In B2B, risk is everywhere. It can stop your deal from closing, or help drive momentum to the close. Managing it can stop you from losing customers and build expansion opportunities with those very same customers.

The critical piece of the puzzle is how you manage that risk on both sides of the coin.

It’s all about being prepared and avoiding hiccups before they happen. When you focus on managing risks, you’re not just protecting your business—you’re also gaining your clients’ trust.

In this blog post, we’ve rounded up five must-watch clips – all from recent Sales Assembly skill development modules – that share some strategies for Risk Mitigation in B2B account management and customer success.

Strategies for Time Management and Scheduling

In Customer Success, your time is finite. Lots of clients, lots of calls and lots of ad hoc requests to field.

Reclaiming your schedule is step 1 on the path to reducing your churn and increasing upsell opportunities.

But where do you start?

(This is a clip taken from a session led by Erin Carr as part of Sales Assembly’s Risk Mitigation Certification Program.)

Remember to:

  • Divide your tasks by:
    • Urgent & Important
    • Not Urgent or Important
    • Urgent and Not Important
  • Make sure your calendar reflects the tasks and time you need to address those important tasks
  • Limit the number of tasks on your list at any given time. Too many will mean some go unattended

Navigating the Most Common Customer Stumbling Blocks

What are the signs an account could be churning in the next 90 days?

And more importantly, how do you get ahead of them before it’s too late?

It’s all about systems and knowing what to do in those moments…

(This is a clip taken from a session run by Jenna Czarnecki as part of our Risk Mitigation Certification Program.)

How to spot common customer stumbling blocks:

  • Look out for lack of engagement with your customer
  • Keep track of new leadership within your customers’ business and have a process for dealing with the transition
  • Know your numbers when client tech stacks go under review

Segmentation and Engagement Models

ICP is often built around describing clients who could be a big deal size and commission, but not a great client long term.

A true ICP reflects the ideal client across the whole client delivery team from Sales to CS.

So, how do we refocus what our ICP truly looks like with this in mind?

(This is a clip taken from a session run by Josh Abdulla as part of our Risk Mitigation Certification Program.)

To build your true ICP:

  • Understand typical client behavior patterns relating to LTV, usage, and renewal rate
  • Identify accounts exhibiting a high CSAT score as well as a low cost to support and serve internally”
  • Use the same logic to reverse engineer your non-ICP

Creating and Utilizing Account Plans

How can you build a clear picture of what’s going on in an account you’re looking to expand?

The secret is in the planning and preparation of which accounts you prioritize.

From there, your plan should do the work for you.

(This is a clip taken from a session run by Erin Borkowski as part of our Risk Mitigation Certification Program.)

Before approaching any of your accounts:

  • Know your account map and the company ARR, location, headcount, etc
  • Prioritize the key accounts by revenue or upsell opportunity first
  • Arm yourself with account level research to build your business case

Multi-Threading: Aligning Execs, Champions, and Owners

Top performing Account Managers master the art of multi-threading.

Knowing who to bring into conversations, when and how and why is critical to maintaining momentum but also not slowing down progress.

How do you strike the balance between considered communications and too many cooks in the kitchen?

(This is a clip taken from a session run by Lisa Honaker as part of our Risk Mitigation Certification Program.)

How to keep your comms ultra relevant:

  • Tag in the right people from the right seniority levels at the right time
  • Succinct communications include and exclude the right people to avoid delays and confusion
  • Research should be happening every day. Map out changing relationships, risks, opportunities

Learn More Risk Mitigation Strategies

Sales Assembly offers training across all of the key fundamental skills SaaS businesses and their sales and customer success teams require to become top performers.

Take a look at our calendar for upcoming Risk Mitigation sessions if you’d like to learn from Sales Assembly’s extensive roster of subject matter experts.

About Sales Assembly

We’re a resource for live, year-round skill development and certifications for the core roles within b2b revenue teams. Contact us to explore membership options for your organization!