Public relations professionals continually strive to achieve meaningful results for their clients. Whether it’s placing a feature story in a top publication, receiving a notable mention on a morning broadcast segment, or building strong brand awareness through well-written press releases, to achieve these results these PR efforts must be focused and strategically planned in order to arrive at the best possible outcome for the client.

But what are the building blocks behind creating successful strategic campaigns? It all starts with excellent client-facing service. Successful campaigns are built on a clear understanding of the client’s goals, objectives, challenges and expectations. In a client-facing role, it’s critical that industry professionals strive not only to achieve great results, but to also understand and integrate the client’s needs along the way.

Here are a few simple ways to ensure you’re providing your clients with the best-in-class service they desire:

Listen up. Listen carefully to your client’s initial ideas and what they want or expect out of a public relations campaign. By listening, you can assuage any fears they may have, better strategize how to achieve their goals, and nip any unreasonable expectations in the bud. Taking time to understand what their overarching plan is for the company and how you can help them best meet their business objectives is extremely important to the success of the campaign as a whole. And don’t be afraid to ask your client questions to clarify any points on which you’re not absolutely clear. It’s also wise to summarize and recap your understanding of a project to make sure you and your client are on the same page prior to any work being done.

Set expectations. Setting expectations helps minimize confusion. Give your clients clear expectations about when you will be delivering materials, how much coverage to expect from a recent pitch, and ballpark budget numbers you’ll strive to aim for every month. By setting expectations, you’re demonstrating to clients that you’re always working to provide the highest level of strategic counsel and keeping their best interests in mind. Your clients are also less likely to be disappointed when, for example, an announcement with limited story potential fails to land on the cover of BusinessWeek.

Providing deadlines about when you expect materials to be delivered is of the utmost importance. Your clients are often busy and will most likely need time to review your work. In addition, they may need to communicate with others within their own organization about when they will be receiving your materials. If for some reason you anticipate that a deadline cannot be met, don’t dodge emails until the project is complete. Instead, contact them immediately explaining that while you are working hard on the project, you may need an extra hour to provide them with the quality work they desire. Set a new deadline that is acceptable to both of you.

Chart progress. Clients want to know where their PR dollars are going. Make them feel good about the money they’re investing by providing them with regular coverage reports or clipbooks, competitor analysis, weekly budget updates, and monthly status reports. They can of course pick and choose which of these methods is best suited to their needs, but communicating results through a tangible medium allows your clients to see the value of your PR efforts.

A weekly budget update, for example, is a simple way to keep the client informed about the progress you’re making. For the prior week, provide a list of the activities you and your team focused on, activities you plan to focus on in the coming week, how many hours you spent towards achieving their goals, and a total dollar amount for your services. Budget updates also allow the client to decide if they need to ramp up or tone down their PR efforts according to the company’s specific PR budget.

Keep executives informed about crucial materials. If you are sending out a press release on behalf of a client, communicate the messaging, content of the release, potential questions that may arise from the announcement, and how you will answer those questions. Explain to the client how the release will help them to achieve their goals and how it ties in to the organization’s broader strategy. By keeping executives informed about materials you are sending out, you’re ensuring that the company image you’re delivering to the media is the image the company wants to portray.

Provide strategic counsel. Clients are paying you to be the expert and provide them with valuable counsel. While clients may already bring well planned business objectives and strategic goals to the table, it is the professional’s responsibility to counsel clients on whether or not an announcement fits into the company’s overall communications plan, which messages should be communicated to the media via press releases and other materials, and how to build and maintain relationships with key influencers and advocates. This type of guidance will keep efforts focused on the overall strategic plan and ensure that your client’s company image is consistent and clear.

These are just a few ways to benefit your clients and provide them with high-quality service. We hope you find these recommendations helpful. Do you have any service tips of your own? If so, we would love to hear them!