Blockhead Strategy Consulting
CLIENT RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY PLANNING
Client relationship building really IS Fine Art + Rocket Science. Lasting client relationships are important to any business, regardless the brand, size or market served.
The difficulty firms often face is aligning business strategies with the right relationships—who are the decision-makers, influencers and future leaders that can have the greatest impact on the challenges a firm is most interested in tackling? Small- and mid-size firms often have a tougher time with client relationship building than large firms, simply because there are fewer staff to share the responsibilities. For these firms, it’s particularly important to prioritize the right clients and have strong action plans in place.
Bringing my decades of experience leading business development in top infrastructure companies, I work with firms to establish rigor in their client relationship management process, from aligning priority clients with strategic plans, to project-specific client mapping and government relations planning.
Good client relationship building skills don’t always come naturally, but everyone—on the sales side AND the delivery side—needs to be attuned to client needs. I teach client engagement skills to all staff levels, so that over time, a culture of client engagement will develop, resulting in a new generation of more client-savvy business and technical leaders.
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CLIENT PRIORITIZATION
With a sound strategic plan in place, it’s a good time to assess the client mix aligned with the plan. I help firms take an unbiased look at clients that can best help achieve strategic goals—what client organizations have the revenue stream, procurement approach, and cultural fit? What relationships already exist and what new relationships need to be built?
The deliverable will be a set of prioritized clients, designated client relationship managers, and actionable, measurable high level client relationship maps and plans.
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PURSUIT-SPECIFIC CLIENT MAPPING
Success on major sales opportunities starts well in advance of a procurement, and starts with understanding the decision-makers and influencers—inside and around the client organization. My role is with the pursuit team early in the process, facilitating client mapping sessions and producing client action plans that will improve the team’s probability of win.
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GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Whether it’s publicly or privately built infrastructure, community leaders want to ensure their citizens are well-represented. Having access to community leaders to understand priorities, as well as to communicate a firm’s ability to make those priorities reality, is imperative to a firm’s local success. I’ll work with a lobbyist or designated staff to establish appropriately tailored government relations strategies at a corporate, state and/or local level, as well as at the pursuit-specific level. With plans in place, I also coach firms and individuals on best practices for engaging with public officials.
Are you a small or mid-size business looking to strengthen your firm's business strategy, client engagement and sales competency?
I can help. Let's chat.