In fact, this journey can be made much easier before it’s even begun: if you’re worried that your potential client isn’t going to buy into a long, ongoing relationship, you could offer to start with several smaller project-based jobs before offering the opportunity to commit to a retainer. Show value incrementally until you’ve built up trust. This way, you start by taking the relationship at a pace that they’re more comfortable with, and only commit to an ongoing one when they’re ready.

When it comes to regular reporting, you need to live up to the promise of honesty by showing all results every time, warts and all. Don’t hide negative performance. Instead, offer to explain why it’s occurring and suggest tactics that can reverse the trend. After all, rows and rows of green numbers start to look a little suspicious after a while, and even more so to someone who had little trust in marketers in the first place.