TechNOWlogy

The Role of Client Intelligence for Effective Retention and Growth

Marketers are the great connectors. They are often the key “messengers” between a firm and its clients and prospects. As owners of the client’s experience with the firm, they play an important role in strategic retention of portfolios.

In this age of increased competition, with firms vying to keep the attention and loyalty of their clients, actionable client intelligence and effective customization at scale is essential for sustainability and growth. It is even more important to the bottom line than the acquisition of new clients.

According to the Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. So, take it a step further to reference the value of a retention strategy that uses the data to explore an additional level of customization for the high billable clients.

Bain & Company found increasing customer retention rates by just 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. A tiered personalization designed to improve retention could greatly affect a firm’s bottom line for high billable clients.

Here are five things to consider when developing a richer customization and tiered approach to communicating with high billable clients:

1. Be #TeamGoliath. Prioritize employing automated processes to stay on top of engagement throughout the firm.

2. Step outside your box. Use tools to gain visibility of the client journey that extends beyond the marketing team into business development and client support, and discover creative solutions for bringing greater value to clients.

3. Read the room for each client. Create campaigns that are compelling to targeted clients by using interaction and relationship data to determine the totality of their touchpoints and experience with the firm.

4. Deputize the strongest relationships in the firm. Create personalized communication strategies that leverage the relationship capital of top performers. Communication authored by trusted advisors drives higher client engagement and increases client satisfaction levels.

5. Don’t forget the human element. Develop an analog/ digital plan for clients to provide feedback on their experiences with communications, products, and overall engagement with the firm with a system in place to synthesize the collection of qualitative and quantitative data.

Accounting and advisory firms are uniquely positioned to execute on this strategy because the industry has the greatest depth and breadth of historical data. Client intelligence can take insights to the next level and reveal a client’s full range of touchpoints within the firm, gaps in service and opportunities to best position the firm for cross — and upselling within this priority segment.

Dan Dowling, Introhive