Most of us can think of a question – or perhaps several questions – we’d prefer never be asked of us. That can be true in our client relationships too.

Picture, if you will, an account we’ve served for years. Like most clients, financial pressures intensify from time to time. They are thinking critically about their costs, staffing, overhead and general productivity. They take seriously their obligation to be productive managers and prudent buyers of goods and services. Everything is on the table.