11
O P I N I O N
T rying to get work in the door can be a challenging process for A/E firms, and many may be missing the easiest opportunity of all – getting more work from existing clients! You may assume they are giving you all the work they have, but what if they aren’t? What if they don’t even know everything your firm is capable of? A-list clients We all have them and need them, but do we treat them right, and are we getting as much work out of them as we should?
June Jewell GUEST SPEAKER
firm, and not deep throughout your client’s organization. Only a small percentage of firms actually have a documented and strategic initiative to retain and grow existing clients. See JUNE JEWELL, page 12 getting new business while ignoring the greatest asset the firm has – the clients they already have.” “I frequently see business development efforts focused on
I frequently see business development efforts focused on getting new business while ignoring the greatest asset the firm has – the clients they already have. Research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company shows increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent. And it is well known that it can cost five to 10 times more to acquire a new client than it does to retain an existing one. While many A/E firms rate themselves as having excellent client relationships, the truth is that much of that is by accident. Many relationships are with one or two key individuals in your
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 16, 2017, ISSUE 1220
Made with FlippingBook Annual report