When a salesperson is on the hunt for new clients, the sales manager coaches her to research, plan and strategize…setting a quest to create a solution leading to her winning the account. And, she does! Now, the contract is about to expire and this same sales manager sends her off with horrible sales advice. "Go renew your account!”

You may be thinking, "What’s wrong with that?” Of course the company should want to keep its clients. The issue is the perception associated with the word "renew.” Renew makes salespeople lazy. The word infers do the same thing again. How can that make sense?

During the course of the contract, the client’s needs, circumstances and objectives change. Since those evolve, there’s a high probability that the solution needs to change too. If that’s true, how can "renew” be a sensible strategy?

Here’s how this plays out all too often… The incumbent salespeople take the renewal approach while the competition researches, plans and strategizes to create the solution that makes sense today, not yesterday. And, guess who gets the next contract?

The next time you have a client contract expiring, don’t look at it as a renewal. Pursue the account with the same fervor you had when you won it the first time.

See you next time on the Sales Management Minute.