07 Jan “Rev X” – The Big Chill
Rev X – The Big Chill
Sometimes when you think the news can’t get worse, it does. As we’ve seen over the last three blogs, we’ve done our job exceedingly well – solved the client’s problems and increased our margins. Still, due to the inevitable passage of time, fewer problems become the “new normal” and the client perceives a widening “Value Gap”. We’re looking at the world through a very different lens from our client and, if we fail to see things from their perspective, we’re vulnerable.
Then it gets worse – the “Big Chill” occurs when there is a key change in the client’s Web of Influence®. We already know from Tenacity Commandment #6 “When People Change, Everything Has The Potential To Change.” (See blogpost dated July 29, 2013 http://clientretention.com/the-blog/page/2/). When we depict the change graphically, the alarm bells should begin to sound:
So let us ask (and answer) a few questions to illustrate the threat:
Q: Which way does the new client contact look – toward the future or the past?
A: They look toward the future. They care about what happens on their watch.
Q: As they look toward the future, what do they see?
A: The “Value Gap”. They see a relatively smooth running and problem-free operation and a big check payable to you in their operating budget.
Q: Will this happen with every single account you have if you are doing your job well?
A: Yes.
Q: Don’t they know and care about all the problems you had to solve when you got there and how little you were making during that time?
A: No.
Q: Do competitive sales people understand this graph and can they propose to provide the services at a lower price?
A: Sure they do and they can easily propose to provide the services for less because you’ve already done the heavy lifting by solving all the problems.
Feel the chill?