An effective model for consultants is to build a core, talented team that works well together, then offer that entire unit as a "fractional team" to clients. This provides clients with a high-functioning, pre-vetted group without hiring overhead, while giving the entrepreneur project flexibility.

An agency's stability is determined by how difficult it is for clients to leave. High-stakes services like accounting create sticky relationships and are great businesses. Volatile, project-based creative work suffers from a feast-or-famine cycle because clients can switch providers with little friction.

A one-size-fits-all sales role fails in consumption models. Success requires segmenting the team into specialized roles—new business acquisition, customer onboarding, and account management—each with distinct incentives aligned to their specific function, from initial sign-up to value realization and expansion.

After losing her commission base by moving cities, Mary Kay eliminated geographic sales territories. This policy allowed consultants to keep their teams and income streams regardless of relocation—a huge benefit for military spouses. It transformed potential competitors into collaborators and fostered a culture of mutual support.

Your ability to serve clients depends on your internal team. Sales pro Steve Munn built strong relationships with his distribution center staff, treating them with respect ("more with sugar than you do with salt"). This rapport ensured they would go the extra mile for his clients during critical moments.

A culture of proactivity is your best defense against client churn. When a key contact changes at a major account, immediately get on a plane to meet them. This builds rapport that prevents drastic, uninformed decisions like demanding a massive fee cut months later.

CAA maintained a list of executives who supported them early on. If anyone on that list later fell on hard times, the agency made it their duty to find them a job, preserving their dignity and demonstrating extreme loyalty.

To mitigate client concentration risk, the quantity of relationships you maintain within a single customer account must be directly proportional to the revenue it generates. Relying on one or two contacts is a critical failure point, especially during leadership changes, transforming generic advice into a specific, quantifiable strategy for account security.

The speaker was shocked to learn an existing client's 'small boutique agency' in the US dedicated a 35-person team to their account. This highlights the massive, often unanticipated, difference in resource requirements needed to service clients in the American market compared to the UK.