Why do account managers miss new account growth opportunities in client meetings?Often it’s because they haven’t asked the right questions. Or they’ve asked some of the right questions but didn’t have the confidence to probe deeper in their questioning.And while some people have a natural ability for questioning – for many it’s a skill they need to learn – and practice.In the fourth episode of the 5 part mini podcast series “Entrepreneurial Account Management”, I share why investing time to help account managers ask better questions could make a big difference to the agency’s bottom line – and increase the client lifetime value.You can listen to this short episode here.What are the key benefits (to the client) of an account manager asking great questions?:The client;
- Feels you’re genuinely interested in them, their business, their success
- This helps with rapport building and deepening the relationship
- Sees you want to help them succeed
- So next time they receive a call from one of your competitors touting for their business, they may decide they aren’t prepared to replace you….yet!
- Has the perception you are more like a consultant (and potentially more senior than you are!) and could help them in other areas of their business
- When you ask questions about their goals/challenges, you’ll uncover insights/problems that fall out of your current agreed scope of work - but which you may also be able to address with your advice/experience/other agency services.
What are the key benefits (to the account manager) of asking the client great questions?The account manager;
- Uncovers account growth opportunities
- If you’re not asking questions to uncover the client’s goals or ‘diagnosing’ the client’s issues/challenges, how can you possibly come up with relevant additional ideas and services to propose?
- Feels and acts more confident and in control because they’ve changed their internal dialogue to reflect more of a ‘curiosity’ mindset
- The account manager’s internal dialogue drives their behaviour – so if the account manager thinks “I have to know everything, be the expert in the room and show the client how knowledgeable I am”, they don’t leave space to pause and ask deeper questions. So having a ‘curiosity mindset’ and shifting their thinking evokes a greater feeling of confidence e.g. the internal dialogue becomes something like “I’m curious to uncover more about what’s really going on so I can proactively look for ways to address the client’s challenges and problems – and if I don’t know the answer to any question, I’ll tell the client and find out”.
- Discovers how the client really feels and gauges whether or not it’s appropriate to ask for a testimonial or referral
- Don’t get to your formal 'end of year client relationship review' and find out the client wasn’t in fact at all happy with how the agency was performing! Checking in with the client on a regular basis throughout the year and asking "how are we doing?", will anticipate and potentially prevent any major (negative) surprises. It’ll also help you see when a good time would be to ask for testimonials and referrals!
Tune in to this episode to hear more.
