I am at Fort Clinch with the family and imagining what it would like to be under attack. 

The women and children have scurried into rooms at the base of the fort's walls - they huddle together as the soldiers up above swing the giant cannons in the direction of the advancing flotilla.  The wild horses on Cumberland Island look on disinterestedly across the narrow strait.  My daughter, Julia, wanders into the courtyard of the garrison as arrows hurtle over the massive brick walls dug deep into the sand hills of Florida's northernmost barrier island. . .

Luckily, no one is attacking Fort Clinch on the day that we were there but I don't have to stretch my imagination much in order to picture what it would be like.  After all, each of us in sales is under attack every single day.

The attacks come from our competitors. 

What's true is the vast majority of us has an account with whom we do more business than anyone else in our industry.  Whether the reason is our better service, our better price, our better selection, our better location, our better relationship or any combination thereof, we are somebody's preferred provider.

And, our competition knows it. 

Our dominance with this account is the subject of sales meetings, strategy sessions and after hours angst.  Our competitors seethe over their losses .  It doesn't matter if they enjoy more wins than we do, they still want to win our best account and they will stop at nothing.  Our only defense is to build a fortress. 

Here's how:

1) Dig deep into the account to build trusting relationships.  Just as the best fortresses have multiple defenses so, too, must you.  When your attacker scales the outer wall, there must be another wall that may not have been visible from the outside.  And, then maybe a moat or a dragon.
    a.  Of course, you already have a great relationship with the primary decision maker.  Ask your ally to introduce you to the secondary decision makers and the support staff.  
    b.  Get your boss involved with your decision maker's boss.  Just as you want to be more involved, you want your client to be more involved with your company. 

2) Understand how you became and why you still are the preferred provider.  Your fortress is worthless if you choose to defend against the wrong kind of attack.  That can happen if you don't know exactly why your best client loves you so much.  Sellers have a lot of pride and it is common for the successful seller to believe the account has reached its status because they love him so much.  Maybe they do but is that the reason your company has become the preferred provider in your industry?  Just to be on the safe side you need to ask and the best way to do this is to have someone other than the seller do the asking.

3) Do an honest assessment of your attacker's strengths.  Your competition is almost always stronger than you give them credit for  being.  And, if they aren't strong enough to mount a decent attack right now, you should count on them getting that way in the near future.  Your fortress doesn't need to meet today's minimum requirements.  Your fortress must be strong enough to deter your attackers even as they strengthen and become more sophisticated.  The key to making sure that you aren't vulnerable even as your competition gets better is to act as if you are still trying to win over the account.  In other words, don't just service the account - continue to sell it!   

4) Go on the offensive.  Your fortress has weapons and you shouldn't be shy about using them.  Make the enemy back off by launching an attack against their best account.  By making them defend their turf you may get them to back off for a short while.  Use the time to shore up your defenses!

There are many more ways to build a fortress.  What are you doing to protect your best accounts?


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