Over the past several months, I've increasingly heard from salespeople and sales leaders that business has slowed. Deals are taking longer to close, and accounts are hesitant to make long-term decisions. With this shift, and the need to drive more revenue, the focus on acquiring new business has increased.
While new business development is crucial for growth, many forget the importance of retaining the business they have worked so hard to acquire and develop! Getting new accounts in the door will add revenue, but it will have less of an impact if you are simply replacing dollars from existing accounts – think of trying to fill a leaky bucket.
3 Strategies to Improve Client Retention and Revenue Performance
Having a client retention strategy and processes in place can drive improvements in revenue performance. Think of the impact on revenue growth your new business efforts would have if you were able to retain over 90% of your existing business!
Here are my top three strategies to improve client retention and revenue performance.
1. Service your key accounts
Remember, your key accounts are everyone else’s Target accounts. While growing your relationship is important, it is equally important to help them grow their business. Make sure you are having business-focused conversations frequently to learn about changes in their business, new opportunities, and any challenges that they foresee coming.
I recommend scheduling these types of meetings at least once a quarter…because if you don’t, your competition certainly will.
2. Sell the results to your campaign
As the economy changes, so will the needs and expectations of your active accounts. Many will have a heightened focus on ROI and will move budgets to partners they feel drive the best return and results. Don't assume they will come to the same conclusion when sharing results. Instead of simply delivering a report or providing them with access to a reporting dashboard, build a narrative around the results you're driving for their business.
Your goal should be to position yourself as a necessity to drive revenue, not as an expense. Every recap meeting is an opportunity to sell the results you are helping them achieve and extending your partnership.
3. Bring value
There are several ways you can bring value to your existing clients. One way is to show them that you are thinking about them and their business by bringing them new ideas focused on them and what's important to them.
Another way to bring value is to do your homework on their industry - share articles or insights along with your notes or thoughts in between meetings. Not only will this extra step help you stand apart from your competitors in the market it will also position you as a resource.
Conclusion
Just as the expectations of the accounts you work with are changing, so are the needs and expectations of the consumers they are trying to attract.
Work with your existing clients to ensure their messaging aligns with where consumers are today. Making small changes to the messaging of their campaign to meet consumer needs could be the difference between driving results or seeing results diminish.
What are some of your top client retention strategies?
