Account Expectations
and Retention
Businesses don’t have
expectations. People Do! Therefore client retention isn’t as easy as
meeting or exceeding your client’s expectations. The straight forward idea that if you
understand the business’s goals, objectives, and priorities you’ll have a clear
path to success isn’t necessarily correct.
Think
about your clients and their operations, within each there are many different
buying influences and stakeholders. They
all have their own expectations of you and your company. How many times have we all heard the story of
a great facility with high praise for a person and the company, only to find
out one year later after a new CEO arrives the partnership is now bumpy? Have you and your team identified all the key
individuals who influence the retention of the business? Have you and your team developed business
relationships with all these people or at least working on a plan to do so?
So
what should your plan include?
1. Communicate with you point
of contact and other buying influences face to face, telephone, and email; in
that order Face to Face is best. The
relationships you want can’t be developed and maintained electronically.
2. Question the feedback / coaching
that you and your team receive. The
point of contact or person who flatters by saying “just keep doing what you’re
doing” may not be speaking for all the buying influences. Remember the point of contact isn’t the one
who sign a renewal usually.
3. As you gain access to those
that influence and learn the various expectations made sure you are
interpreting what you hear correctly.
Don’t let voices and varied priorities of the client’s organization
cloud the important ones.
4. Remember expectations can
change overnight. Mergers, layoffs, restructuring, management changes both on
the client or your team alter expectations sometimes dramatically. So start
anew finding the stakeholders and communicating.