WHITE PAPER

SPRING 2009

Relationship
Management
REDEFINED...
How to use the ‘sheepdog’ approach to relationship management … quietly bringing your clients
and referrers towards you to generate astonishing new opportunities within your own business.

Abstract
After primarily conducting research
into the relationship between SMEs
and Business Banks it became apparent
that the generation of significant
volumes of new business in the
Professional Services sector relies upon
a different process and structure than is
generally accepted as the norm. VALUE™ referral?
We call this process,
the VALUE™ cycle.
The following questions emerged as
significant contributors to the successful
outcome:
What is the difference between
transactional sales generation and
VALUE™ opportunities?
When does the ‘Professional
Services’ sales cycle actually start?
What are the elements of a
How important is simplicity in an
effective new business approach?
When do the VALUE™ referrals
replace transactional sales?
Traditional new business
development techniques tend not to
distinguish greatly between selling
products and gaining referrals.
The VALUE™ approach to
Relationship Management adopts
‘sheepdog theory’ to countermand the
traditional organic growth tenet,
“Concentrate on your prospects”; and
replace it with,
“Have your prospects
concentrate upon you.”

© Copyright 2009 Non Executive Management Pty Ltd. Phone: 1300 857 636 Email: executives@nem.net.au Web: www.nem.net.au
 WHITE PAPER
What is the difference between transactional
sales generation and the development of
VALUE™ opportunities?
Transactional sales tend to come
from existing customers seeking
additional and/or alternative
services from you; as a direct result
of positive interaction with your
business ... or from the efforts of
sales staff.
While these transactional sales are
welcome, they seldom lead to either
previously unknown new business
opportunities or referrals.
When does the ‘Professional Services’
VALUE™ sales cycle actually start?
The Professional Services
VALUE™ sales cycle commences with
a detailed grading of existing
relationships.
Until now, businesses relationships
have usually (but incorrectly) been
graded transactionally, i.e. by (a) their
monetary value to the company; either
current or potential and (b) the
strength of sales interfaces.
In other words, ‘A’ clients are
deemed to be the most significant
clients and ‘D’ clients are the least
significant.
In this new paradigm, shaped by
behavioural psychology rather than
avarice, relationships are re-graded to
reflect their propensity to add genuine
value to an on-going relationship.
© Copyright 2009 Non Executive Management Pty Ltd. Phone: 1300 857 636 Email: executives@nem.net.au Web: www.nem.net.au
VALUE™ opportunities are
generated by interactions based
upon ‘open questions’ … designed to
encourage customers to discuss life
through their own eyes; and
subsequently uncover previously
unknown opportunities.
Rather than the traditional
concentration upon the presentation
of sales oriented features and
benefits, the VALUE™ method
‘A’s = Clients with whom you have a
strong personal relationship;
allowing you to make contact at any
time.
‘B’s = Clients with whom you have a
strong business relationship based
upon mutual respect.
‘C’s = Clients with whom you have
a limited relationship based upon
some level of business activity.
‘D’s = Clients you do not know
particularly well or with whom you
have not yet engaged in proactive
contact.
The strength of this psychometric
grading is the fact that:
‘A’s are unlikely to respond to
traditional sales approaches and, if
they do respond, outcomes are
likely to be unreliable and/or
negative.
SPRING 2009
focuses upon exploring the
relationship … and then encourages
the customer to think about his/her
own business opportunities and
discuss them with you.
The VALUE™ process is a little
like sending the dogs behind the
sheep and bringing them quietly
towards you ... rather than yapping
at them from the front (with obvious
outcomes).
‘B’s are far more likely to provide
business and to pass on referrals.
These become the source of quality
business activity.
‘C’s are clients of both lesser
transactional value and personal
engagement. They tend to be
unreliable sources of both business
and referral until they have grown
into ‘B’s.
‘D’s are contacts at the start of
their passage through to ‘C’ then to
‘B’.
Each grading requires a particular
approach which is further facilitated
by a VALUE™ tool. When the
operation of this tool is mastered,
the process becomes both
remarkably simple and extremely
fruitful.
 WHITE PAPER

SPRING 2009

What are the elements of a VALUE™ referral?

While referrals have long been

regarded as the most reliable and
strongest sources of new business,
little has been known about the
science behind gaining them until
the initiation of a nem-backed
Doctoral Research programme.
Referrals fall into two categories -
external and internal.
External referrals are proffered by
clients and contacts who wish to
recommend your services to
colleagues and associates. Internal
referrals are generated by clients and
contacts who recognise internal After gaining entry to this between your client, yourself and the
requirements … and the need to relationship-oriented association, outcome.
discuss these additional needs with participants become members of a When properly undertaken,
you. “Trilogy of Trust”. “Trilogy of Trust” members exit the
Good clients operate in a In the case of external referrals, realm of ‘pecuniary or mercenary
surprisingly similar manner to good this relates to the relationship transactional sales’ and enter a new
friends. They help each other, rely between the referrer, the client and domain centred upon ‘attracting
on each other and communicate yourself. In the case of internal business’ from fellow, like-minded
with each other. referrals, it relates to the relationship professionals and individuals.

How important is simplicity in a VALUE™

new business approach?

Effective change management decreasing stress and anxiety by at

“There is a certain demands simplicity in all things.
Earlier, more complex VALUE™
majesty in paradigms revealed a poor take-up
rate until stripped-down versions were
simplicity which is
found to be not only more clearly
far above the understood by all operators but more
successfully implemented as well.
quaintness of wit.” It is not unusual for VALUE™
practitioners to immediately increase
Alexander Pope 1688 – 1744.
the worth of new business lead
activity by well over 60% … while
least 50%.
VALUE™ methodology also
produces clear measurements of
effectiveness in both individuals and
teams. These, in turn, allow
management to pre-set Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) and
gain a valuable insights into new
business productivity.

© Copyright 2009 Non Executive Management Pty Ltd. Phone: 1300 857 636 Email: executives@nem.net.au Web: www.nem.net.au
 WHITE PAPER
When do VALUE™ referrals replace
transactional sales?
The business of generating
VALUE™ referrals is quite different
from the processing of transactional
sales. In general terms a transactional
sale is based upon a known piece of
business e.g. a call from a client
requesting information which is likely
to lead to a sale.
nem is a nation-wide, Australian leader in the
transformation of organisations
nem is a nation-wide, Australian
leader in the transformation of
organisations; assisting them to
achieve strategic change faster, more
simply, more effectively and more
completely.
nem assists business enterprises of
all sizes to revitalise outdated cultures
by developing deeper and more
fruitful relationships with both new
and existing customers … resulting in
executives@nem.net.au
www.nem.net.au
© Copyright 2009 Non Executive Management Pty Ltd. Phone: 1300 857 636 Email: executives@nem.net.au Web: www.nem.net.au
VALUE™ meetings are designed
specifically to generate business
previously unknown and usually
unexpected. Both internal and
external referrals relate to business not
evident from currently known
information.
In this context, the VALUE™ or
‘sheepdog’ technique is designed to
increased market share, improved
profitability and higher levels of
loyalty from both customers and staff.
Our concepts combine both
experience and research-led insight
into learning techniques, attitudinal
change and belief & behavioural
reconstruction designed to enhance
performance in order to sustain long-
term change.
SPRING 2009
create ‘reverse sales’ whereby your
client and/or network identifies
opportunities and passes them to you.
These referrals, or ‘reverse sales’,
are based upon synergy rather than
generally accepted sales techniques
and are additional to existing sales.
For further information:
Non Executive Management Pty Ltd
Sydney:  
Level 30, 100 Miller Street, North
Sydney NSW 2060
Melbourne:     
Level 6, 606 St Kilda Road,
Melbourne VIC 3004
Brisbane:
Level 2, 50 McDougall Street, Milton
QLD 4064
Phone:   1300 857 636
Email:
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