Delicately nudging a retainer client

[milfordkong]

We have a valued long term retainer client who have always given us a really steady stream of work, i'm very keen to keep this client as they've always been great to work with and we've been helping them with their requirements for nearly 10 years now. Recently the work stream has really dropped off - They recently went through a major restructure / merger and a lot of my long term contacts there took voluntary redundancy, so i've got a limited amount of established relationships there now which has made things a bit harder (though still a good working relationship with a few contacts) ...

I'm in a difficult position as i'd really like to offer them more value and start producing more for them but I'm also worried about making them aware that they're currently not getting much value (if that makes sense, they're a large enough organisation that they may well have not even noticed that they're not sending us much at the minute, and it would be foolish to make them aware of that surely whilst things are still ticking over?) ... I think the downturn is a combination of them being in a very challenging industry currently (Domestic energy supply) and doing very limited consumer marketing as a result (We're a digital marketing provider who also help them with essential customer communications). The paranoid aspect of me thinks that perhaps with the merger some other relationships have been integrated which may compete with us, and i'd like an opportunity to present our case as a better option if that is the situation. It could very well be though that it's simply the aforementioned lack of customer communication as they lay low and ride out the energy price crisis.

So do I just wait it out and assume things will pick up? Or do I take the (big) risk of nudging them for more work (which may not actually exist) and potentially making them aware that at present they're not using our services much? We've been in a similar position with them in the past though admittedly not quite as long lasting (it is an unprecedented situation in their sector though) and the workload has always returned at some point - often with a vengeance.

[NDA]

Not sure what services you provide... but that doesn't change my answer particularly.

You need to establish a relationship with the decision maker - however you might do that. Certainly face to face, in my business it would probably be over lunch. Not difficult to arrange.

I would not go in reminding them that you're not doing much work for them - that would raise red flags and, with no relationship, you'd be an easier cost to cut.

[milfordkong]

NDA said:

Not sure what services you provide... but that doesn't change my answer particularly.

You need to establish a relationship with the decision maker - however you might do that. Certainly face to face, in my business it would probably be over lunch. Not difficult to arrange.

I would not go in reminding them that you're not doing much work for them - that would raise red flags and, with no relationship, you'd be an easier cost to cut.

That's good advice. I'll do that, the decision maker has raised the potential of that in the past but it was at a more coviddy time (suggested for the future) so there is an opening there.

[Simpo Two]

milfordkong said:

We have a valued long term retainer client who have always given us a really steady stream of work, i'm very keen to keep this client as they've always been great to work with and we've been helping them with their requirements for nearly 10 years now. Recently the work stream has really dropped off - They recently went through a major restructure / merger and a lot of my long term contacts there took voluntary redundancy, so i've got a limited amount of established relationships there now which has made things a bit harder

It may be that new people have come in who have their own preferred suppliers, or the company just doesn't need as much of your stuff as before.

I found that work comes from the person as much as it comes from the company. The best scenario is if your former contact moves to somewhere he still needs your stuff, and the new face likes you as well. Win win. But the opposite can also happen, so there is no substitute for always looking for new business.

In your case I would definitely call so they know you still exist and what you do. If new people, try to see them and introduce yourself.

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 9th June 11:04

[milfordkong]

Simpo Two said:

It may be that new people have come in who have their own preferred suppliers, or the company just doesn't need as much of your stuff as before.

I found that work comes from the person as much as it comes from the company. The best scenario is if your former contact moves to somewhere he still needs your stuff, and the new face likes you as well. Win win. But the opposite can also happen, so there is no substitute for always looking for new business.

In your case I would definitely call so they know you still exist and what you do. If new people, try to see them and introduce yourself.

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 9th June 11:04

Absolutely - The problem we've always had with regards to looking for new business is that the majority of our clients have retainer agreements with us, designed to give them maximum flexibility and the option for really quick turnarounds when they need them (this of course means we have to allow capacity for this) - In the past when we've taken on more work when the workflow has ebbed somewhat within a retainer we've then been suddenly flooded with stuff from that client and then completely overloaded - What we do is relatively niche and often requires a bit of specific knowledge of our clients unique systems so we don't really have the option of bringing in extra resource quickly to account for this sort of thing. Something i'm constantly trying to figure out a decent solution for.