There has arguably been no factor more critical to the rise
of civilization than agriculture. Farming generally provides a more reliable
food supply than hunting and gathering. It allows people to settle in more
concentrated communities where resources can be aggregated and commerce more
readily established. Hunters and gatherers, by contrast, are often consigned to
a more nomadic and insecure existence.
Similarly, companies thrive when they cultivate the business
equivalent of agriculture—enduring customer relationships that provide an
ongoing supply of revenue. Imagine your firm without long-term clients. Could
you even survive? At best, you would be facing a substantial downsizing of your
business and much greater uncertainty about your firm's future viability.
Given the critical role that such client relationships play
in enabling sustainable business success, I've long marveled how little
concentrated effort the typical A/E firm invests in relationship building. Most
firms still take a largely transactional approach to business development,
where pursuit of new projects takes precedent over pursuit of new clients.
Those special client relationships more often arise as an
afterthought to project work, a byproduct of a job well done rather than the
result of focused relationship building. It's akin to the hunter who in pursuit
of game scatters some seed along the way in hope that some will fall on
favorable soil where it might take root. While this hunter may give special
care to the isolated patches of crops that emerge, it's hardly an efficient
model for creating a steady food supply!
So it is with firms that have no relationship building
strategy. When I conduct business development assessments, I typically ask
those I interview what their firm's greatest BD strengths are. Invariably,
building client relationships is one of the first things they mention. Then I
ask how they do that. Their answers usually reveal that they don't really
know—"just take good care of the client" is a common response,
without offering any specifics.
That's hardly reassuring. How can you do anything consistently
when you can't describe how you do it? How do you replicate that capability
across the organization? Doesn't something so critical to the success of your
firm deserve more intentional, consistent effort? I think the answer is a
resounding yes. If you agree, here are some suggestions:
Learn from your best client relationships. Can you retrace
the steps that led to your most enduring relationships? How did they form? What
did your firm do to cultivate those relationships? A closer look may yield some
valuable insights. Better still, you might ask those clients how they came to
favor your firm. What are the things you do that distinguish your firm and keep
them coming back?
Identify the characteristics that define your long-term
clients. Are there some common traits? Chances are you will find at least a
few. For example, they probably tend to prefer deeper relationships with their
service providers. Perhaps they are committed to making these relationships
mutually beneficial. They are likely less price sensitive and pay more
promptly. Whatever the case may be, there are certainly advantages to
recognizing commonalities among your best clients. These can help you identify
the potential new clients that most warrant your attention.
Screen prospective clients for relationship potential. Your
sales approach should distinguish between transactional sales and relational
sales. With the latter, you devote more attention to relationship building. A
one-off client or one that gives priority to low price is probably not worth
the additional investment of a relational sale. But when there appears to be
good relationship potential, you want to go beyond the usual project pursuit
and focus on nurturing the relationship. Early in the sales process, apply your
list of desirable client traits to assess prospects for relationship potential,
then proceed accordingly.
Make the working relationship a key part of your sales
narrative. At some part in the procurement process, most clients will give
strong consideration to how well they think working with your firm will go. If
the relationship is important to them, they'll start making that assessment
early in the sales process. There are two things you should do in that
situation: (1) model the working relationship in how you interact with the
client during the sales process (serve, don't sell!) and (2) talk about how you
build strong relationships with clients. If you can describe the latter in some
detail, you'll probably be the only competing firm to do so—a clear advantage
in your favor.
Assess your current client relationships and plan how to
strengthen them. It's a good idea to identify your firm's key client
relationships. These might be characterized by past and potential revenue
generation, demonstrated loyalty, strategic value, or some combination of these
factors. The point is to determine which of your clients deserve special
attention. For each of your key clients, develop a plan for nurturing and
growing that relationship. Your plan might consist of the following elements:
Scale the content and details of the plan as appropriate for
the size and value of the client. But have some kind of plan to guide the
intentional, consistent effort mentioned earlier.
Appoint an client team for each key client. Your most
important client accounts should never be entrusted to a single individual.
Even the best client managers can make mistakes, or have blind spots, or leave
your firm! They may be too close to the work or the client to have an objective
perspective. The collective brain power of a client team increases your chances
of having a sound relationship strategy and taking good care of the client.
This team should have a leader (client manager) and meet roughly monthly. What
should they be working on? Raising the level of service. Ensuring the success
of current projects. Planning how to position your firm for new work with the
client.
Be sure you're getting regular feedback. Only about
one-fourth of A/E firms formally gather feedback from clients. Feedback is the
bedrock of strong relationships and great service. You can't be sure you're
serving your clients well if you don't ask. Certainly, you want to be certain
that your top clients are fully satisfied with your performance and service.
For more insight into how to do this, check out this earlier post.
One big difference between farmers and hunters is that
farmers in effect produce their harvest, whereas hunters depend on finding
theirs. There is much work that precedes the harvesting of crops—plowing,
planting, watering, weeding, spraying, etc. Your best client relationships
deserve similar diligence. Assemble a team, have a plan, and cultivate the
relationship to maximize the mutual returns. And starting such relationships
shouldn't be left to chance. Don't apply a transactional sales approach to
every prospect.
Farmers or hunters: Where is your firm's focus? Is it where
it should be?
