Tenacity Podcast

Talk about a loaded question!  How much is too much?  How would we know?  How will our client know?

Let’s revisit Revelation X again.  Last week we talked about the red line (the “Problem” line) and its role in closing the “Value Gap”.  Well, there’s only one other line that creates the “Value Gap” and, of course, that’s the green line (the Fee / Profit) line.  Whenever the green line goes up, value will decline, unless there is a commensurate quality improvement that is real and recognized.

During the 2008 financial crisis, our government conceived TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to purchase toxic assets from financial institutions as a means to find a way out of the subprime mortgage debacle. Although the program was widely ridiculed at the time, by 2012 over 97% of the funds had been repaid to the Treasury and the overall investment stayed within budget and never exceeded 1% of GDP. Hopefully we’ve learned the necessary lessons and subsequent stabilization regulation will prevent a repeat of the near meltdown.

“We see things not as they are… we see things as we are.” (Fran Lebowitz)

Interviewing our client’s clients is one of the most valued services Tenacity provides. These assessments are FreshEyes® Reviews (existing clients) and PostMortem Auditssm (lost clients).

Ok, we admit it. Tenacity has a Client Retention Matrix. One of the best smiles we get when teaching “Attitude & Action®” is when we ask the participants if they know why Tenacity created this matrix. Usually after a few tentative attempts, we’re ready to give them the “wink and nod” answer: “Because if you’re in the consulting business and you don’t have a matrix, you can’t charge as much.”

“You’ve Got Mail!” Tenacity’s FreshEyes® Review of one of your most important clients has just hit your in-box. The “Impressions” recap has placed the client in the “Counselor” quadrant, i.e. the account team appears to be doing the job on the “Technical Delivery” side (solving problems, delivering innovation) but the “Relationship” components need shoring up.

If you have followed along the last few weeks, you know that “Gnats” is that sweet and fragrant spring day in the south – that blissful feeling when all is right with the world. Enough so that even that one pesky little gnat can’t spoil it. That’s where we want to be in our client relationships, but alas, the “FreshEyes® Review” has revealed that we’re not.

Tenacity’s experience indicates that our ability to be highly effective in serving our clients is always enhanced the more FreshEyes® Reviews and PostMortem Audits we are able to conduct on their behalf. These interviews give us deep insight into our client’s systemic strengths and weaknesses. As the voice of the customer, we can provide valuable feedback as to how they are performing in an individual account, or where they faltered in having been terminated. Often our client’s targeted responses to this data has saved clients that otherwise would have been lost.

The Ten Commandments of Client Retention. An Introduction and Commandment #1

The Ten Commandments of Client Retention, also known as The Tenacity Ten, are revealed in our first book, "What Your Clients Won't Tell You and Your Managers Don't Know."

1. Client retention begins with the “Right Clients” under the “Right Terms”

The first two commandments given to Moses were about defining the relationship God expected to have with His people. In like manner (but admittedly less earthshaking), Tenacity’s 1st commandment of client retention is intended to define and govern the relationship that providers of services should have with their clients.

The second commandment given to Moses was all about idolatry. (God is against it, of course.) It’s really easy for we humans to worship the wrong things. But in the client relationship, expectations are so central to a successful and sustainable outcome, that we should, at the very least, pay them reverential attention. The beginning of the contract will set this tone, either for good or for suffering.