What is Account Retention?

Customer Retention is the measure that businesses adopt to tackle customer defections. The entire process of customer retention has no defined period as it starts with the business establishing a contact with a customer and continues throughout the span of the relationship. Attracting and retaining new customers does not simply relate to a business’ products and services. A lot depends also on the manner in which it serves its existing clientele and the reputation it has maintained in the market.

Why is Account Retention Important?

When you try to replace an account that you have already lost, you waste crucial time and resources while resolutely eating away your profit margin. It is evident from most examples of trying to rebuild lost accounts that the process costs at least ten times more, as newer clients require a lot more resources and attention. When you build a following of loyal customers you get revenue that you can depend on to keep your company’s cash flow afloat while also maintaining your financial integrity.

The Key to Account Retention

The key to account retention is customer satisfaction. The best way to keep accounts is to make sure that you provide personal attention to your customers, provide quality customer service and take criticism and complains in their stride. Your reaction to a problem presented by a customer is the key to determining whether they will stick around or not. You should have the skills to appropriate the sort of reaction that enables your customers to see that you have their best interests at heart.

Customer satisfaction is established through frequent communication. One of the best strategic tools to establish account retention is through a Customer Advisory Board. You have to keep your client up to speed about any steps that you are taking that directly influences them and inform them of the process that you are making on their problems to maintain account retention. Keeping your clients informed reminds them about the significance of their company and the integral role it plays moving forward which ultimately builds strong account retention. 

The Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) is a center of excellence in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State that is dedicated to expanding academic research and teaching in B2B Marketing and Sales, and improving the practice of B2B Marketing and Sales in Industry. ISBM is networked with researchers, educators and practitioners in business-to-business marketing in companies and universities throughout the world.  

Please join the ISBM and National Bestselling Author Sean Geehan for a special webinar event:

Dominating the B2B World: Sustainable, Predictable and Profitable Growth on March 22, 2012 at 1pm EST

In this webinar, Sean Geehan Author of the B2B Executive Playbook will illustrates the three key differences in the B2B world along with what to do about them. B2B companies aren’t like B2C companies. They don’t acquire and retain customers with Super Bowl ads, Twitter accounts, or cute, little green geckos. To achieve sustainable, predictable, and profitable growth, you MUST follow a different playbook.  

What is a Customer Advisory Board?

A Customer Advisory Board, also known as Customer Advisory Council, is a gathering of group of customers once or twice a year to provide a collective input about products or services offered by a company that they currently do business with.

What is the Goal of a Customer Advisory Board?

The main goal of a Customer Advisory Board is to obtain input on products and services from your most valuable customers. Customer Advisory Boards are incredibly useful in both B2B and B2C organizations because input gathered from these meetings can provide product validation and insight in the reception your product or services.

What is the Benefit of a Customer Advisory Board?

Customer Advisory Boards often yield priceless feedback for companies looking for methods to improve themselves, their strategy and, their customer retention. Companies can synchronize technology and business strategies according to the needs of the customers expressed through customer advisory boards.

I recently sat down with a well respected former CMO (now President), and had a great conversation about the important role Marketing plays in a B2B company. He made a very bold statement, “Marketing is the Center of Universe.” Someone might argue that, I am biased because I hold a role in marketing, but I believe this statement to be very true. If you don’t, you should and here’s why:

Marketing is the common thread that weaves throughout all other business units in every B2B company. Marketing holds the potential to unleash predictable, profitable growth for your company. When Marketing is utilized to its fullest potential, it can be the driver for customer retention and increased sales, while at the same time creating executive alignment and focused strategic innovation.

How can Marketing do all this? Because Marketing is the “Center of the Universe”! Author Sean Geehan discusses all of the marketing programs and initiatives driven by Marketing to achieve sustainable, predictable, profitable growth in his national best seller, The B2B Executive Playbook. Once you read this book, I would wager  a bet, that you will believe that Marketing is the "Center of the Universe" too!

Navigating Growth & Transformation

The B2B Executive Summit is designed and reserved exclusively for executives (VP & higher) who are plotting a course to future success. Whether you are contemplating the journey or already immersed in it, the B2B Executive Summit will provide you with fresh insights and guidance to help you along the way. 

Join other B2B leaders from companies like VMWare, Wells Fargo, Canaan, HCL, Oracle, Savvis, NCR, VeriSign, Xerox and Standard Register.  Learn from their experience how customers are helping them transform and re-design their organizations to achieve sustainable, predictable and profitable growth.

This year’s event will be held at the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove, Florida. Spaces are filling up quickly as there are a limited number of registrants available for this exclusive event. To receive registration information and your personal invitation, please send detailed contact information including; name, title, company name, and email address to: Misty Strawser: mstrawser@geehangroup.com.

Here are a few quotes from last year’s attendees:

Neal Polachek, CEO, Kelsey Group
“Few conferences – large or small – offer attendees both the opportunity to engage and interact and the provocation to stretch and explore. Geehan’s event in Phoenix provided this unique mix and forced the attendee to ponder all aspects of their enterprise – from how they work with their best customers, to the pace of innovation, to the business partners they ally to the role of the board. I look forward to attending another Geehan Group event!”

Joe Morgan, CEO, Standard Register
"When you can get executives of the quality you had from such a variety of industries who are working on really big and important things for their own companies to be that attentive for two days, talking about issues facing their business, you must have really, really rich content. For them to sit and actively participate, adding value to one another, and then have tremendous follow-up afterward where people want to continue the dialogue and actually impact each other’s businesses relationships and development, that for me is a real benefit. I’ve already heard from four people and it’s only been 3 days since the Summit. That’s rare. You created a dynamic environment where people expect they’re going to stay in touch."