Relationships Take Effort
Are you intentional in your relationships?
What proactive activities do you have in place to show clients you care?
Do you have a key account management plan?
Anything worth having requires effort. The more important something is to you the more likely you are to put the required effort into it. This is particularly important when we start to consider the relationships that we build with our clients and with our team.
When you look at the split of your time over a day, week or month, how is your time used? Is it invested or spent? When doing time optimisation training I often say to people that you can see what you value the most by looking at your bank account and calendar; people tend to put time and money into what is important to them.
A great way to understand, and avoid, one of the most common pitfalls of key account management is to consider what often happens when people are dating. At the start of a relationship there is a massive effort to get attention. This is generally followed with a flurry of attention and focused effort and energy. The relationship blossoms and a couple then gets married. What initially follows is the “honeymoon period”. The only reason that this is a “period” is because people tend to take their partner for granted and stop putting in as much time, effort, attention and focus. Complacency can often slip in and this is when people start to drift apart. People can start to look for what is wrong with the other person and the relationship rather than focusing on what is right (and we tend to get more of what we focus on). The same thing can happen with clients.
Sales reps invest a considerable amount of time trying to win a client. When they sign them up they give them a lot of attention to help the client feel like they made the right decision. The temptation then is to move on to the next client because that one is now “sorted.”
Nobody likes being taken for granted. When clients sense that we don't care as much as we used to, their commitment to the relationship diminishes and they will often entertain other offers. This can be an insidious and slow occurrence. It is for this reason that we need to be deliberate and intentional around who our best customers are and how we will treat them. Like any relationship this requires diligence and effort.
As businesses have multiple relationships we need to make absolutely sure that we have a plan that is sustainable. This allows us to set expectations with new clients and to make promises we know we can deliver on. Delivering on promises and being consistent is a superb foundation to building long lasting relationships.
Here’s to your success!
