In the advertising business, the "relationship" with the clients is usually the domain of the account service department. The cliché Hollywood loves is the scene where the account guy plays golf with the client.

But here's what I believe: It's the creative department that needs the relationship.

As a writer or art director in advertising, your job is to come up with the most compelling ideas you can to sell a client's products. If you're at the top of your game, those ideas are fresh and unique and highly unusual.

That means those ideas will have to be sold to a nervous client. Here’s where a "relationship" kicks in. The time you invest with clients will bear fruit when you want that client to take a leap-of-faith with you. But a relationship can only be built by spending time together. I don't just mean the kind of time spent in formal meetings with 10 people sitting around a boardroom table with notepads. I mean spending time with your clients outside of meetings, taking them to lunch without an agenda, taking them as your guest to industry events, or inviting them to hear someone speak on an interesting topic. I’m talking about spending time without an itinerary attached.

In recording sessions, I immediately sense if the creative team is comfortable with the client or not. Most times, I would say it's a wary relationship, or one that is way too formal. There is no familiarity, no shared history, no easy shorthand. A relationship cannot be built within the square footage of a boardroom.

When you spend real time together, you learn about your clients. A different kind of understanding blossoms. You gain an insight into their lives and their history. You learn what they believe in, you get a sense of their goals, you get a firsthand look at the obstacles they are contending with when it comes to their brands and careers. You suddenly understand their fears when it comes to business. And conversely, the areas where they feel most brave, most willing to fly.

And they will gain the same of you.

Steve Jobs has an agreement with his ad agency creative director, Lee Clow - that Clow can present anything to Jobs, no matter how crazy.

Somehow, I have to believe IBM doesn't have that agreement with their agency.

That's why Apple is doing some of the best work on the planet.

It's based on a relationship.

Smart creative people know that.

Spend a little time.

Create a little faith.