All clients matter… but BIG clients matter more. They just do. Big clients are your business’ foundation. They are what allow you to make payroll and keep your lights on.
But there’s a problem with big clients. For most firms, there are 3, 4 or 5 clients that account for 40, 50 or 60% (or more) of your revenue. Which is great… until you lose one. You never want to lose any clients, but the loss of one of your big clients can be catastrophic!
Which means… you have to do everything you can to take great care of your big clients. To go above and beyond to ensure a long-term relationship. Here are 3 ideas that can help you do that…
#1. Get to know more people inside the client organization. All too often, you lose a big client because your key contact – who is a great contact – is also your only contact. And he or she leaves the company. Because you relied on that one contact and didn’t develop relationships with other people there, when your key contact leaves, your relationship and the revenue go away.
So, don’t waste another minute! Starting today, ask your key contact at every big client to introduce you to other folks in his or her organizations… who they work with in their department, who they work with in other departments, who they report to and who reports to them. Connect with these new contacts on LinkedIn and make sure they go into your CRM. Then, over the coming months, work to get to know them… so when your contact leaves – and they always leave – you’re work can carry on uninterrupted.
#2. Conduct a gap analysis. Often times, you will have a good, long-term relationship with a big client, doing a certain type of work for them. They like you and you like them.
But you both forget to explore other possibilities – the other kinds of work you could be doing for them; the other brands or departments in the company you could be doing work for. And because of that, you get pigeonholed.
So, don’t waste another minute! Ask those exploratory questions of your key contacts at your largest clients… What other problems could you be solving for them? What kinds of work are their colleagues in other departments doing? Which of your competitors have that work now?
I’m willing to bet that you do not have 100% of all the available business with your biggest clients. So, go figure out where the gaps are and work to earn that business.
Hint: Don’t forget, your existing clients are the easiest kind of companies to sell to. They already know you… like you… trust you… and they’re already spending money with you. Your job is to simply open their eyes to how else you can help them.
#3. Do more. You are likely already implementing a number of activities that touch all of your clients. E.g. Sharing ideas and resources on LinkedIn, sending your contacts a monthly email newsletter, connecting with them at conferences, conducting occasional zoom calls to check in, and so on. But for your big clients, you must do more
So, don’t wait another minute! Continue to do all of those things above plus other, client-specific activities. For example:
- Share targeted content with them
- Invite them to present at a conference or on a webinar
- Profile them in your blog
- Present a series of lunch-n-learns (in their offices, if possible)
- Make sure your senior management is involved with them
Hint: Don’t just create a list of activities and hope they get done. Hope is not a strategy. Rather, create a list of specific tasks for each big client and put them into a calendar… then go make them happen.
Bottom Line
You love your big clients… but you can’t afford to take them for granted. Give someone on your team ownership of each of your big client relationships, then give them the tools they need to not just keep them, but to expand your work with them over time, as well.
Good luck and good selling.