This year we’ve won three Telly Awards for our video production work, including two tv commercials and a web series. We’ve also won two Interactive Media Awards in 2011 so far, for our website design work.

Last week, a client asked me to explain the secret to why we’re winning so many awards. Thing is, it’s no secret. I’d like to say it’s because our work is generally awesome (hey, you have to blow your own horn a bit, right?), but a lot of why we tend to win awards is because we know how to work with our clients to tell their stories effectively, whether their project is a tv commercial, website, or whatever.

I don’t like to skimp on the storytelling aspect of creating effective digital marketing projects. It seems to me that everything emanates from the spine of your story, and if you keep your client’s story and audiences in mind as you create their digital marketing, you instantly up your chances of creating work that resonates. If you do it wrong, or don’t do it at all, your clients risk alienating their audiences or falling into the terrible position of being seen as a commodity product or service. Nobody wants that, not even commodities (witness the recent “California Cheese” campaigns, for example).

We always work the storytelling process in with our clients during the preproduction phase of the project. Sometimes it’s overt, and sometimes it’s less so. We ask a lot of questions, and we do a lot of listening. I believe that every client is unique, and I believe that every business or organization has something that sets them apart from the competition. It’s our job, as their digital agency, to identify that special something and use it to elevate our clients above the noise.

The thing about storytelling is, the best of it is based on truth. It’s not something made up out of whole cloth. It’s not some artifice that one wraps around an inferior product or dysfunctional organization. At least, it shouldn’t be. Made up stories don’t hold up, and the end result is embarrassment for all parties. No, the best stories are truthful stories, and truthful stories begin with an honest evaluation of a client’s organization and what it stands for.

Sure, the storytelling side of things is something that a lot of digital and marketing agencies have hitched their wagons to in the last few months, but it’s something I’ve worked into client projects from the beginning. As humans, we are natural storytellers. We love to be entertained and enlightened. We love learning new things. And we absolutely enjoy a good story, well told.

Done right, storytelling is pure gold. Which, sometimes, comes back in the form of pretty statuettes for your wall, too.

We tend to keep our clients for a very long time. Our record tenure with a client was 10+ years. But every relationship ends at some point, and I think one of the marks of a successful digital agency is learning how to gracefully say goodbye to a client.

One of the most common reasons we’ve let clients go is that they’re just no longer a good fit for our agency. We’re looking for a specific mix of clientele, and we try to stick to that mix because we like working with the type of clients who can best utilize our expertise. We’re also mainly interested in client situations where we can nurture an ongoing relationship, instead of a “one-off” situation.

Of course, other common reasons you’ll need to say goodbye to a client during the lifespan of your agency include events such as your client  being acquired by another organization, your key contacts moving on to other jobs, or a realignment of priorities at the client’s company. Sometimes all these things happen at once.

When a client is no longer a good fit for us, for whatever reason, we make a point to work with the client on a transition plan if they’re interested. Of course, this is assuming that the client’s account is in order, but that’s a post for another day.

We hand over video masters and all logins and password information. We assist in the transfer of the website to another hosting provider, and we work with the client’s new digital marketing team to make the transition as smooth as possible. If the client doesn’t have a new digital marketing team, we make recommendations when possible.

In our personal lives most of us learn that it’s always best to try to leave a relationship on as good of terms as possible. I’ve found that it’s even more important to apply those lessons when a business relationship’s time has passed.

Often, breaking up with your client is the best thing to do- not only for you, but for them. If you learn how to say goodbye as gracefully as possible, only good can come of it. I’ve had clients we’ve parted ways with who have referred us to plenty of new business over the years.