The Retention Playbook: How to Treat Top, Core, and Legacy Clients

One of the hardest parts of running a professional services firm is keeping great clients and growing with them. Too often, founders fall into the trap of treating every client the same. That works in the early days, when you are just trying to get revenue in the door. But as your firm matures, that approach stalls growth.

Not all clients should be treated the same because not all clients play the same role. Some drive you forward, some provide stability, and some are legacy from your early days. Understanding which is which, and adjusting how you serve them, is what keeps retention high and margins healthy.

Every firm has three groups: Top Tier, Core Tier, and Legacy Tier. Each matters. Each plays a role. But they are not the same.

Top Tier Clients

Characteristics
Top Tier clients are the ones who pull your firm into the future. They are highly profitable. They give feedback that helps you improve. They refer other clients. They trust you with their most important work. They also open doors to bigger companies, larger budgets, and new service lines.

Expectations
They expect your best work. They want speed, quality, and reliability. They want to feel like VIPs. But most importantly, they expect results that matter to their business. They want you to be a partner who helps them get where they want to go, not a vendor who only delivers a scope of work.

Common Risks
The danger is falling behind their priorities. Top Tier clients move fast. Their goals and strategies shift often. If you are not keeping up, you become irrelevant. Another risk is breaking trust by missing deadlines, going over budget, or underdelivering. It only takes one slip for them to start looking at other options.

How to Win
You win by staying close to their business. Ask what is changing and adjust your work to match. Be clear about what you can deliver and hit every promise. Position yourself as if you are sitting on the same side of the table, helping them chart the path forward.

For this tier, the model is High-Touch. They should feel white glove service, personalized attention, and consistent senior-level involvement. This is where your most valuable time should be invested.

Core Tier Clients

Characteristics
Core clients are the foundation of your firm. They make up most of your revenue. They are steady, dependable, and reliable. Some may expand into larger accounts, while others will stay the same size year after year.

Expectations
Core clients want consistency. They want to know that when they hire you, the work will get done right and on time. They do not always expect innovation or special treatment, but they do expect professionalism and dependability.

Common Risks
The risk is taking them for granted. It is easy to think that because they are steady, they will always stay. But every client has a natural drift toward churn. Projects end, internal priorities change, or something goes wrong. If you are only delivering the work and nothing more, you make it easy for them to leave when the next option appears.

How to Win
Stay proactive. Look for ways to solve problems with them. When challenges show up, lean in instead of retreating. Be the first call they make when something new comes up. If you cannot help directly, introduce them to someone you trust who can. This shows loyalty to them, and in return, they will be loyal to you. Many referrals and expansions come from Core clients who feel supported beyond the contract.

With Core clients, the model is usually Low-Touch. They do not need constant senior-level attention, but they do need meaningful check-ins, quality delivery, and a sense that you are looking out for them. Low-Touch done right still feels personal and valuable.

Legacy Tier Clients

Characteristics
Legacy clients are usually long-term relationships or accounts that no longer fit your ideal client profile. They may have been a perfect fit when you started, but the firm has outgrown them. They still bring in revenue and can provide stability, but they are not usually growth drivers.

Expectations
Legacy clients want simple, smooth service. They do not want surprises. They value predictability. They want things to work as expected.

Common Risks
The biggest mistake is spending too much senior time and energy on them. Overdelivering here hurts your margins and pulls focus away from Top and Core clients. It can also slow down the evolution of your firm.

How to Win
Respect them and serve them well, but with clear boundaries. Deliver what you promised, no more and no less. Keep your processes efficient so they get value without eating into your top talent’s time.

This tier should lean on Tech-Touch, supported by light Low-Touch when needed. Automated updates, streamlined systems, and scalable processes allow you to serve them respectfully without draining resources that belong to higher-value clients.

How Selling Changes as You Mature

When you first start a firm, you take any client who is willing to pay. That is how you get revenue in the door and keep the lights on. But that creates many Legacy clients.

As your firm matures, you should become more selective. Your ICP should focus only on Top and Core Tier clients. That is where retention, referrals, and margin improvement come from. Continuing to sell into the Legacy Tier just keeps you stuck in “the old firm.” It slows down your progress toward building the business you really want.

The more disciplined you are about focusing sales on Top and Core, the faster your firm moves into its next stage of growth.

Closing Thought

Client retention and expansion are not about treating every client the same. They are about understanding the role each client plays in your firm and serving them in a way that matches their place in your growth.

Top Tier clients need High-Touch, personalized attention and results. Core clients benefit from Low-Touch engagement that is consistent, dependable, and still feels personal. Legacy clients are best served with a mix of Tech-Touch and light Low-Touch, giving them quality service while keeping your resources free for growth.

The takeaway: know which tier your clients belong to, match the right level of touch, and serve them accordingly.