Tenacity Podcast

Where did that come from?

Tenacity Commandment #3: Expect Your Client To Have Expectations You Didn’t Expect They Would Have.

The third of the original Ten Commandments instructs us not to take the name of the Lord in vain. That can be a particularly difficult temptation when a client expectation surfaces that seems completely out of left field. But, it does happen, so just expect it to.

Sometimes the smallest pronouns really mean a lot. At Tenacity, we can’t avoid the moniker of “consultants” when we describe what we do, so we make every effort not to act like consultants when we engage the work with our clients. We want them to view us as partners, i.e. a small group that they trust enough to handle, on an outsourced basis, the strategy and implementation of best practices around client retention.

Commandment #5: Client Retention Is Not An Event, It Is A Daily Process

We’ve all heard the terminology; “Flavor of the Month”, etc. Once management acquires a reputation (internally) for managing this way, i.e. constantly shifting tactics (or worse – shifting strategies) – they risk losing both credibility and the attention span of their people.

Some well known sayings just kind of finish themselves:

“When the going gets tough ...”

“The spirit was willing, but ...”

“Drive for show, putt ...” (Non golfers excused)

You get the idea. This phrase, in the title above, that comprises Tenacity’s 6th Commandment has that same resonance, not only with us, but also with our clients. Truer words were never spoken, at least in the world of business. “When people change …” is a phrase begging to be completed. We are at risk when people change – let’s deal with it. Now.

The “Transition Lite” meeting is the key tool for dealing with changes in the client’s “Web of Influence®.”

Do you remember “Attitude & Action?” “Action” means, “whenever we perceive a threat to our client relationship, we will take every action we know to be effective to eliminate the threat and defend our contract.” Changes in the client’s Web of Influence are a threat – every time – no exceptions.

In many years of managing sales organizations, there would have to be one individual who, at the end of the day, would stand out as the best “belly to belly” sales person and relationship manager that I’d ever encountered. Greg (not his real name) had unimpeachable product knowledge (he’d put in his time as an operator), polished communication skills, an obvious love of people and a charismatic and competitive nature. Importantly, however, Greg worked hard at it – systematically.

Tenacity’s 8th Commandment of Client Retention states: “The Worst Time to Renew a Contract is When it is Due For Renewal.”

We work with our companies directly to facilitate the renewal of major contracts. Of course, we advocate that all clients should be precious when 100% client retention is the goal – it’s just that some we REALLY REALLY can’t afford to lose. Right?

This podcast is a companion to the one that proceeds it dealing with Tenacity Commandment #8.

Hey, no worries. We have a year and a half left on our contract.

Those words actually mean it's t-minus 548 days. And while that may be the actual number of days you have left before contract expiration, it's time to really get to work because ... well, question. Do you think your competition knows the expiration dates of your most important contracts?

We’re finishing our podcast in this chapter on Tenacity’s 10 Commandments of Client Retention by combining the last two:

#9: “The end of a contract doesn’t have to mean the end of a relationship”, and

#10: “How you close a contract is just as important as how you open one.”

It’s been stunning to us over the years, to bear witness to the truly bad behavior of some contractors upon losing then exiting a contract. We’ve seen it in professional service firms and in janitorial service companies and everywhere in between. The reactions range from petulant attitudes (as if toward a lost love) to outright sabotage of the operation and the incoming replacement firm. It is reminiscent of the childish disabling of the “W” keys on word processing and communication equipment in the West Wing when President Bush 43 came in to office. That’s the sort of thing we remember, isn’t it? And, certainly, not in a good way.

This is a new chapter in our podcasts and it explores a range of competencies and skills that are really good to be good at for successful account management that leads to high levels of client retention. From listening, to talking, for managing up down and across, Stephen Covey regularly and eloquently reminded us to sharpen the saw. Our partner Randy Salisbury wrote the final podcast in this chapter. All of us have noted and lamented that the same kind of mentors that each of us were privileged to have when we started in business, just don't seem to exist to the same degree in the modern business world today.