Why your gut feel about client relationships is costing you a fortune
Read more at: reach.beresonant.co.uk
As I sat next to my MD, waiting for my best client to arrive, I prepared to bask in the glory of a job well done….What happened next shook me forever.
See, I’d been working with this business for 18 months. Making placements. Building relationships. Getting good feedback. Over that time they’d paid over £150k in fees. Nearly half my billings.
So naturally my boss wanted to come to the meeting and I was more than happy for him to join us. The meeting went well. But then my boss asked my client a key question.
“How much more support could we be giving you?”
The Answer That Crushed Me
“You currently work about 30% of our Finance roles” my client said. “You’re our second biggest supplier”.
My jaw hit the floor. Did I just hear right? How could that be?
All this time I thought I had an incredible relationship. Turns out we weren’t even exclusive.
My boss was fuming.
I’d been sitting on a massive opportunity. Nearly three times the size. Missing over £400k in revenue. All because I thought I had it nailed.
The client I thought was my cash cow could’ve been a game changer for my career and the business I worked for. It could’ve been an absolute gold mine. But I missed the signals. I trusted my gut. And ultimately, I paidthe price.
Recognise This Story?
Often when I share this story people tell me they’ve had a similar experience. (A very senior industry figure confided her experience with me just this week).
Our gut feel about clients and relationships gets taken for granted. We think we are doing great. Then we find out we’ve been missing opportunities.
The truth is this: Without a systematic way to assess your client relationships, you’re flying blind.
You might think you have a strong account. But unless you’re measuring the right indicators, you’re leaving money on the table.
STOP GUESSING, START MEASURING
The question I’m asked most right now is this:
“How do I know which accounts have the most opportunity?”
There is a keen desire to grow revenue from existing clients. But recruitment business leaders face a lot of uncertainty over how to spot the opportunities and where to focus.
Of course, you could keep relying on gut feel and hoping for the best. But that’s exactly what I was doing when I missed £400k.
For most businesses the first act should be systematic measurement.
Why?
Because you can’t expand what you can’t see. And you can’t protect what you’re not tracking.
YOUR ACCOUNT EXPANSION STRATEGY
The Account Expansion System gives you a simple, scalable framework to apply to any client that will help you capture all the possible value it holds.
And when it comes to Account Expansion there are four steps you must get right:
1. Measurement: Score your client relationships objectively
2. Assessment: Map clients into strategic quadrants (Protect, Maximize, Nurture, Divest)
3. Prioritization: Focus your energy where it will have the most impact
4. Action: Deploy proven playbooks to grow account value
The very first step: MEASUREMENT
In specific terms this means scoring each client relationship across 5 critical dimensions using the REACH framework.
It means understanding Time, Engagement, Collaboration, Loyalty, and Advocacy. It means getting an objective view of where you really stand with each account. That’s how you start to spot the opportunities and the risks.
And when you can see the real picture, everything else starts to fall into place.
💡Ready to stop leaving money on the table?
Get free access to The 5-Minute Client Relationship Scorecard — a 20-minute masterclass plus two PDF guides that will help you spot the opportunities you’re currently missing.
Kind regards,
Ben
P.S. The account I nearly lost? After that meeting, I implemented a systematic approach to relationship scoring and account expansion. Within 12 months we’d grown it to exclusive status and doubled our revenue. That system became the foundation for what I now teach.
Learn more: axs.beresonant.co.uk
