“The best relationships are built on trust, not telepathy”

The lost art of feedback: clients owe agencies more than silence

We walked out of a pitch recently feeling strangely energised – not just because it went well, but because we actually got feedback. In real time.

The client told us what they loved, what didn’t quite land, and why. It was refreshing – and rare.

Too often these days, agencies spend weeks preparing for a pitch only to be met with polite smiles and poker faces. Then we wait. The next thing we hear is whether we’ve won or lost. By that point, the chance to learn, improve, or evolve the work has long passed.

Somewhere along the way, feedback became a lost art in client-agency relationships at pitch stage. Perhaps it’s fear of offending, or not wanting to seem overly enthusiastic without consulting with colleagues first. But when clients stay tight-lipped, everyone loses.

PR agencies pour huge amounts of creativity, passion and unpaid time into a pitch to solve a client’s problem. Yet without honest feedback, both sides miss the opportunity to make the work better. It becomes a guessing game rather than a collaboration.

Anyone who’s ever worked in an agency knows the ritual that follows post-pitch once you’ve left the (virtual or real) room – the forensic debrief. The team huddles together to overanalyse every smile, every nod, every raised eyebrow, desperately trying to decode whether it meant enthusiasm or if we missed the mark. It’s crazy, when you think about it: hours of work, and we’re left dissecting body language like detectives, searching for reassurance that may or may not be there.

The shift to online pitching has made that even harder. When cameras stay off, even those subtle cues vanish. You’re presenting to a row of blank squares, trying to sell big creative ideas into a digital void. No smiles, no nods, no spark of energy to feed off – just silence.

And creativity can’t thrive in silence. The best work happens through reaction, challenge and conversation. Without that feedback loop, the pitch becomes a performance rather than a partnership.

The best client-agency relationships are built on trust, not telepathy. A client who can say: “This isn’t quite right – here’s why,” is far more valuable than one who stays silent to be polite.

Feedback shouldn’t be a lost art – it should be a shared language. When clients are open in the room, agencies can adapt, improve, and ultimately deliver better work. And challenge and debate at the pitch stage gives clients a much more realistic view of what it would be like to work with that agency on a day-to-day basis.

So next time you’re in a pitch, say what you really think and keep your camera on. It’s not just helpful – it’s how the best ideas and agency relationships are born.

This was originally published in PR WEEK.