I got a call from one of my professional services clients, who said an 18-year client said he needed to check other vendors–said the price was getting too high.

Wow! Not an easy call to get–and he asked me what I would do. Here it goes:

Acknowledge the truth. You can’t MAKE HIM NOT CHECK them out, can you? Of course not. So go have a meeting and say this:  “Mr. Client, I want to acknowledge your thoughts about looking elsewhere. That may be a good idea. After 18 years of a relationship, sometimes people grow weary — the relationship goes stale — nothing new — just the same old service. So I would encourage you to look elsewhere. It will be healthy.”

Then, follow that up with: “But I do have one question. Is it really the money (which he told him it was) or is it something different–like service or value or something we missed?” Then, I would suggest a brainstorming session with their senior managers to see how, or if, there is a way to reduce the fees. There may not be. But you at least have to be open to it.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe your fees have crept up too quickly. Maybe they aren’t getting as much value. But you can’t know that until you have an “exploratory meeting” at their site. You cannot be defensive at this meeting. It is a meeting based on finding the truth.

Go into it with high intent–really wanting to help the customer solve the problem. NOT trying to ‘keep the business.’ By surrendering you get stronger.