Win, Retain and Grow is a well-known mantra in the sales world!
Yet when organisations grow at speed, the desire to acquire new logo’s often sucked resources away from retaining and growing the existing customer base.
This strategy more often than not works when companies are in a “green field” market where there is an almost unlimited supply of new prospects.
But eventually, this strategy will become a key inhibitor of growth for a number of reasons
Their market will eventually tighten, as the number of prospects reduces as the market becomes more saturated,
Competition for prospects will always increase as more products/services come to market that solves the same customer need.
The more customers you churn, the more your reputation is “tainted” by past customers who influence other buyers in the market. Making it harder to gain market share.
If there is not a “retention foundation” built on a satisfied customer base, the capacity to upsell to a receptive audience will be limited.
In this interview, we meet Rebecca Bell, Director of Operations at ZenDesk
We talk about practical strategies companies can employ to protect their existing customer base by building a strong foundation of “customer satisfaction & value”.
Key Areas of Discussions with Rebecca Bell, Director of Operations at ZenDesk:
- Why an “account plan” is the foundation of a great Retention & Expansion Strategy.
- How do you motivate the different stakeholders in an account to contribute and collaborate?
- How to use adoption and usage information as the catalyst for a change in the account management strategy.
- Having the courage to ask the client “how” they feel about their investment in your solution.
- Taking the time to assess and discuss the ROI of existing customer investment.
- Why staying alert to M&A in your customer base allows you to see post-acquisition / merger “churn threats”.
- Taking time to think, “What’s the next thing” you could be doing to support that customer or add value.
About Rebecca:
Rebecca Bell is the Director of Operations at ZenDesk, where she helps the Head of Revenue “get stuff done” (in her words) She is also a member of the Global Board of Advisors for the Sales Enablement Society.
With more than 20 years of experience across a range of marketing, strategic planning, communications, sales acceleration and enablement disciplines, she excels in building teams and strategies that accelerate business success and create advocacy.
Rebecca is a fantastically clear communicator that always shares practical and readily applicable strategies that listeners can apply in their own businesses today.
