# Account Development and Repeat Business: practice workbook
Talent Engineering Academy | An education initiative by Vitae
Edition 2026.09 | Updated 2026-09-24
Course: https://talentengineering.org/courses/account-development

Earn repeat work through delivery evidence, useful account reviews and relevant expansion conversations.

## Your deliverable
An account development plan with service review and expansion hypotheses.

Use fictional information. Keep your completed work in your own secure notes. Exercises and capstone work are self-directed, not independently assessed.

## 1. Client outcomes and delivery evidence

Your notes:



## 2. Stakeholder relationships and permissions

Your notes:



## 3. Recurring needs and hypotheses

Your notes:



## 4. Service review and unresolved issues

Your notes:



## 5. Relevant next offer and capacity

Your notes:



## 6. Concentration and relationship health

Your notes:



## Lesson exercises

### 1. Start with the value actually delivered

Write a post-engagement review with three evidence points and two improvement questions.

Your response:


Worked example: A client appreciates the market intelligence but found weekly updates hard to interpret. The account plan improves reporting before proposing a broader search programme.

Self-review guidance: Include a limitation or unresolved issue. Avoid claiming credit for outcomes you have not observed or that depend on other teams.

### 2. Map relationships beyond a single sponsor

Create an account relationship map with three useful introductions and their purpose.

Your response:


Worked example: A plant sponsor introduces the recruiter to a central talent lead to discuss recurring technical hiring. The recruiter aligns with the internal process instead of pitching every site independently with inconsistent claims.

Self-review guidance: Each introduction should have a legitimate service reason. Distinguish confirmed authority from assumptions and record the preferred route through the account.

### 3. Develop expansion hypotheses from real needs

Write three expansion hypotheses and one reason each might be inappropriate.

Your response:


Worked example: A client repeatedly struggles to define new technical roles. A scoped brief-design workshop may fit better than immediately selling another full search engagement or a software subscription.

Self-review guidance: Connect every offer to observed need and delivery capability. Include a low-commitment validation step and a condition for deciding not to proceed.

### 4. Manage continuity and concentration

Create a quarterly account review with service, opportunity, capacity and concentration sections.

Your response:


Worked example: One account supplies half a fictional practice’s fees and asks for several urgent searches. The owner reviews capacity and downside exposure before agreeing, rather than treating all expansion as automatically beneficial.

Self-review guidance: Include a scenario where the sponsor leaves or demand pauses. Specify relationship and business actions that reduce dependence without neglecting the existing client.

## Portfolio review
Check that your work is internally consistent, distinguishes facts from assumptions, names decision owners and explains its limitations. Revise gaps before using the method in real work.

## Further reading
- [CIPD: Recruitment](https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/recruitment-factsheet/): Professional context for the recruitment lifecycle.
- [GOV.UK: Set up a business](https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business): UK starting point. Business structure and obligations depend on the circumstances.

Original educational scenarios. References provide further reading and do not imply endorsement. Check current official rules and appropriate professional advice for real legal, financial or regulated decisions.