Solomon Strategic · Est.
If you are seeking an expert in achieving behavior change with advertising/marketing/PR agencies, clients and individuals, I'm here to help.
Consultant · Coach · Workshop Leader · Author of The Art of Client Service
For agencies, clients and individuals with a strategy challenge, writing project, speaking assignment, coaching issue or client service problem in need of behavior change.
An Anomaly
A micro conglomerate with one objective.
In a world of mega conglomerates and narrow specialization, Solomon Strategic is an anomaly. The work spans brand strategy, new business, writing, speaking, workshops, client service and executive coaching. The common thread is simple: each assignment is about helping a company, client, employer, team or individual change behavior.
The Practice
Several disciplines. One purpose.
The assignment may change.
The objective does not.
A strategy challenge, a writing project, a speaking engagement, a coaching conversation and a client service issue may look different on the surface. My view is that they share a deeper purpose. All of them are about changing behavior.
- Behavior of a company.
- Behavior of a client.
- Behavior of an employer.
- Behavior of a consumer.
- Behavior of an individual trying to navigate what comes next.
The Book
The Art of Client Service
The classic guide for people who manage clients, relationships and the work that depends on trust.
The Art of Client Service is widely read and respected by agency leaders, account people and client-facing professionals who understand that great work rarely survives without great relationships.
It is a book about trust, responsiveness, listening, judgment, client relationships, account management, reducing friction, protecting brave work and teaching the craft of service. A substantially revised and updated fourth edition is due later this year — preserving the core principles while adding new material that reflects how much the industry has changed.
A Philosophy
Responsiveness is not the same as service.
Weak account people simply relay. Strong account people filter, clarify, interpret and protect the work. The role is not forwarding messages. The role is reducing friction so the work survives.
- The brief is often hiding inside the client's ramble.
- Every small action either builds trust or spends it.
- Relationship builds trust.
- Trust helps clients buy brave work.
- Great work strengthens the relationship.
- The work survives when friction does not.
Who Comes to Solomon Strategic
The work tends to find five kinds of people.
Advertising & Marketing Agencies
For agency leaders trying to improve positioning, new business, client service or team performance.
PR & Communications Firms
For firms that need sharper strategy, clearer writing and stronger relationship management.
Client Facing Teams
For account people and executives who need to serve clients with more judgment, confidence and trust.
Executives & Individuals
For leaders navigating career change, job search, communication challenges or leadership decisions.
Organizations Needing a Speaker
For teams that want a practical, memorable session on client service, communication or behavior change.
Workshops & Speaking
Workshops that teach people what experience has already proven.
I speak with and lead workshops for agency teams, account management groups, marketing service firms, client-facing professionals, executive groups, industry associations, founder and CEO networks and career transition audiences.
Coaching
Coaching for people at a point of decision.
My coaching is more than just motivational theater; it is hands on, thoughtful and practical counsel for people trying to make better decisions, communicate more clearly and move forward with confidence.
- Executive coaching
- Career change counsel
- Job search strategy
- Resume and narrative development
- Leadership counsel
- Communication and decision support
Adventures in Client Service
A weekly refuge for people who deal with clients.
Part journal, part classroom and part refuge for people trying to get better at handling clients, relationships, work and the occasional difficult human moment.
Career & Experience
A career built across strategy, direct marketing, digital, writing and client service.
- 01
Founder
Solomon Strategic
- 02
CEO, New York
Rapp Collins
- 03
President, Direct & Interactive Marketing
Ammirati Puris Lintas
- 04
Managing Director, Direct Marketing
Foote Cone & Belding
- 05
SVP Marketing, Associate Partner
Digitas
- 06
M.A. Literature
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 07
B.A. American Studies, Phi Beta Kappa
George Washington University
Praise
What people learn from Robert tends to stay with them.
Robert is a thoughtful and inspiring manager, fantastic at educating along the way. I learned more about servicing clients in the 2 years I worked for Robert than any other period in my career.
Lisa Lefebvre
The Art of Client Service is the book that named my mistake. The job is not responding to the client. It is reducing friction so the brave work survives the meeting.
Sam Davies
On The Art of Client Service
Schedule
Explore whether we should work together.
If you have an assignment in need of behavior change — a strategy challenge, writing project, speaking engagement, coaching issue or client service problem — schedule a conversation with Robert.
A thirty minute conversation, on the calendar.
Calendly will load here once connected. In the meantime, the contact page is the simplest route.
Schedule a ConversationThe Notebook
Notes on client service, behavior change and better work.
Receive thoughtful updates from Robert on client service, strategy, writing, coaching, leadership and the occasional human story that has something useful to teach.
If the assignment requires behavior change, start there.
Strategy, writing, speaking, coaching and client service are not separate disciplines here. They are different ways of helping people and organizations act with more clarity, confidence and purpose.