As business leaders or managers, many of us have experienced positive business growth and refinement of our offerings that, ultimately, benefits most, but not all, of our clients. You may have an enjoyable working relationship with a long-term client, but the client’s needs and your business sweet spot no longer align. In fact, business experts often recommend “firing” the bottom 10-15% of your customers every two years. Usually, the motivation is based on profitability.
In situations like ours – where we evolved from a break-fix approach to a comprehensive, preventative model — there comes a time when a careful review and open dialogue are needed to see if you are still the ideal partner for selected clients and, of course, vice versa.
Yes, it hurts to lose a long-time client, but taking swift, decisive action may be the move your ex-clients will thank you for in the long-run. Of course, make sure the relationship ends on a high-note; the best practice is to find a few trusted resources and make introductions. And, don’t forget to spend the extra face-time to ensure the transition is smooth for all parties.
In our case, we are heartened by the impact of letting go, and both our clients and our team have reaped the benefits. Focusing our expertise on specific industries and businesses has helped our team deliver a higher level of service to each account, leading to stronger relationships and better outcomes and ROI for the client. For us, it has decreased the costs of doing business, increased employee satisfaction and engagement, and led to a more positive culture. Letting go is really about making sure all of our clients are best served by our business model and specific expertise, and when they are not, freeing them up to find other solutions that are a better fit.
Authored by Donald Nokes
This post originally appeared in Providence Business News’ One Last Thing feature
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
As President of NetCenergy, Don is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, overseeing overall performance, and for providing direction to the organization. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.