I didn't realize that they are a direct competitor.

I don't mind working with an agency or publisher that also works with a direct competitor of mine. In fact, I've chosen certain partners because I know that they have had success with my competitors.

Just because I'm comfortable working with an agency or publisher that works with our competitors doesn't mean that I'm comfortable with my company's learnings being shared. One way to betray my trust is to share my company's ideas, strategies, and tactics with my competitors. This is the reason that most companies insist that they have channel exclusivity for their account team.

Unnecessary price gouging is another practice that is sure to draw your client's ire. Years ago, I worked with a publisher that was pitting us against a competitor that also happened to be its client. The publisher would come to us and say, "You need to increase your cost-per-lead by $5 to remain competitive with company X." Unknown to us, this publisher was doing the same thing with our competitor. After about three months of this, I ran into my competitor's CMO at ad:tech. After a couple of drinks, we started to compare notes. He was complaining about how much the acquisition cost had gone up in the last few months with this particular publisher. It didn't take long before we both realized what had been going on. The following week, both of us dropped that partner from our marketing mix.

If you want to keep your clients close to you -- as opposed to sending them running for the hills -- use common sense. Listen to your clients, work tirelessly to help them achieve their goals, and above all, conduct yourself with the highest degree of honesty and integrity. It may seem simple, but it will set you apart from the majority of your competition.

Sean Cheyney is the VP of marketing and business development for AccuQuote.