis, and optimization – and can offer advice at all hours of the day – knowledge and specialization alone are no longer enough.
What AI cannot replicate is empathy, shared experience, or genuine rapport.
Over time, those principles of human connection, paired with technical knowledge, helped agencies translate machines for clients and build long-term relationships.
By returning to the basics – asking thoughtful questions, practicing active listening, finding common ground, and connecting on a human level – agencies can secure their value.
These relational skills are what differentiate a partner from an algorithm, ensuring that agency work remains not just important, but indispensable.
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