Our account managers are hitting their weekly touchpoint targets, but our client satisfaction ratings are flat. We suspect they are sending low-value, automated emails just to check the box. How do we rewrite this metric to measure genuine client engagement?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you track a low-friction activity metric like customer touchpoints, your account managers will inevitably automate the process to make their weekly scorecard look good. They will send generic, automated emails or make brief, meaningless phone calls just to hit their target. This is compliance, not engagement, and it does nothing to improve client retention.

To stop this behavior, you must redefine the metric from an outbound activity to an inbound response. Instead of tracking touchpoints made, track meaningful client interactions. Define a meaningful interaction as a two-way conversation where the client actually responds, schedules a review, or confirms value delivered.

Alternatively, implement a paired quality metric such as health score updates. For every client contact, the account manager must update the client status on a simple three-color health scale based on objective criteria, not just gut feel.

The Account Management seat on your Accountability Chart must own this metric. If their weekly interaction count is high but client health scores are dropping, this disconnect must be brought to the Level 10 Meeting™. Use IDS® to dig into the quality of their outreach. By tracking active engagement rather than raw outbound volume, you force your team to focus on building genuine relationships instead of just checking a box to stay out of trouble.