Client retention strategies: The brick wall

I talked recently to a director in our local Regional Development Agency who said that there were signs of increasing confidence in our region as well as pockets of renewed activity. This is good news for businesses: though no-one can doubt that trading conditions are still tough, there does seem to be some light at the end the tunnel.

One of the big question through this recession, and it's still relevant, is: how do I get through this recession in good shape? It's a well-known fact that keeping existing clients is much, much more cost effective than going out and getting new ones, but does this still hold up in today's commercial environment?

If you look at all the research, articles and opinions there is a definite consensus: if you spend the time and resources looking after your existing clients and ensure that you demonstrate better value for money than your competitors, you will be a winner after the recession. And that, if you have to make a choice, client management is a priority, even over developing brand new business.

"Brick-walling" your clients

At its heart, keeping your existing clients - especially the ‘key' ones, the ones it would really hurt you to lose - is about creating a brick wall between them and your competitors. A lot of firms will be seeing if they can win your clients from you. I would hazard a guess that some firms spend more time thinking how to poach clients than the incumbent providers spend thinking about keeping them! The stronger the relationship and the more reason there is for them to stay, the less likely it is that your clients will look around.

So how do I create this brick wall? There are 4 key areas which are important in looking after key clients:

Managing the fee-earning work
Defending the client
Developing the client
Project management

I shall deal with these in turn and explain how getting each of these elements right will not only demonstrate to your clients that you are a firm worth sticking with, but will also help grow your business.

Managing the fee-earning work

All firms would agree that they intend to deliver a minimum level of good service to every client, but on occasion some promise one thing, with all good intentions, and under-deliver. People who are client-focused however, under-promise and over-deliver. Spending time delivering to the highest standard is of course important, but there's another part of the equation which is equally essential and that's to understand what your clients' expectations are.

Their expectations will fall in three categories:

1. Planning - how a particular project is managed and planned, including how the team works, and who does what.

2. Executing - how that project is actually delivered, including budgets, timescales, quality, service level agreements.

3. Communicating - how the client wants you to communicate, how often, in what style, what kinds of reports.

Understanding each aspect, from the client's point of view, helps enormously - it is then so much easier to meet those expectations and, hopefully, exceed them! Don't forget to consider each contact separately, since even in the same organisation there will be differences - based on their role and remit, their motivations and way of working, or their objectives (business or personal). So talk to them about what they want and expect.

There is no doubt that delighting customers makes them more loyal and if you do so, you create real value in your service.

Client defence

I am sure everyone who is reading this has lost a client at some point, and it hurts. Do you know why they went? Often, a client won't give any hint that they are thinking of going elsewhere for their services, and the first you know about it is when you realise you haven't had any work for a while.

Defending clients is about developing good relationships - through meetings, client review meetings, feedback and understanding their world. But it's more than that. It also involves determining how strong that relationship is and taking action to improve it.

The first step in developing this understanding is to consider your relationship with each person you know in the client's business. They might be allies, who have a positive view of your firm and are influential, or friends, again positive but with limited influence. But they might equally be protestors or enemies (a negative view and with low or high influence respectively). They could have a neutral view of the firm or you might not know how much sway they hold in their business or where their allegiances lie.

Once you have thought through how much influence those contacts have and their view of you, then you can make a decision about how you want that to change. How can you make your protestors into friends? Can the enemies become allies and if so how might you achieve that? How can you find out about the unknowns? And with your ideas for how to answer those questions, you have the start of a client plan.

The second step in understanding your relationship is agreeing within your team what factors are crucial to the relationship's success. There might be 6 key factors or 10; the point is that they must be things you can do something about. Once agreed, you then need to score yourself - honestly - against those factors. For instance, you might agree that the number of relationships you have at board level is important but you currently only know one director, or the number of services they buy might be crucial but they only use you for two. As with the contacts, there will be factors that you can improve on, e.g.

We want to be introduced to two other offices
We want to increase the number of new projects we win by 50%
We know that if they attend a seminar on the right topic they are more likely to give us work so we will invite contacts to 2 seminars in the next 6 months.

By putting this plan into action, you will, over a very few months, help to strengthen your relationship with that client and add another few bricks in that wall.

Developing the client

In order to market or sell to your clients successfully you need to understand them and their world - what issues are they facing, what is their marketplace like at the moment, what challenges do they face? Whilst these things can be researched, the best way to find out more is to talk to your clients! Not with the intention of ‘selling them something' but purely to find out more about them and their business, or to find out their opinion on a particular issue.

Conducted in the right way and by asking a lot of open questions of the client, more often than not an opportunity will arise during that meeting, for instance to introduce them to one of your colleagues or to put some thoughts in writing about your views or how you could help them.

Armed with this knowledge you can decide what articles or newsletters you can send them which will genuinely add value for them, which seminars it would be worth inviting them to and what topics you could write on for that sector. And over a period of time you can keep in contact with that person on issues you discussed at your meeting.

Remember, the more direct contact you have with your clients - through meetings, focused seminars, articles in their trade press - the more credible you will be in their eyes, and the more receptive they will be to you offering other solutions to them.

Project management

Good project management is about having the right supporting systems so you can do a great job and the client receives an excellent service.

This is about: having an accounting system that runs smoothly which sends clear and prompt invoices to clients or support for your key client plans both by having a central database that makes life easier and client teams set up so that you can work together. It's about managing your resources - people, time, money, work - to best effect. And all focused on the client.

The final piece of the jigsaw

So you've looked at the 4 key areas of good client management, you've made some improvements and agreed an action plan to deepen the relationship with the client over the next two years and increase the business you receive from them.

But there's one vital bit left. It's being motivated to do this, it's having values in the firm which will make delivering an outstanding service easy. The right motivation and values come from the top - from the managing partner or CEO - and, if successful, are taken on board throughout the firm.

It takes energy, enthusiasm and dedication, but at the end of it, you'll see your business grow much more than you can imagine - in revenue terms and in its standing in the client's eyes and their loyalty.