September 5, 2022
Clients For Life?
Having clients for life can feel like the Holy Grail, but it can also keep you trapped on a gilded hamster wheel.
This week on TBOA, Rochelle and I come at the subject of “clients for life” from several angles.
Talking Points
How the retainer execution model rewards a “clients for life” strategy, but can keep you on the gilded hamster wheel.
The required mindset shift as you move away from strictly execution to higher value consulting.
How to think about dandelion projects where you stay in touch with client team members as they scatter to new companies (and which business models can easily leverage this).
The altitude shift from “hands” consulting to advisory work and why that tends to down-shift client longevity.
Quotable Quotes
“Think of a retainer as charging a periodic amount…for a given set of deliverables. An advisory retainer is not that. An advisory retainer is where you are not executing—you are giving strategic advice.”—RM
“The thing about this sort of ‘hands-on’ retainer…it’s like a job. It’s predictable and safe and probably can be a lot longer term than an advisory retainer.”—JS
“When you start that transition (to advisory)…it feels like ‘wait a minute, I’m not doing enough for this money. I need to be busier.’ You have to make a mindset shift.”—RM
“Think about a dandelion project—where a buyer brings you in, and you do good work for them…and then that team from that company disperses, and they go to five other companies.”—JS
“It’s different working with the CEO than it is with the director level of a function. Your impact is bigger. Your potential influence is larger. And the price of failure is higher. That’s why you don’t come out of school and go coach the CEO.”—RM
“The easiest sale is new stuff to old clients because you already have trust. They already know you’re legit. They already know that you deliver results.”—JS
“Growing your altitude…allows you to operate at a much higher level. And by the way, that level is exceedingly lucrative.”—RM
“I’ve got some students who’ve done internal systems for gigantic brand names—names you’d recognize—and they’ve stayed engaged for years by oozing from department to department.”—JS
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Yours,
—J
P.S. Registration is open for the tenth session of The Pricing Seminar.
Folks like you from all over the world are already getting to know each other inside of the private TPS Slack room. Lessons start Monday, so don’t wait.
I hope you’ll join us!