It Can Happen To You!
After 70 years of service and $70 million in annual billings, a large and well-respected advertising agency lost one of its most treasured accounts. Up until that dark day employees had been walking the halls thinking that this particular account was in the bag for another 70 years. This is not an isolated case. I can think of many “sure-things” heading south in a blink of a decision.
What does this have to do with you? I realize you don’t care about advertising agencies, but this message should be hitting you loud and clear. It’s a mess out there. Relationships, although having become the popular buzz-word of the new millennium, are as fragile as people’s self-esteem. I am not convinced the word “loyalty” is even a word in today’s encyclopedia. I think it has been replaced by the word “megabyte” and “likes.”
Let’s face it. You can’t afford losing a single “good” client these days. It cost too much in dollars and energy to find a good new client. And today’s customer is playing by a new set of rules.
There are no guarantees. Yesterday’s “sure-thing” is a thing of the past.
Your future is up to you. Don’t open yourself up for unnecessary surprises. Stop taking your clients for granted.
In the very near future, I want you to list your top ten accounts. I then want you to phone these good accounts to thank them for their business … and to remind them that you are there for them. While on the phone, I want you to ask if there is anything else you can do for them.
This call should take less than 3-minutes, and this simple courtesy will help prevent what happened to the agency highlighted in today’s message. Don’t get blind-sided.
70 years of service. Gone in an instant.
And remember. You must live by the decisions you make. Make good decisions.
Mike Marchev has plenty of stories, strategies and tactics to keep you on top of your game.
Mike will be conducting his 5th annual Travel Sales & Marketing Business Development Cruise, sailing the Freedom of The Seas from Ft. Lauderdale. Email him at mike@mikemarchev.com for complete details. Five cabins are still available.
Mike’s daily column is made possible by AmaWaterways.
