Paddi LeShane, Co-Founder & CEO

We’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned that every professional services firm needs to grow in revenue and in depth of knowledge. As a long-time client of ours once said – if you don’t grow, you die! So we invest time in understanding what’s happening around Connecticut, watching trends and actions of various industries, introducing ourselves to prospective clients, preparing proposals, and making presentations. Growth depends on it.

But after nearly four decades in strategic communications and public affairs, I’ve come to believe that the most valuable business development strategy isn’t winning the next client. It’s earning the privilege of keeping the ones you already have.



Research consistently shows that acquiring a new client can cost several times more than retaining an existing one. Yet many organizations devote far more attention to finding new customers than strengthening the relationships they’ve already built.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with organizations through leadership transitions, mergers, financial challenges, labor disputes, public controversies, and moments of remarkable success. Some of those relationships have lasted decades. Looking back, I’ve realized they endured not because we always got everything right. They lasted because of a few lessons that experience has taught me.

Your value isn’t in what you do. It’s in what you see.

Any experienced professional can execute a project. What clients remember are the times you spotted an issue before it became a problem, recognized an opportunity others overlooked, or offered advice they hadn’t even thought to request. The best advisors aren’t simply responsive; they’re anticipatory.

Never stop bringing fresh ideas.

The marketplace changes. Industries evolve. New technologies emerge. If we’re offering the same thinking we delivered five years ago, we’re no longer adding the value our clients deserve. Long-term relationships require continuous learning, curiosity, and the willingness to challenge our own assumptions.

Trust is earned long before it’s tested.

Clients don’t decide whether they trust you during a crisis. They decide after hundreds of ordinary interactions. Returning a phone call when you said you would. Meeting or beating a deadline. Admitting when you’ve made a mistake. Being candid, even when the conversation is uncomfortable. Those moments may seem routine, but together they become the foundation that supports a relationship when the pressure is greatest.

The hardest conversations often build the strongest relationships.

Early in my career, I assumed clients expected us to have all the answers. Over time, I learned something far more important. They expect honesty. Sometimes our responsibility is to tell a client what they need to hear, not what they’d prefer to hear. Those conversations aren’t always easy, but they are often the moments that build the deepest trust.

In the words of leadership guru Stephen R. Covey, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” 

Every client wants to know they’re important.

Technology has made communication faster than ever, but relationships still depend on personal attention. A phone call instead of an email. Remembering an important milestone. Checking in when there’s no project to discuss. Asking how things are going rather than waiting until something goes wrong. Clients remember how you make them feel every bit as much as they remember the work you produce.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that loyalty isn’t something clients give you. It’s something you continue to earn.

Every meeting. Every challenge. Every phone call. Every idea. Every success.



Relationships don’t last because a contract says they should. They last because, day after day, month after month, year after year, both parties continue to find value in one another.

That’s the real secret to client loyalty and success. It isn’t that problems never arise. It’s that they’re addressed before they become reasons to leave. If you’ve ever disappointed a client or failed to meet their expectations, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone. Wouldn’t you rather have the difficult conversation than lose the opportunity to continue serving them? Before they start shopping for another firm, wouldn’t you want the chance to earn their confidence back?

In the end, loyalty isn’t measured by the number of years you’ve worked as a team. It’s measured by the confidence that, whatever tomorrow brings, your client still wants to face it with you.



Our team at Sullivan & LeShane Public Relations, we never want to be the reason a client says goodbye. 

After 38 years, I’ve learned that the measure of a firm isn’t simply how many clients walk through the door. It’s how many still want you beside them years later. So, as we look toward 40, that may be the measure that matters most.

Dan Tapper, Senior Director



One of our favorite nights of the year is spending time with so many of our friends from the media at the annual Connecticut Broadcasters Association’s Annual Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. It was held Wednesday, October 7^th at the Aqua Turf, with about 300 people in attendance to celebrate broadcast journalism in Connecticut.



What we truly love about it is the feeling of camaraderie that exists between the various media outlets and networks. Sure, there is competition, as there should be. But there is also this feeling that they are all in this together. That they all go to work each day with the singular purpose of keeping the people of our state informed. And they do it wonderfully.

Many years ago, a former general manager for NBC-CT told me, “You know one reason we take our jobs so seriously? Because journalism is the one profession mentioned in the Bill of Rights. It’s that important.”

So when we watch WTNH’s Keith Kountz, WPLR’s Mike Lapitino, WKSS-FM’s Courtey Nadeau. NBC-CT’s Bob Maxon and Nutmeg Broadcasting’s Mike Rice speak at their well-deserved Hall of Fame inductions, we can feel the importance of what they do, as well as their joy in doing it. When we hear WTIC’s Brian Shactman talk about what the annual Salvation Army Holiday Store fundraiser means to the people it helps, or listen to WTNH’s Kathryn Hauser’s heartfelt speech after winning Best TV Anchor, it is such a pleasure to be there with them in the moment.

We offer our sincere congratulations to all of this year’s winners and nominees. And express our appreciation to them for keeping broadcasting local and doing their jobs to inform the public, day in and day out.

Following last week's induction of five new members (highlighted below), the Connecticut Broadcasters Hall of Fame now has the following esteemed membership:

• AI Terzi
• Ann Nyberg
• Arnold Dean
• Barbara Davitt
• Bill Glynn
• Bob Maxon*
• Bob Steele**
• Boyd Arnold
• Brad Davis
• Mark Davis
• Bud Finch**
• Carl and John Banina
• Charlie Parker

• Courtney Nadeau*
• Danny Lyons
• Denise D'Ascenzo
• Dick Robinson
• Dom Bordonaro
• Dr. Mel Goldstein**
• Ed Henry
• Gerry Brooks
• Joe Dimaggio
• Joe Furey
• John Ramsey
• Juan Castillo

• Kara Sundlun
• Keith Kountz*
• Klarn DePamela
• Mike Lapitino*
• Mike Rice*
• Pablo Colon, Jr.
• Paula Taff**
• Ray Dunaway
• Richard Ferguson
• Scott Haney
• Walter Martinez
• Wayne Norman

*-Inducted in 2026

**- Lifetime Achievement Award recipients

Brian Flaherty, Executive Vice President

Nowadays, here at Sullivan & LeShane Public Relations, instead of a senator, it’s a client; instead of being a staffer, I’m a strategist; it could be someone from outside a traditional newspaper, radio, or TV station, and the story may already be online. 

A reporter on deadline with an unexpected question is one of the most consequential moments in communications, and the worst answers in a crisis are usually the ones given before anyone has had 30 seconds to think. 

Here’s what we tell our clients: Knee-jerk reactions rarely work, and “no comment” is almost never the right answer. It has no message, and can sound like guilt, even when it isn’t. What you need is some elbow room to find out what’s going on and craft the right response, because what you say will have a digital afterlife beyond the news cycle of one story. Here’s what to do.

• Good tip: Fact Check the information - Buy some time. Find out what the caller’s deadline is, tell them you want to get them an accurate response, and ask if you can call them back before then. They will often tell you, and this would also be a good time to ask if they’ve already written or posted about the matter. This isn’t stonewalling; it’s professionalism, and in my experience most reporters have respected it, provided you actually call them back.

• Better tip: Prepare. Deadlines now could be automatic, and waiting for a return phone call might be a dangerous strategy. Identify key issues about your organization, and create a ready-to-roll process for what to do if a reporter calls. That way, you’ll be ready to check facts and develop your response. 

• Best tip: Call us. We know what to do on both of those counts.

Being prepared beats being surprised. Your first words matter most. That writer’s call may be the first time you hear about a story, but the conversation may already be unfolding online, and your response could travel far behind the original news source.