Stop Trying to Impress Your Clients. Get Curious About Them Instead.

By Madison Lazas – PR & Comms Strategist for Brands, Execs & High-Stakes Moments

After years of agencies, I thought I understood my clients…until I became one.

For most of my career, I was on the agency side. Fast-paced. Deadline-driven. Client calls, brainstorms, pitches, repeat.

Then I went in-house. It changed everything I thought I knew about communications.

Working inside a large organization gave me a front-row seat to what agencies rarely see: how decisions actually get made, who influences them, and how many layers exist between a great idea and a green light.

When you’re at an agency, your client’s world can feel like a mystery. You get the brief, maybe the backstory, but not the politics, bandwidth, or emotional calculus behind every request. You don’t see the inbox with 400 unread messages, or the boss who’s risk-averse, or the cross-department tug-of-war that kills a project that should have been approved yesterday.

Now that I’ve been on both sides, I get it—deeply. And it’s made me a better communicator, strategist, and client.

When I started working with agencies from the inside, I was told (multiple times) that I was “one of the best clients” they’d ever worked with. It’s not because I’m easy. It’s because I get it. I know what a bad client feels like to work with, and how much better the work gets when there’s real partnership.

Don’t get me wrong, there are incredible client service pros out there. The ones who anticipate needs, communicate clearly, and make their clients look like geniuses. You’d swear they’ve worked inside a company before. But I’d argue they’re the exception, not the rule.

Most don’t dig deep enough into their client’s internal realities: the pressures, blockers, and behind-the-scenes chaos that shape every “simple” request.

That’s why I think more PR pros should consider crossing the line, at least once. There’s no “right” order: start in-house, start in agency, start your own firm—whatever fits. But having perspective from both sides sharpens your empathy, instincts, and strategy.

Because here’s the truth: most of what challenges a client day-to-day has nothing to do with your scope of work. It’s internal pressure. Competing priorities. Politics. People.