No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

More and more agencies are using Net Promoter Scores, tested at fairly regular intervals to monitor the state of their client relationships. One company in particular, Client Retention Consultancy, aka CRC (in full disclosure I have used them at two agencies and recommend them highly) does and excellent job of deploying a single question "survey" 3 times over 12 months. They ask clients to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) whether they would recommend the agency to friends or colleagues. Respondents are also permitted to include comments. It's a wonderful finger on the pulse of relationships.

Here's the rub, and why no good deed goes unpunished; while you want the highest score posssible, we live in a world and work in an agency where complacency is death. Arguably, you're better off getting a 5 because, through the analysis and client engagement afterwards, it's easy to identify and fix problem areas. But what do you you do when you score 9's and 10's? There's nowhere to go. And the proposed solution for that client can't be "take them to lunch and thank them for the business because everything is hunky dory" (yeah, I just used that phrase...IYKYK #Bowie). I digress.

If you don't think you need a retention plan for a client with no complaints, friend, you'd better think about a career shift. Because clients, whether consciously or not, WANT and DESERVE improved service year over year. And when contract renewal comes along, rest assured while you can reference 10's, they will find or create holes in your best defense and cold cock you. And when you come to and get the taste of canvas out of your mouth, you're going to realize: Too late; should've been more proactive.

This isn't to say you don't thank clients, draw attention to the positive and even celebrate the work that got you there and the members of the combined team that achieved these scores. Yes lunch or dinner or something is appropriate. But the work starts the day after because you should assume that score is a 1 the next morning. After guiding and agency to 20 months without a review or client loss, I'll re-emphasize the point: only the paranoid survive.

There's no doubt it requires creative thinking, inventiveness and ingenuity to improve that which doesn't seem like it can't be improved. This is one area where my newly formed consultancy focuses, so I won't give up the ghost here on HOW this gets done. But I cannot emphasize enough that complacency is an accelerant on the road to review; only the paranoid survive. So when you find yourself in that heady stratosphere of high scores, use that as an opportunity to deepen your partnership and trust. Use it as a lever to make those clients feel special, like they're getting something other clients don't. Sure the squeaky wheel gets the oil, but you can't penalize your clients for loving you. In fact, you need to show the even more love back.