Don’t make the mistake of confusing ‘sales’ with ‘relationship management’

There is much to be gained from a properly executed and well planned approach to managing your key relationships. If you think you do this already then fantastic, but don’t stop reading as many firms are convinced they’ve got it nailed – when they haven’t.

For example, many firms have ‘client relationship plans’ which, when examined, are really ‘sales plans’. There is nothing wrong with having a sales plan, in fact, sales planning is imperative. However, client relationship planning is not the same (and this is not to say that you shouldn’t have a sales plan allied to your client relationship plan for your key clients).

We will look in more detail at this issue of sales plans vs client relationship plans in later blogs/articles. For the purposes of making the point here, the objective of a sales plan is to get stuff – the purpose of a client relationship plan is to figure out what you can give to clients and then devise a delivery strategy. (if you want to know more now, give me a call or drop me a message and I’ll be happy to give you the benefit of some initial discussion).

This isn’t to say that ‘give’ doesn’t turn into ‘get’ at some stage – all successful client relationship plans will ultimately deliver the right outcomes for your firm – initially, however, you need to be concerned with building and improving long term and sustained key client relationships.

Firstly, and as I’ve indicated previously, a good starting point is to tell your client that you are devising a relationship plan and ask them what they would like to see go into it. This is still a novel idea in many (most?) firms. Doing this means (a) that a lot of the work is done for you by your client, and (b) you get it right (as opposed to getting it wrong, which is what happens if you guess what your client may want).  I have set out some ideas on this in a previous article/blog but if you want some help to get this started let me know.

Secondly you will need to create an internal engagement/communications programme. This doesn’t need to be anything flash, but it does need to have the overall objective of getting buy-in from your key people to plan and build the right type of relationships with your key clients. In particular, people need to take a less transactional approach to key client relationships and be prepared to invest time in building longer term and wider relationships. 

To achieve this, and once you have identified your key clients, have a look at the team, people, or person who is likely to be in charge of that relationship (and we wouldn’t recommend that any single person ever has exclusive ‘ownership’ of a key client relationship). Have a series of initial one to one discussions with these people. To what extent are they conscious of the options for improving key client relationships? Are they likely to be ‘pro’, ‘anti’, ‘doggedly transactional’, ‘undecided’, ‘wary’, ‘afraid’? All of this will determine the approach that you need to take.

It is a gradual process, challenging at times, however you don’t need buy-in from everyone at the beginning – it is about choosing the right colleagues as well as the most appropriate clients. Think also about whether you may need external help (I know I would say this, but you probably will).

It is also about cracking on with it – make a start – break the ice – have the discussion.

So, what can you expect to gain from taking this approach. Creating strong, dependent, value adding, and long term relationships with your clients will deliver the following benefits:

 ·      More referrals from your client’s own network (including their own customers);

 ·      Less resistance on fees and more understanding (and acceptance) of the reasons you need to charge what you do for certain services;

 ·      More clients retained and, conversely, fewer being attracted by your competitors;

 ·      A better working relationship with your client – how many times have you and your colleagues discussed how ‘high maintenance’ and generally difficult some clients can be? A partner in a law firm recently told me that their client “is just a fucking nightmare”. It doesn’t need to be ever thus!

This also creates a more varied and holistic adviser/client vibe in your firm which provides a better working and training environment for – for example – junior lawyers, accountants, graduates, etc. So, don’t exclude your junior colleagues from the process – they will embrace it with great enthusiasm!