Pssst.. if you hear gossip, don’t pass it on.

Our marketing clients confirm that the number one reason to fire a marketing agency is if its employees disclose confidential information about their company. Thankfully, many marketing agencies include a code of conduct to reinforce confidentiality within employment contracts.

In an online poll last year, IABC Toronto asked its members: What are the key attributes of an effective business relationship? About 550 members replied that ‘trust’ is the single most important attribute of a strong business relationship. Trust is a very powerful term in a business context. It means that there is two-way respect and that both partners in a business relationship are working effectively toward the same goals. In other words, you have each other’s backs!

I am certain that most corporate marketers and agency staff would never intentionally compromise the privacy or confidential nature of a new brand campaign or press release announcement. That said, I am amazed at how little discretion is shown in open environments – from elevators to coffee shops and public washrooms.

While riding the elevator, I have heard executives complain openly about their agency, boss or colleagues by name. On countless occasions, especially after-hours, I have been exposed to elevator rants by agency professionals who choose then and there to hang the dirty laundry of clients. In most cases, I knew the people they were talking about.

Corporate clients can be just as guilty of publicly bad-mouthing business partners. Instead of complaining to others about an agency’s performance during your next business lunch in a crowded restaurant, it is much more productive to regularly communicate concerns and appreciation about your client-agency relationship with the agency. An agency should never be surprised about getting fired.

As Stan Didzbalis mentioned in a previous post, 61% of marketing clients do not openly discuss their concerns about agency performance and make an effort to find solutions before the client ends the relationship. Instead, clients should inform their agency when they are unhappy and set a plan in motion to smooth out the bump in the road.

How do you regularly reinforce the importance of minimizing loose lip communication about clients, agencies and overall business? With free flowing information regularly circulated on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, it is often a challenge to emphasize to your colleagues and partners the importance of being discreet about business and business relationships.

It amazes me to read tweets and Facebook postings about budgets, severance packages, compensation, or the firing of agencies and staff. I have never even shared details about my salary with my own mother – let alone countless online users.

The search engine yasni.co.uk released survey results this week that said 86 per cent of employees do not want their boss to be a social networking pal. You should only post what you are comfortable having read by family, friends and any stakeholders in your career.

Social media tools are effective in sharing news and resources, and to develop relationships that can lead to business opportunities and expand your network. Don’t abuse the tools to criticize your terrible experience with a ‘client from hell’ or an ‘agency that is too expensive and not creative enough’.

I once read a very critical post by a corporate marketer about an agency friend who managed their account. He had no idea they were unsatisfied, but the marketing industry was made fully aware that their client-agency relationship was in jeopardy.

To an extent, some social media gurus have aspired to be the next Perez Hilton or TMZ pap. It isn’t difficult to figure out a not-so-subtle reference or mean-spirited gossip about marketing professionals. We work in a small world, so never burn bridges.

The best relationships are built over time with trust, and open and honest communications. Venting online or in an elevator doesn’t help build business or effective client-agency relationships.

Sheila Corriveau