Retention Is About Prevention: 5 Tips For Success
Someone once said — the day you win a piece of business is also the day you start losing it.
The thought certainly takes the wind out of the sails of post pitch celebrations, but in all honesty, it’s good advice.
Like with many things in life, the key to success is to follow a strategy of prevention, not cure. And when the economic environment makes growth hard to come by, following the old agency mantra of retain and grow becomes even more of an imperative.
But how do you practise retention when there are always more “urgent” things competing for your attention?
Here are five tips on making prevention a fundamental part of your client work:
#1: Look through the eyes of a new client
Even if your client team is stable, it’s always worth asking, “If a new client arrived today, what would their assessment of our agency be?”
What agency habits may be driven by legacy and are no longer needed/ can be optimised?
What can or should you change about how you run the account and your client relationships?
If you were pitching for the business now, what would you do differently?
Make these questions a routine part of your account management and you’ll be surprised by the progress you can make.
#2: Invest in really understanding your client
An obvious point perhaps, but an area we’re seeing suffering of late.
Understanding is the foundation of relationship strength.
Understanding your client as a brand, business, and as an individual is key.
Check in regularly to confirm if:
What they hired you for is still what they need
Your client’s agenda and priorities remain the same
You know the individual’s objectives, up to how they’re bonused
You understand the company culture and ways of working
You’re aware of the implications for you and the team
#3: Be laser focused on the relationship
You’ll often hear us saying that agencies get hired for their ideas and fired for their relationships.
It’s fundamental to regularly interrogate the health of your client relationships.
Don’t convince yourself that everything’s fine. Ask the direct question.
Even if the relationship is strong, don’t rest on your laurels. Be curious. Be invested. Unearth the latent issues and opportunities that can strengthen your relationship further.
Ask your client what it would take to get to a Perfect Ten
Check that your man-marking strategy is robust and up to date
Make sure you have relationships with all the key influencers
Check you know their agendas
It’s worth remembering:
When one part of a team changes, everything changes, particularly if there’s a shift to the wider agency roster. A new agency joining the mix can make a previously happy client have a slightly different perspective.
#4: Check in on your team’s morale
Higher client expectations and increasing levels of complaint are the new reality for teams everywhere. And it does take its toll.
It will also have implications for the client experience. So here’s what you can do:
Check if self-limiting beliefs have formed around the client. Do they manifest in unhelpful perceptions of how the client behaves or the type of work they buy? If so, how can these be reset?
Check in on your team’s mindset and morale. Do you recognise any self-limiting beliefs or behaviours in your team?How can you support and re-energise them?
Keep familiarity in check. Is familiarity with the client and their projects limiting the team’s ambition? How can you make sure it doesn’t? How would someone new approach the business?
These beliefs and behaviours can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy, so it’s essential to monitor and remedy them as soon as possible.
#5: Meet and exceed expectations
Again, perhaps it's obvious, but the strongest relationships are based on excellence as standard.
How you deliver the basics is a measure of your care and commitment. Because it’s often in the day-to-day that relationships begin to fray.
So where there are issues, make sure to be quick to listen and fast to fix.
And finally, don’t forget — merchandise your work.
In the deluge of email traffic, client reorgs, and economic pressures, it’s easy for much of your great work to get overlooked or forgotten. It’s important to think strategically about what’s most central to the client’s agenda and show how you’re delivering against it.
Reinforce your expertise, thought leadership, innovation, and ROI. Don’t just hope that they’ll connect the dots. Be proud of your work — and show it!
If you'd like to discuss more about how to prevent loss of business, feel free to reach out to me at anna.hopwood@clientrelationship.com
Anna Hopwood
The Client Relationship Consultancy