The hidden challenge in client expansion
If you run an agency or consulting firm, “land and expand” is a strong growth move. It’s faster than chasing cold prospects, cheaper than building net-new demand, and easier because trust already exists.
When we first start working with a client on revenue growth, we quickly open the hood to see how the organic growth engine is running. Expansion almost always beats net-new growth:
Lower cost of growth. Your acquisition costs are substantially lower than net-new.
Shorter cycles. Access is faster, objections are fewer.
Higher margins. You don’t start working on the business with a massive investment of time and resources on the books.
Compounded trust. Wins stack over time; referrals follow.
But it only pays off if the account is stable. If it’s not, your “expansion” plan just concentrates risk.
There’s a trap most teams miss: you can’t grow an account you might lose. I’ve seen plenty of cases where a firm is so focused on client expansion that they’re blind to risks that are lurking around them.
Before you push for expansion, you have to ask yourself: What risks exist with this account? Are there risks that we haven’t considered before? In other words, does it have a strong enough foundation to support more scope, more spend, and more stakeholders without wobbling?
We call this process de-risking.
De-risking is a deliberate process to identify and neutralize threats to revenue continuity.
As we work through de-risking with our clients, there are often several big moments where our client teams’ eyes widen and they utter something under their breath. We hear, “We never thought about that before,” quite often.
While risk profiles are specific to the company and client, there are some common signals that indicate an account isn’t ready to expand:
Single-threaded relationships. If you have one point of contact that holds all the keys, your chances of expanding the business diminish greatly. Even if you have multiple relationships with day-to-day contacts lower in the hierarchy, you still don’t have the influence you need to impact account growth.
Executive sponsors turnover. First, you should know who your executive sponsor is and have a relationship with them. Second, if they move to a new position or leave the company, you have work to do.
Unclear ROI story. If the client can’t explain your value in their own words, you won’t get anywhere.
Scope drift or unpaid invoices. If you feel like you’re always battling scope creep or late payment (or no payment) on invoices, you need to focus on tightening up your relationship with the client.
Delivery dependencies. If you depend highly on one specific SME to deliver any work for your client, you have a single point of failure.
If you see any of these signals, pause expansion and de-risk.
The de-risking process (5 steps)
Identify risks. Create an account risk chart. Capture anything that could reduce revenue or trigger churn: relationship gaps, sponsor changes, budget volatility, performance issues, contractual landmines, concentration risk, dependency bottlenecks or others.
Assess impact. For each risk, score the potential business effect (High, Medium, Low). Think revenue at risk, strategic importance to your business, and the downstream effects on other work. The impact of losing a $2M account is greater than a $200,000 account.
Assess likelihood. Score the probability of this risk happening using current evidence (signals, timelines, behavior patterns, etc.)
Develop mitigation plans. Quickly figure out how you can reduce your risk.
Execute and enforce accountability. Assign an owner for each risk, due dates, and a clear success definition. Review progress weekly. If a mitigation effort slips, escalate it now.
Make de-risking part of how you run accounts. Risks are always evolving, so it's not a one-and-done thing when you want to expand an account. You should always have an up-to-date risk profile on your clients.
Evaluate risk in the quarterly business review. Every quarterly review should include a summary of risks and current/planned mitigation efforts.
Use a simple health indicator like Green/Yellow/Red.
Multi-thread by design. Require at least three active relationships with every client: day-to-day operator, budget owner, and an executive. If you can’t get access to everyone, that’s a risk in itself.
Operationalize the ROI story. Maintain a living document that highlights your value to the client: baseline, metrics, outcomes, and a value statement. If your contact calls and asks for a report for their boss, you should be able to produce this quickly.
Weekly or every-other-week risk huddle (15-20 minutes). Keep client health top-of-mind for everyone and be proactive about solving any issues. Don’t ever cancel the meeting because you’re too busy. If you aren't actively reducing your risk, you may find yourself not busy enough.
Client expansion is the smartest path to sustainable growth…after you’ve de-risked the account. If the foundation is shaky, expansion magnifies exposure. Fix the risk first, then grow.
If you want a simple de-risking template or a second set of eyes on a key account, contact us to talk through your de-risking plan.