Tip No. 025 · October 6, 2025
CS vs Strategy, Or CS × Strategy?
When Client Services and Strategy work in silos, the work suffers. The best agencies treat them as one.
There's a pattern I see in so many agencies.
The dreaded CS vs Strategy divide.
Client Services gets boxed into being the 'doers.' The fixers. The project wranglers. Meanwhile, Strategy (Specialists) takes the seat of the 'purists.' The thinkers. The hive mind.
And when those two teams don't connect?
You get inefficiency. Over-servicing. Missed opportunities. Frustrated clients. And if we're honest… weaker work than it should be.
Because the truth is, the best agencies aren't built with siloed functions working in parallel, they're built when CS and Strategy act as one.
When they are united
- Client Services have the confidence (and knowledge) to articulate the why behind the work.
- Strategists respect CS as the voice of the client and empower them to own senior conversations.
- Both sides trust each other enough to collaborate, not compete.
When that alignment happens, everything improves. The work is sharper. Clients feel understood. And growth stops slipping through the cracks.
Reframing the relationship
The agencies that win long term aren't CS or Strategy. They're CS × Strategy.
Ask yourself this week:
- Are CS and Strategy in the room together before anything goes to the client?
- Does CS have enough context on the thinking to defend and extend it in client conversations?
- Where is competition between functions quietly costing you growth?
Jo