The Key to Account Retention: Be More Like Dinger

December 4, 2025
Posted by: Dave Kurlan
Category: Understanding the Sales Force

On a typical day, our 8-year-old Golden Doodle, Dinger (article on Dinger’s Listening Skills) lays on the floor and makes no attempt to get on any of our furniture.

Our 23-year-old son was home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and as much as Dinger loves him, the sofa was still of no interest to Dinger.

The young cousins, aged 5 and 8, were here for 4 days. They love both Michael and Dinger but their sudden appearance on the sofa caused a dramatic change in Dinger’s behavior. Suddenly, he was on the sofa too. Not just on the sofa, but stretched out on the sofa.

Not for hugging, not for fetch, not because it’s his throne, but raw territorial messaging. ‘This spot is for me and my brother, girls.”

The girls were on the sofa with Michael and while Dinger can take his brother for granted, their special relationship was suddenly threatened. Not only was Dinger being territorial as in, “I belong on this sofa with Michael more than you do,” he was also being competitive.

From the Sofa to the Boardroom

Most salespeople take their customers and clients for granted like Dinger does with Michael. They appreciate their customers and show up at renewal time or when there is something new to sell, but they do the sales equivalent of laying on the floor the rest of the time. This allows competitors to get an audience, get their foot in the door, vie for the business, and sometimes succeed at taking the business away.

They need to be more like Dinger when he feels his relationship is threatened. They NEED to be more territorial. They NEED to be more competitive. They NEED their customers to place the KEEP OUT sign on the door because they LOVE the attention they ALWAYS get.

Remember Dinger eyeing those cousins? That’s you spotting an RFP. Don’t wait for that to happen! Jump in with that unsolicited audit or trend alert that screams, “We’re in this together.” The role is not about servicing your customers, it’s about being irreplaceable, a resource, a partner, a trusted advisor, a friend, an extension of the company, and more. Don’t view it as a passive role, it’s a proactive role. You shouldn’t treat the role as a respond-when-called assignment, it’s a suggest, assist and be preventative role.

Rethink your existing accounts.

It is expensive to acquire a new logo and when you must replace a customer you failed to retain, it’s very difficult to grow revenue. Retention should be as much of a focus as new business. Sadly, even companies that prioritize account management often fail to maximize retention.

Ironically, account management is often the most common excuse used by salespeople whose job it is to acquire new accounts.

Sales Manager: “Why isn’t your pipeline full?”

Salesperson “I was doing account management.”

Sales Manager: “Why aren’t there new opportunities from your existing accounts?”

Salesperson: “There are but I haven’t entered them.”

Sales Manager: “Oh, OK.”

Noooooo! Here’s how it should sound:

Sales Manager: “Then enter them. I’ll wait….And then find 21 new opportunities to fill up your pipeline. You have a week.”

Some larger companies have specialty roles: BDR, Account Manager, and Account Executive, and then some also break it down even further, by account size or market segment. What’s often missing, is the stated requirement of the role:

Role	Core Mantra
Account Manager	Retain and Grow (x3)
BDR	Schedule New Meetings (x3)
Account Executive	Close, Close, Close
Non-Specialty	New Meetings + Pipeline + Close + Retain/Grow