Hello and welcome to my introductory blog post.  According to Technorati, I am behind 50 million of my colleagues in embracing the technology.  I’m not sure what ribbon you get for being the 50 millionth person to do something, but I suspect it is a dull shade of gray or brown.  According to Technorati, I’m not even the first to start a blog this second, with more than 2 blogs started every second. With so much clutter in the blog space, and the average person bombarded with anywhere between 247 and 3,000 advertising messages each day (thank you to the now deceased Google Answers), I feel like I should start by thanking you for taking time to even read this post. I fear it takes a certain arrogance to believe that the 50 million blogs that already exist don’t quite cover your topic, and that this blog will be the one that provides enough content and strategic insight to validate its existence, but that is my hope. The name of the blog, Retention2 reflects my sincere belief that improvements in client and employee retention have a powerful effect on the growth and financial performance of professional service firms. While this is not necessarily new or profound, unto itself, I do believe that I will be one of only a few professionals writing and researching the topic from the unique vantage point of the professional service firm.  My objectives for this blog are as follows, in no particular order:

• Share – There are some great blogs on professional service firm management, marketing, and client and employee retention.  I will attempt to summarize the best information and provide you with links to dive deeper.
• Educate – Our firm analyzes feedback from more than 10,000 professional service firm clients and employees annually.  I will attempt to share some of that which we learn in a manner easy to digest.
• Entertain – Market research and retention strategy discussions don’t always lead to wet-your-pants type laughter, but they don’t have to read like the role call in Ferris Bueller’s history class, either.
• Facilitate – This one seems pretty obvious, but I guess my point here is that I want this to read more like a conversation and less like a sermon.  As my wife can attest, just because I have an opinion on things, doesn’t mean it is correct.  I look forward to the day that a conversation occurs between two readers that only tangentially involves me.

With that in mind, I anxiously await your comments and suggestions. By the way, in reference to the title of this post, I have just stolen 117 seconds of your time if you read at the rate of an average American adult.  Time is a precious commodity which you can never get back.  I know that, and hope that in future posts I add enough value to justify the investment you’ve made. Sincerely, Eric Gregg Managing Partner The Inavero Institute for Service Research