Risks

Elite providers spend their time differentiating on the client. This means building a personal relationship, understanding strategically what are the threats, and aligning their recommendations to fit the unique situation, project and preferences of the client. 

Vendors who do not build such relationships find that: 

• It is harder to get a meeting and win the competition for a busy client's attention.
  
• It’s harder to get the client to share, commit or pay. 
  
• It is harder for the client to choose you as the vendor, or to stay with you if they do choose you. 

When vendors fail to create a meaningful connection through a deep understanding of their customers' business, they risk spending time pursuing business and failing to get it. They compete more and more on price, their win rate decrease and margins erode.

Opportunities

Providers that differentiate on the client enjoy the opportunity to engage in fewer typical sales activities because their clients become their surrogate sales force. Elite vendors become strategic partners to their customers, which means that their clients: 

• Don’t shop for a new vendor when the project is complete.
  
• Give their trusted, strategic partners their follow-on business.
  
• Actively refer others to them in the marketplace. 
  

The best salespeople in services are selling less than anyone. That's because their clients are selling for them.