Every business owner or executive with P&L responsibility covets customer loyalty from
high-margin accounts. But who is each customer loyal to: your company or your employee?
You might be at risk of losing loyal customers when an account manager
leaves or moves to more challenging accounts. In this case study,
a regional manager wants the answer to a question he can't risk posing himself:
"If I give you a new account manager, will you renew your contract with us?"
When a third-party interviewer asks what sounds like an innocent,
spontaneous question during a feedback interview, the regional manager gets his answer.
This is one in a series of case studies highlighting
"Key Questions and Course-correcting Quotes
" taken from 20 years of B2B customer insight projects.
All names are fictitious, but the situations are real.
Case studies paint a picture of how important it is to learn what your B2B customers think
-- but aren't saying. These are real-world examples of how soliciting and acting
on customer feedback has helped companies hold onto customers longer,
grow relationships bigger and pick up new business faster.
Case study: Renewal at Risk?
Key Question: "Is your relationship with the vendor or with your account manager?"
Course-correcting Quote:
CXO: "I would have to say this relationship is with the vendor.
If you were to ask me what would happen if my account manager left,
a significant part of the support I get from her company would be lost from
a knowledge-base standpoint. However, I'd trust them to send me someone with the same skills."
Follow-up question: "Would you rather see someone from the existing team promoted or a seasoned
person from a similar account transferred in?"
CXO: "I'd prefer someone from a similar account.
The skill set is more important than the account knowledge.
If they've done the job successfully somewhere else, they should be able to do it here."
My Client's Quandary:
The account manager being spoken of here had worked wonders on this account.
Her regional manager wanted to move her so she could work her magic on a failing account,
but he didn't know where this customer's loyalties lay.
The contract was up for renewal in 18 months.
My quandary was, the regional manager didn't want the customer to know a transfer was being
considered. Once the customer "voluntarily speculated"
on the possibility of the account manager leaving, I could probe further.
After all, it was a topic the customer raised. (And this wasn't a matter of luck:
I broached the subject by first asking about his loyalty to vendors of other services.
When I asked, "In this case, is your relationship with the vendor or with your account manager?"
the context obscured the importance of the question.)
Conclusion:
The regional manager learned he could move the account manager without risking contract renewal.
(She was moved, the replacement met the customer's expectations, and the contract was renewed.)
I categorize projects as assessments, investigations, treasure hunts or rescue missions.
This project was an investigation. The client's question was, "
Is this customer loyal to our company or to our employee?" In this instance,
the customer was loyal to the vendor. That's not always true.
Tactical tip: It's smart to go into loss-prevention mode when one of your capable account managers
takes a job with a competitor.
A call or visit from the employee's manager or the company president to each customer
can work to preserve customer retention. The prospect of bringing along a "book of business"
Might be a key reason your competitor lured your employee away!
Strategic tip: An annual call or e-mail from the boss of the account managers
Can help bond customers to your company and lay the groundwork for a smooth transition
Following employee turnover.
It also lets customers know there is an escalation path if they ever have problems
with their account manager's performance.
Ann Amati, Principal, Deliberate Strategies Consulting,
helps companies use guidance from their current and past customers to grow future sales.
She has a 20-year track record of using deep-dive interviews
to create positive turning points in her clients' relationships with their customers.
In her national practice,
Ann has clients who sell millions to companies that make billions and sole practitioners
/LLCs with more modest practices.
Contact Ann Amati when you want to know what your customers think. You'll start making faster,
more confident decisions.
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