Relationship Management: Hope is not a strategy - your competitors love leaders who hope.
Most leaders think their biggest risk lies in driving new business. But the real danger sits inside their most strategic relationships. Growth doesn’t collapse overnight. It erodes quietly when relationship management is reactive, tactical, and short-sighted.
What I see across sales orgs is not a lack of effort, but a lack of strategy. Seven patterns repeat:
Account hoping – mistaking activity for strategy.
Competitors inside relationships – ignoring the slow erosion of your influence.
Star performer risk – one person holds all the keys.
Data ≠ strategy – reports pile up, insight doesn’t.
Single-threaded relationships – one contact away from collapse.
Complacency comfort – assuming tenure for trust.
Reactive firefighting – waiting for problems instead of shaping client perception.
Losing a strategic relationship isn’t just lost revenue. It means market share shrinks, reputation takes a hit, competitors gain ground, and people lose jobs. The impact is broader, deeper, and often irreversible.
I wrote about this in Perception Selling. JCC Consulting lost a must-win client opportunity after investing nearly £2 million in pursuit costs. Not because their solution was weak, but because their engagement was tactical. They had no depth with one influential stakeholder. A competitor did. By the time anyone realised, the deal — and the account — were gone. This wasn’t just one lost deal. It shook confidence across the team, cost jobs, and eroded trust with the board.
The real challenge isn’t a lack of effort. It’s a lack of strategy. When relationship management is tactical and reactive, you gamble with growth. When it’s strategic and proactive, you protect it. The leaders who win don’t just manage accounts. They intentionally design relationships. They stop being firefighters and start being architects of growth.
Next week, I’ll dive into Account Killer #1: Hoping ≠ Strategy. In the meantime, look at your top relationships: are you truly operating strategically? Or just reacting?
