As established in Part 1 and Part 2, high-altitude mountaineering and B2B business development aren’t the strange bedfellows they might seem like at first glance.  Scaling the world’s tallest peaks offers considerable insight into preparing for and then executing a successful sales pitch with quality prospects.

End of story, right?  Not even close.

In the climbing world, once you’ve reached the peak, you’re only halfway there.  As legendary mountaineer Ed Viesturs likes to say, “Getting to the top is optional, getting back down is mandatory.”  The descent is the most important part of the entire climb, bar none.  Unfortunately, it’s also the most fraught with danger.

You’re tired.  You’re thinking about home after days, weeks, or even months without indoor plumbing (maybe that’s just me, but guessing I’m not alone).  You’re top-heavy, moving with gravity, and taking longer steps on loose ground, all of which make balance and speed harder to control.  It’s no surprise, then, that 75% of falls occur on the descent.

You also face conditions entirely out of your control.  If a storm moves in on the way up, you hunker down and wait it out.  Not so in the other direction.  Your goal is to get the hell outta there.  That’s especially true when you’re descending directly through a thunder cloud wearing metal crampons, carrying a metal ice axe, and sporting a metal-tipped hiking pole strapped to the top of your pack.  Seriously.  Of all the maelstroms I’ve encountered up high, serving as Mt. Rainier’s living lightning rod was easily the most harrowing.

Point is, don’t get careless.  In your case, you’re not done after closing the sale.  Take time to celebrate as you rightly should, but like your time on the summit, catch your breath and get going on the second half of your journey asap.

You just fought hard to earn your client’s business.  Now you’ve got to hold onto it.  That requires keeping everyone focused and avoiding complacency.  As on the mountain, you need to stay aware of your external surroundings as well.  You’re now working against competitors looking to undermine you—a serious danger, particularly if price is a priority for your client.

It’s worth it, though.  We all know it’s easier to keep existing customers than to get new ones.  Could a lazy slipup here shoot you off a cliff and cost you life or limb?  Hope not.  But, it could cost you quite a lot in terms of customer lifetime value.

So, what to do about customer retention?  The good news is, there are lots of ways to cultivate a long-term relationship!  The bad news is, there are lots of ways to cultivate a long-term relationship.  A couple one-offs here and there aren’t going to cut it.  You’ll need to work continuously in several different areas to re-earn their business time and again.  To help, check out these 10 effective ways to maximize customer retention.

And remember, this a team effort.  Your entire company, sales and beyond, is in it together.  Bringing the full weight of your business to bear generates value that far exceeds not only what any one person could possibly do, but what any single product or service could offer alone.

This also creates an important safety net.  On big-time mountains, you’re often roped together with other climbers when traversing ice or steep slopes.  What one person does—even something as simple as pausing—affects everyone else.  If that person happens to fall, the actions of the collective team could determine everyone’s survival.

With clients, this is where your group preparation and alignment come in.  Each person should know the full playbook.  You never know when you’ll need to cover for someone during a sales pitch or pinch hit to support a customer during a transition period.  Being in sync as a team helps ensure the survival of the partnership.

As a climber, I default to mountain analogy for a lot of things.  I’d like to think it’s a particularly good way of considering the sales process in B2B settings.  While there’s obvious symbolism in the challenges, it’s also representative of the hard-won successes.  After all, there were a lot of nitty gritty details to work through up front, and once on the move you’re concentrating head-down most of the time instead of enjoying the scenery.  There may have even been a few close calls along the way that nearly resulted in cutting your friend’s face off with a crampon (sorry again, Tim).

But, reaching the summit you’ve dreamt about for months, seeing the rest of it through, and backslapping with your friends afterwards is an incredible feeling.  Just like landing that big client, establishing a strong foundation for growth, and being the toast of the office.

If you’d like to chat through positioning yourself with hot leads in ways that create long-term partnerships—or hear more tales of storms and summits—give me a call.