Churn Rate In Professional Services Is Expensive

Finding and gaining new clients is a constant and is expensive in Professional Services Marketing. With an average Churn Rate of 73%, building new contacts and relationships is a priority.

There are many statistics available in Professional Services Marketing. However, one top metric which very difficult to measure is “Relationship”.

And relationships are the #1 reason new clients commit to a specific firm or professional services provider.

Clients need to feel trust. That results from seeing evidence of the professional’s previous successes, agreeing to a set of services they believe suits their requirement, believe the fee structure is fair, and more.

But how do you measure “relationship” with any kind of reliability?

Net Promoter Score is a common method, with its drawbacks and strengths. I have found it reasonably easy to calculate and communicate.

Commitment is the goal. And that’s affected by too many factors to be simple.

Does the professional and their services offering FEEL right to the potential client, after all the testimonials, fact-finding and presentations? Some say it shouldn’t involve gut-feel, but it does very often. Or there is a hidden strength you didn’t know you have.

Preferred Clients is the best goal:
• Learn the attributes of the better-than-average clients
• Find more like them
• Initiate new relationships
• Demonstrate the factors which motivate Preferred Clients

That’s one of the goals of the Client Opportunity Report: Can we identify the Preferred Clients and learn the factors which motivate them to commit to the professional’s services?

It starts with the list of interviewees: your current and recent clients. You decide who is Average and who is Preferred. Both are asked the same sets of primary questions. When the interviewee seems to have real comments, ideas, information and feelings on a specific point, secondary questions are asked.

The aim is to learn which factors indicate who is Preferred and Why.

Less Churn: that’s only one of the goals of the Client Opportunity Report. But that single metric does save real money as the costs of Client Development and Client Retention are reduced.

Preferred Clients have stronger relationships and are more loyal. Are you ready to learn what motivates your clients?