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Focus On Your Top 75% | Retention is boring…the Missing Magic for Sustainable Growth
Zero retention plan = zero talent and client strategy
Graham Peelle
July 22, 2024
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Core Leadership Development Areas:
Leadership Operating System - How to lead with the 4 E’s: empowerment, empathy, efficiency, and effectiveness
Framework Development: Leadership Foundations - Performance Operations Culture, with a people centered approach
Performance Management - Measuring what matters with visibility and focus
Self Reflection & Awareness: Looking inside for what’s holding you back
Focus On Your Top 75% | Retention is boring…the Missing Magic for Sustainable Growth
Zero retention plan = zero talent and client strategy
Opening Remarks
Retention Matters with both clients and associates. Sometimes our desire to specialize is actually causing over complication in what we do. This may not seem clear, but consider this - how much of our approach and mindset with retention of both clients and associates is similar work? A lot. Customer Success or Account Management, similar to Member or Associate Relations. Over simplification? Definitely, but that’s the point- simplify your leadership approach to get back to basics and see your business through a different lens. This is exactly why outsiders (new hires, consultants, new leaders, etc.) coming into our business, often finding the obvious areas of opportunity, hidden right under our noses.
It’s important to learn how to step back and objectively look at our business, teams, customers, and ourselves, and take a close look at what’s going on with performance, relationships, and results.
Are you growing or maintaining? Are you telling yourself it’s a tough market, or are you making moves to do something about it?
“Growth is what separates the winners from the losers.”
10x-Exec: Big Idea
RETENTION
A few thoughts on retention from the last few days that I have been sharing on LinkedIn:
Based on talks with internal groups, clients, and potential clients over 15+ years, 1 recurring challenge continues for many firms:
RETENTION
In the vast competitive landscape we work in, I see 2 big misconceptions:
Unlimited clients & talent exist
Impossible to win
Retain your great people, retain your great clients. Earn the right to be selective.
Improved retention of your top 75%, wins and retains business. Think of your team and clients as a sales team. Do your people and clients casually sell for you?
…No?
Time to look in the mirror.
“Don’t make a hundred decisions when one will do.”
- Peter Drucker
2019 Tim Ferriss show- Jim Collins mentioned this quote during the time they had spent together.
This frame sums up the struggle many leaders often have- deciding on all this stuff, avoiding the big decision.
+ RETENTION is the missing link.
The focus is often just win baby. New logos, biz, BD. Get great sales people, and grow!
All important and critical, but how much of that investment walks. Churn baby.
Delivery, engagement, and partnership, drives 2x-10x growth. More fun too.
“The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding”
- Chris Williamson
Powerful reminder to do that “hard” or unpleasant thing you know deep down you need to do, but continue avoiding.
Call that person with good or bad news
Address the issue
Act
No Limit Leadership Lecture
Working without a plan to retain your top 75% people and clients is like running your business on a hamster wheel. You’re never going to get anywhere. Can you grow revenue without exceptional and intentional retention? Of course, however, your ability to grow will be remarkably harder and likely much less profitable. You hear all the stats about how difficult and expensive it is to win new business or hire new employees, versus retaining current, but how many companies still struggle with retention? The answer is many, and in some industries, most companies.
Retention is a simple concept and people, and leaders, lose interest with simple. Simple is often where you need to live, the higher up you climb in your organization. “Simplicity scales, complexity fails,” as Steve Jobs famously said. Simplicity drives clear messaging, concepts, communication, vision, and retention.
Why
It’s a viscous cycle. We need growth so we invest in sales and hiring, and no matter how much we invest, our focus is often deterred so much, we naturally toggle so much towards acquisition, and even with good intentions for retention, we fail. We fail to allocate resources, time, focus, attention, nor is our collaboration centered accordingly. The more we work to acquire, the more we neglect retention.
Don’t believe it yet? How much glory is placed on winning? Winning is commonly seen as growing through acquisition, it’s rarely about retention, until poor retention is felt directly or called out. Retention isn’t glamorous, it isn’t part of that 2x-10x mentality, it’s not that big baller BD professional. Retention is boring.
Boring works. Boring is hiding excellence. Here are a few examples:
Continuous improvement
Escaping complacency and mediocrity
Analysis of results
Post mortem following meetings
Reflection and planning
Observation
Listening to your clients or team
Many find this work boring. The excitement comes from digging into these areas, beyond the boring. That’s where the best people leaders and company stewards often find excitement in their work and find the motivation to live, and love retention of their Top 75%.
Business Case for Great Leadership
Retention of clients, retains employees.
Retention of employees, retains clients.
It’s a cycle, so if you didn’t believe it before, this may show how each serves the others, and on it goes in a cycle. It’s a Client-Associate Flywheel of sorts.
Closing Bell
Does it seem crazy to thoughtlessly throw away work we have already done…just letting go clients and employees, not treating them like gold? Would we ever intentionally fire good employees or clients? This is what we do every day we don’t go above and beyond to be the best employer and partner to serve the top notch employees and clients.
Keep more of the work you have already done, and grow your business through meaningful connection scaled, not hamster wheel work. If the feel good, right thing to do, and easier business case doesn’t sell this for you, consider this:
Your future name in the market and growth rely on your current associates and clients. They will be your best sales people or your worst detractor.
And the opportunity sitting in each employee and client is hard to contemplate. You are sitting on a goldmine of opportunity with your current client base and current associates. There are opportunities for so much growth:
Saturation within current clients
Stretch and growth opportunities within associates
Referral opportunities with both
Your clients win new business, you often win new business
Your associates learn and grow in their careers, they have added value to your organization or your client
References, reference letters, testimonial, case studies, and proof points
Believe in your existing partnerships and associates, invest, trust, and scale beyond your wildest dreams by taking care of your own backyard, before feeling the new BD crunch.
Why go get more clients, just to watch your existing leave? To replace them? That makes no sense. Get both, and leverage your current associates and clients to win new clients, not replace them.
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Climb Higher | Raise Your^ROI
Supporting Content - For More to the Story
See last week’s Executive Summary for more on Slootman
Core Topic Areas:
People
Integrated Talent/Workforce Strategy: Talent Attraction, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Retention, and Optimization (Forecasting & Staffing)
Associate Relations - Proactive Employee Care and engagement: appreciate, listen, respond, communicate, and resource
Integration: People, Process, and Technology
Organizational Strategy
Strategy & Scaling - Vision to Growth
Restructuring & Turnaround - Stabilization & Mitigation
People & Profitability - Operational Efficiency, Growth Drivers, and Cost Reduction
Leadership
Leadership Foundations - Performance Operations Culture, with a people centered approach
Leadership Operating System - How to lead with the 4 E’s: empowerment, empathy, efficiency, and effectiveness
Performance Management - Measuring what matters with visibility and focus
Strategic Partnership Development
UK/EU launching to US market, US company operating in UK/EU
Strategic Partnership Development
Solutions - establishing creative ways to get thing done
Check out mba101 - coming soon!
Curated Business Education Built For You
Community and collaboration with efficient and meaningful connection
Personal development and growth fostering a positive learning environment
Career/job search support helping network to find the best opportunities
Empowering Leaders & Organizations to Unlock Greatness through Scaling —> People | Process | Technology
Accelerating value creation and efficiency
Challenging the status quo
Driving the Performance Operations Culture
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Climb Higher | Raise Your^ROI
For additional content, check out articles on Medium.
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