Last week, we talked about how important it is to a company’s growth to retain its clients. Today, the focus is on the type of team needed to accomplish effective client retention. You can have a team of outgoing salespeople who have their pitches down to an art, but the foundation that your team needs to build on in order to be truly successful at retaining your clients is dependent on one simple task:

Make sure your clients know your focus is on them

That’s it. To make your customers feel comfortable enough to grow with your company, they need to never doubt that they are a priority.

In her article “B2B Organic Growth Demands Consultative Salespeople,” Amy Adkins stresses that long-​term growth begins with long-​term clients and the best way to secure these clients is with an account team that is customer-​centric. A team that has a good grasp on the client’s history and what their goals are is a must. A team that is devotedly focused on a client and actively listens to and communicates with them is going to be the most successful when it comes to developing strategies for them.

Your clients should think of the salespeople they interact with as consultants that they can build a business relationship of mutual trust with. When the sales team listens, their interactions become more personalized and that aspect of the business relationship is what is going to influence your clients to stay. Customized interactions are directly related to how well your sales team listens and, therefore, are also connected to the success of everyone involved.

Relationships provide value in the business to business sales world and your sales team needs to build each one off of their ability to listen to and communicate with each client.