BroxtenDigital
How to build relationships with clients, according to Michael Kraft, comes down to one move: treat every person you meet like a 20-year relationship, because one day it might be. He's spent 30-plus years proving it, and it's why he started building a full pipeline from his very first day at a new job.
Over at MVP Collaborative in Detroit, Michael Kraft is VP of Business Development and Strategy. Before this he worked on some of the biggest names in advertising and automotive, Campbell-Ewald, Chrysler brand advertising, and Chevy strategy research, so I asked him how he actually wins new business after 30 years in the industry.
How do you build relationships with clients?
Michael's take on it skipped systems and pitch decks entirely. "There's nothing bigger than a great relationship," he told me. Cold email and calling can create a meeting on the calendar, but relationships are what get you in.
His rule for doing it is simple: act like every coworker and client might matter in 20 years, because many of them became CMOs and brand leaders he still works with today.
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How do you win new business without cold calling?
Michael didn't walk in on day one at MVP with a cold list ready to go. "I know these people, these brands, I've met these people, these brands, that's who I'm gonna start with," is how he described going down 30 years of kept relationships instead.
Within a month of starting, his approach morphed into a 20-city Stellantis training tour, because he went deep with people he already had at the company instead of strangers.
What is experiential marketing?
I've heard a lot of definitions, but Michael's is the plainest. A TV campaign or a radio spot ends the second it's over, but experiential is different. "It's actually putting the product in their hands," he said.
Most people spend only a few seconds looking at a digital ad. You hand them a product or invite them to a brand conference for two or three days, and they're with you for the whole thing. That's why it works.
Why should young professionals show up to industry events?
The advice Michael repeats most is free and takes no talent at all. "Go talk to people, go to these ad craft events, go to these events, don't sit in the back, and go walk up in front at the end of the program. Go introduce yourself," he said.
Most of his career relationships started exactly that way, including the one that brought this episode to life. We met at an Adcraft event, and I followed up afterward instead of letting it end there.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full episode for Michael's story about his very first onboarding, rotating through a different department each day, his read on agency side versus client side, and more from his 30 years in the business: How To Break Into Advertising Through Relationships, Not Applications.
Watch next: The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 2: Wadsworth Pilot II
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