Simplify the story. Meet clients where they are. Speed beats the special snowflake.

Clients have a ton of information and data, and they are looking to get to insight and action faster. You can deliver so much insight in a single report, yet when we checked in on what actually got actioned, it was incredible how much was left on the cutting room floor. Some of that is simply information ageing, so it stops feeling fresh and timely in clients' hands.

Instead of static reporting, clients want information that is always on, and speed is table stakes and has been for a long time. That can mean our interface with artificial intelligence insight built in, so they tap a star and the statistical testing is done for them. Or they pipe our data into their own systems. Or they want an agent that assembles the information and delivers insight without logging into yet another dashboard. The proliferation of dashboards is a problem too. You have to meet clients where they are.

We stratify our own client base. Sophisticated clients want direct data access and have the means for an integrated system, which needs less innovation from us but demands that we are organised with our data. Many clients want dashboard access with artificial intelligence built in to support their teams. And some still want consulting support with the analytics coming from us. The client who wants the dashboard may never build their own data lake, because they are focused on the business they are in.

A clear story starts with answering one question, what problem are we solving. When you add features or catch up to a competitor, you can lose sight of the thing you are really solving. That question confirms product market fit and tells you who you are talking to. It is also a unifying element for your own teams, because if they understand the problem, cross-functional teams get on the same page and the client stays at the centre.

Organising around end markets, ads, brands and content, gives you your roadmap. Then you find the pairings that genuinely make one plus one equal three, and you do not force connections that do not naturally occur. You sort solutions into what you invest in, what you incubate and what you retire. Retiring is hard because revenue is attached and teams fight to keep things alive, but simplification is culling what is not working anymore, and that leaves room to grow where it makes sense.

Every company is at a different stage, so first understand what is happening. Is it an execution problem, with great products and clients but no cohesion across product, commercial and marketing? Is the mission unclear? Is it the wrong leader, or a commercial motion that needs investment? Or is it product innovation, which is a longer trajectory? A very immediate source of growth has been separating the seller-doer model, giving an account team delivery and a sales team commercial growth, so people know who owns renewal and who owns new business.

Beyond that, geographic expansion is led by the products that travel simply, and only once the market is ready for the bigger infrastructure investments. Global clients always ask when you are coming to Europe or Asia. And we look at tangential industries that share DNA with brand-building categories like automotive and financial services, where people do not change their insurance overnight.

Clients are testing and learning. They want a proof of concept, so they hand you a brand or a market and see what partnership they can build, because so much is being promised out there. They are also diverse in how they work with you, from direct integrations to asking you to build the solution. They toggle between wanting things their way and wanting speed, and when they want guidance on performance they need norms and standardisation, which pushes the custom side away. Speed is winning out, so it is speed over personalisation, with modularity as the middle ground.

The joints between product and commercial, commercial and marketing, commercial and delivery, are where the client experience happens, so a disconnect there gives clients a bad experience. We keep product and commercial on the same page about voice of client and the roadmap, with regular gatherings.

We are a newish team with lots of new people since January. Our early operating reviews were polite and box-ticking, people stayed in their lanes. Five months on, the latest one got a little spicy, people called each other out, and someone normally calm got a little mad. I loved it, because something broke through and we really communicated. Families squabble, and that is real communication. We are becoming a real team and a family who can talk to each other.

Strategic partnerships with enterprise clients drive your own innovation and push you to be better and better. The tough, hard-to-please ones round out your offering and make you more competitive across your whole base, and that value runs far beyond the annual revenue. On the product side you want a partner you trust, who co-creates and leans in, so when a client is pressuring you, you can push your vendor along in the same way.

There are times when you can be part of the team but you are not the best lead player. You can enhance someone else's offering with your data or capability and play the secondary role. Those relationships use fewer calories and can become a nice annuity. Your take rate is less, but so is your lift, and it lets you diversify without building an entirely new sales organisation or a muscle you are not ready to develop.

Attitude matters so much. I want positivity, people who lean forward and reach across rather than staying only in their lane. I look for practical thinkers who bring actionable ideas and real anecdotes of change they have driven. Culture change is not top-down, it is grassroots-up. When people say we do not have the money to do it right, I say it is like homeownership. You would love to upgrade the bathroom, but the roof has to be addressed. You cannot make everything perfect, but there are lots of things you can do to make things better, and it does not always take money.

With my own children entering the workplace alongside all their friends, I reflect on what advice to give a curious, sometimes lost generation. The piece I give most, and it is a particular challenge for women, is that when you look for your next role, make sure you have something to give but make sure you will get something too. Research shows women read all the requirements of a job description and, if they lack the majority, decide they are not ready. We need to break that. If you are already the perfect fit, where will you grow? Be braver, take on the challenge, and trust that you bring one part and can learn the rest.