Skill case: Growing accounts with current clients

Situation:

A communication consultancy with a dozen offices across Europe faced challenges of client churn, market changes, needs for retooling and apathy among many of the consultants.

Intervention:

We decided to focus on developing current clients through a multilevel approach to spotting leads, positioning services and closing deals. A model was developed to identify organic growth opportunities and staff were trained on the skills associated with each step from identification of leads to the promotion of work well done. As part of the process, each client team managed a prospect plan and reported back on the progress they made. The model and process was designed in tandem with key managers in the organisation and then rolled out and replicated across Europe.

Results:

The initial results came quickly, as many small quick wins manifested and fuelled greater interest in the initiative, which continues to this day with revenue doubling in their key accounts. The key to this success was the engagement of staff at all levels and for moving the organisation from a culture of 'give me a project and I will do it' to one of 'I see an opportunity, how can we solve this clients issues together'.