Practice what you preach and what you sell

At LEVEL Studios, we treat our clients the same way we develop marketing strategies for those same organizations. As a marketer, you are typically engaged with the development of strategy that will drive the acquisition, conversion or retention of a client’s customers. When you think about it, this should be the same paradigm as your agency’s relationship lifecycle with that client and should be driven by the Account team.

David Maister speaks to the idea that professional service firms “must execute a full package of practice development steps” to acquire, build and maintain client relationships. Each step is an interconnected link in the chain of the brand promise to your clients. Here is a quick look at each step of the process:

Acquisition | This step includes all activities in place to generate opportunities and leads through business development efforts, market outreach (publishing, writing, speaking), concerted marketing programs and materials. Those leads and the initial dialogue you have with any prospective client is the “courting” phase where you begin generating awareness and setting expectations for your team’s future performance. Every action is important because the client is not just buying your agency services; they are also entering into a relationship. Your goal as an account lead is not to sell something. Rather, it is your job to ensure the client trusts you enough to enter into a relationship with you AND your agency. That is how you acquire new clients.

Conversion | As they say, you are only as good as your last project. The idea of conversion for an account team is to take a new client and extend a single project into more follow-on work and a deeper relationship. That extension may be as simple as a new project or as a referral to another group within the client’s organization. Your aim is to meet or exceed expectations on existing projects by delivering outstanding work and providing exemplary service. If the client continues to be impressed with the work product AND finds your team easy to work with, then you have that conversion factor. A key idea for the Account team is not just to deliver to your Statement of Work, but also to ensure that your level of service makes them want more.

Retention | The bottom line in any client relationship is whether or not you have delivered as an agency against the client’s expectations for your brand. If you have, then you will inspire confidence, trust and loyalty manifested in long-term revenue growth with a given client. The fundamentals of how to retain a client are no different than any other relationship. It takes work, trust and a real sense of caring.

Conclusion

The lifecycle of a client relationship is ultimately led by the Client Services team. A continued emphasis on service by listening to the client and nurturing the relationship will create a solid foundation for repeat business and coupled with continued excellence in delivery, will result in great case studies and referrals to help drive the acquisition of new clients and ultimately stronger long term relationships.