Why you should make your team your No.1 client

Who should be the most important person you talk to every day?

It’s a question we ask everyone in our “Day in the Life” series, and it’s a question that often generates interesting, sometimes touching responses. Kids and spouses are obviously important. Clients will get their due, as communications pros look to serve their stakeholders.

Yet, for communications leaders, the question is a little more intriguing. Should clients be at the top of the to-do list, or should it be your team?

Jeff Randle, president and CEO of Sacramento-based Randle Communications, says it was this question that prompted an important change for his agency: “I decided about 10 years ago that the team needed to be my No. 1 client.”

What does that look like?

Randle says that the shift didn’t mean he didn’t still spend time with clients, but it did mean he spent less time with the people writing his organization a check.

“That certainly doesn’t mean that my clients aren’t important to me,” he says. “But I really decided about 10 years ago in this business—the way it’s tough and the way it’s a 24/7 grind every day—your team really needs to be your No. 1 client.”