Category: Blog

The 7 Biggest Challenges Account Managers face while making Account Plans

Strategic Account Management may be accepted by the organization and the leadership as a good Account Management practice, but it is not devoid of challenges. Once the managers start practicing it, they realize the real-world problems or rather, challenges that they must face while creating strategic account plans. Let’s take a good look at the 7 Big Challenges faced while creating strategic account plans. Where did we get this top secret information? Straight from the managers themselves and their organizations, of course! KAM Glossary: Crucial Account Management Terms Explained 1. The eternal tug-of-war between short-term and long-term Even when the organization has made a policy decision of having a Strategic Account Management cell for Key Accounts or Strategic Accounts, some managers may find it difficult to choose between the short term and long term. Many times, the short-term wins as it is more achievable and managers often feel a quick sense of accomplishment. That’s exactly where the challenge lies; to choose the long-term over the short term when the situation so demands. It isn’t enough for managers to hit short-term goals and give themselves the pat on the back, it is integral to concentrate on strategic account plan goals like maximization of customer lifetime value too! Guide: Comprehensive Career Path for a Key Account Manager 2. Having access to an effective strategic planning tool Strategic account management needs more work than normal accounts and hence better tools. Although strategic account plans are about building key relationships and nurturing them, this process does need to be automated. There are various strategic account planning softwares and tools available that help the managers in planning and managing their strategic accounts well. But having access to a suitable tool may be a challenge, to begin with. Challenges of strategic account management can be overcome by ensuring the planning tool is made a part of the responsibility of the strategic management team and the leadership. 3. Having a good relationship with all key customers (other than that one key customer) within each Strategic Account It’s not enough to have a good relationship with just one key person within one Strategic Account. People move from one organization to another. Strategic Account Managers cannot afford to put all their eggs in one basket and need to form good relationships with other key people within the Strategic Account. This ensures that a great account isn’t lost, simply because the biggest influencer left the organization. A dynamic OrgChart can be extremely helpful to ensure that Strategic Account Managers know exactly where the influencers and detractors lie in an organizational hierarchy. 4. Interacting with enterprise-level organizations and key buyers at the top level Strategic Account Planning requires a CXO-level management involvement in any client. This bottleneck may arise due to a lack of training. This is very easily rectified with proper recruitment, training and a top-down approach to Strategic Account Management. 5. The actual implementation of the Strategic Account Plans Strategic Account Plans will remain so unless they’re put into action by a motivated Strategic Account Manager. The biggest detriment of a Strategic Account Plan is actually its implementation and thus it must be taken into account while creation. 6. Formulating a fair and comprehensive compensation policy for Strategic Account Managers Since the conversion in a Strategic Account happens over a period, incentive planning and compensation for Strategic Account Managers cannot be the same as your Salesforce, yet needs to be fair. Proper metrics need to be defined and implemented, which is a major HR challenge. It will keep evolving over time and will vary from organization to organization. 7. Training and skills in strategic account management What kind of training and skill sets do Strategic Account Managers need to acquire and how frequently do they need to be trained, is often the question. It’s a crucial decision that leadership needs to take, as it is not a good idea to take chances with the capabilities and delivery of the Strategic Account Managers. We are certain there are many more such challenges and that we can list more than the seven mentioned here. What is essential to this subject is the fact that the Top Challenges for high performers do differ from the Top Challenges of the average performer. Average performers are more concerned about the most fundamental challenges that are lower in the challenges hierarchy, such as ‘having access to an effective strategic planning tool’ and ‘the tussle between short term and long term goals’. On the other hand, high performers would be more concerned about challenges such as ‘fair compensation policy for strategic account managers based on sales results’ and ‘effective ways of building and communicating value’. Do share with me, your top Challenges of Effective Strategic Key Account Plans/Management!

Salesforce Org Chart – For Contact Hierarchy and Relationship Mapping

Org Chart and Relationship Mapping in Salesforce with DemandFarm Account Management is evolving every day. If you are a part of the sales/account management team, a better understanding of your client and improving the strategic relationship with them is indispensable to cracking any deal. Do you think a small tool – Org Chart builder in Salesforce could be your savior in this? Contacts being the heart of your client’s organization, managing them efficiently is critical for which Salesforce has become a ‘default’ in most sales-driven and account-driven organizations. While the baton is with you, over a while contact data gets ‘muddled’ useless. Meanwhile, still betting on PPTs and whiteboards will land you at a high risk of losing your valuable clients to competitors. It can also lead to slow decision-making, missed growth opportunities, and avoidable waste of effort. So, strategizing accounts, equipping yourself with the right tools, and efficiently managing your tasks will be the key to being on track. Salesforce Account Planning could provide much-needed clarity and help you manage your accounts more profitably. Why do you need a Salesforce Organization Chart? 1. Visual Map of Contacts Salesforce.com functions as the go-to system for all aspects of a customer relationship. But David Taber, the author of the Prentice Hall book, “Salesforce.com Secrets of Success,” remarked rightly in this post how quickly data gets discounted in salesforce. This happens because of the following reasons: Lack of process in adding customer data Ever-changing hands in marketing, sales, and support Omission and commission errors To be fair to users, the existing user interface showcasing contacts in a ‘list view does not help either. It seems fine until the number of contacts is in single digits, but not when contacts grow beyond a manageable list. That is when the need for visual relationship mapping arises. The last three salesforce organization chart software inquiries at DemandFarm had a very simple requirement. They just wanted a tool to display their salesforce contacts visually in the form of an organization chart. 2. Handover and Onboarding I just got off an org chart demo with a sales operations team. Would you guess their biggest complaint in managing contacts within Salesforce? It isn’t to do with managing contacts. It is when an account manager or a sales rep leaves. A simple process to hand over accounts always seems missing. The issues do not stop at handover. When a new account manager joins, it feels as if the current account is in a state of mess. A neatly populated Salesforce org chart builder could make this transition frictionless and even more exciting, maybe. 3. Sales Enablement Initiatives Sales operations and salesforce admin teams work together to help sales teams spend more time on quality sales conversations than the operational hassles of setting up systems like Salesforce. In this endeavor, sales ops teams are always on the lookout for tools and processes that improve the functioning of sales and account teams. The simplicity of the best org chart software that is native to Salesforce is a compelling use case. DemandFarm’s Organization Chart in Salesforce DemandFarm’s Salesforce Organization Chart is a powerful interactive tool that is native to CRM i.e, you require zero integration. Key Account Management in Salesforce becomes a breeze with Demandfarm. The tool is so simple that you can build a Hierarchy map of your accounts in just a few minutes by dragging and dropping them with pre-built templates. Organization Chart Features 1. Hierarchy Mapping Hierarchy mapping is a visual representation of the client’s organization which can lend you a lot of deep insights about their profile like white space opportunities and associated budget. 2. Influence Mapping Influence mapping helps you understand the kind of influences each contact has over the other inside the client’s organization. With this, you can upsell and increase your revenue. 3. Relationship Mapping Relationship mapping gives you an understanding of the relationship you have with each of the contacts in the client’s organization. Based on the relationship/affinity, you can plan the right approach to avoid any mess. 4. Power Mapping Power Mapping can help you in knowing the right person with the highest decision power in your client’s organization. To shorten the sales cycle and close the deal, is very critical. Conclusion Building the Salesforce Org Chart is the first step toward effective key account management (KAM). Without the Salesforce Org Chart, there is no Strategic Account Management. Let’s start building Organization Chart for all large key accounts now. It is a journey. Over some time, this Org Chart will be your most potent weapon to defend and grow revenues in the account. It is not one time nor is built by one person. It is a collaborative effort by multiple people over a while. Hence it has to be easy to build within Salesforce. DemandFarm’s Org Chart is one such tool. Go ahead and take a free trial today!

6 Attributes of a Successful Key Account Manager

Decades ago, psychotherapist Thom Hartmann proposed two mental models that described how people go about their work. The hunter mindset, based on nomadic societies, suffered from a short attention span but had hyper-focus for short bursts of time. ‍ The farmer, based on agrarian societies, was patient and worked steadily with the understanding that he would enjoy the fruit of his labor in the future. These two mental models have been used to guide hiring. Most recruiters look for hunters to fulfill sales roles and farmers to fulfill account management roles. This clear distinction between the hunter and farmer mindset gets blurred when hiring a Key Account Manager. In the past, hunters were focused on acquisition and farmers were focused on retention. A blend of these attributes is required to successfully fulfill a Key Account Manager role. Traditional Account Managers tend to be too patient and they acquiesce too quickly to unreasonable client demands. This is detrimental to forging a mutually beneficial and strategically viable partnership. On the other hand, a hunter mindset is too short-term focused and will often lose out on larger opportunities because of the relentless pursuit of the sales opportunities immediately in front of them. When recruiting for a Key Account Manager, look for the following: 1. Leadership A KAM should be a visionary. They should help everyone see and be excited by what’s possible. Their customers and their peers should respect them. They should be able to respectfully challenge and direct the customer in the customer’s best interest. This means they must have a degree of comfort with tension. Traditional Account Managers are too quick to cave in when facing tension with clients. Also, when progress needs to happen internally, they need to have the respect of their team. Team members should want to go the extra mile for them. 2. Communication This is a big one. The best KAMs are able to keep all stakeholders informed on all the important issues. They will often have to lead the presentation of project updates or account reviews. Whether oral or written, it is critical that all communications are concise, clear and convincing. Communications must also be highly nuanced for the particular stakeholder or group being spoken to. 3. Business Acumen Many salespeople are far too focused on closing deals and do not understand broader business issues. This approach is fatal when it comes to Key Account Management. A Key Account Manager must be able to see the bigger business issues for the client and help the client manage their business. They must also ensure all business deals are profitable for both sides. 4. Relationship Savvy Today’s Key Account Manager must be able to read people and connect meaningfully with a variety of personalities. They must understand that all progress is made through relationships. They must know when to take the lead in relationship development and when to enable others to take the lead. Their objective is to build a highly intricate web of many-to-many relationships between the client’s people and theirs – the more intricate the web, the greater the partnership and the higher the cost to switch to a competitor. 5. Results Oriented Today’s Key Account Manager must have laser focus on getting results for the customer. This means they must be proactive and not wait for the customer to notice they are not on track to achieving a particular goal. They must have a “no excuses” mindset. They do what needs to be done. They coordinate multiple resources to the achievement of the decided upon outcome. They will take the blame for failures and give credit to the team for successes because they are driven by outcomes not their ego. 6. Appetite for Learning A successful Account Manager recognizes the pace of change we are undergoing. Consequently, they are always open to training and development. They never rest on their laurels. Part of the respect they gain from others comes from the fact that others see that they are constantly growing in their perspectives and abilities. They constantly look for white space opportunities to improve in areas that they have identified as important. All of these attributes require a mix of a hunter and a farmer mindset. There are some things that must be looked after with a short-term laser focus. These short-term issues must be executed while simultaneously understanding how they fit into and accelerate long-term objectives and a long-term vision. It is an unusual mix of attributes as it requires mental flexibility. Those who possess these traits will lead their organizations and their clients too much greater rewards than we have seen in the past from either hunters or farmers.

Meet Jack : The Account Planner

Meet our muse, Jack. Key Account Manager. Account Planner. Data Interpreter. Relationship Builder. You. You know Jack. He is just like one of us. Surrounded by data, information, statistics, and revenue numbers. Clients who demand the world. Internal stakeholders that need convincing. Jack wears many hats. But that just works. With a family to look after and a life full of interests and hobbies, work-life balance stretches Jack the most. And Jack inspires us to stretch ourselves here at DemandFarm. Here’s why. Let’s talk about Jack in his Account Planner avatar. Jack is accountable for one of the most critical Key Account processes – building the strategy and executing the plan to achieve annual targets. While bridging the gap between planning and execution is a huge challenge, an even bigger pain point is getting started on and building the plan itself. You may identify with Jack’s life around Annual Planning Season. Let’s look at everything that occupies him in the run-up to and during the account planning process. Gathering business insights The most part of Strategic Account Planning involves gathering data from several sources, collating it into a standard format and mining that data for actionable insights to help build the annual plan. A comprehensive white space analysis, competitor analysis and a long hard look at the state of the relationship are other indispensable activities at this stage. This is where he is able to spot the real opportunities for value creation and growth across the length and breadth of his Key Accounts. Collaboration with internal stakeholders Account Planning is one thing and achieving the planned goals is another. It just cannot happen without the engagement of key internal stakeholders, all of whom probably have their own drivers and constraints. An effective annual plan would not only build the business case behind the goals and create buy-in; it also sets targets and expectations from team members. This helps him put everyone on the same page and coordinate the internal effort to achieve the plan. Governing the plan Tracking the plan, measuring performance, quantifying the qualitative indicators effectively – Jack needs to seamlessly bridge the gap between planning and execution. And he needs to check deviations, course-correct and stay flexible enough to grow with the Clients needs and goals. Handling the many aspects of Annual Account Planning can be overwhelming! So here it is. For all the Jacks out there, I get it. Having been a Key Account Manager in my time, I understand how crucial this time of the year is for you. Like I said, we are inspired by the work you do. So we build technology that helps you win. And this Annual Account Planning Season, we want you to try it for yourself. Imagine… An Account Planning technology that: Works from inside Salesforce, using data already in the system Integrates all the data at one place, in one format Creates action plans that you can easily share, leading to specific goals, activities, support required Generates Insights, metrics, and measures for Key Accounts Easily tracks whitespace, people, and actions, seamlessly governs progress And it is yours FREE until the 31st of December 2016. Sign up here and get started on the best Account Planning experience you will ever have. I guarantee it. PS: It’s an all-access pass to our best planning module ever, no questions asked. Sign up today, and unlock the true potential of your Key Accounts.

6 Key SAM Sessions at SAMA Prague

If you happen to be in Prague now, it may not be just for the spring. Strategic Account Management Association’s (SAMA) Pan-European conference is the other reason. After an insightful SAMA 2016, they’re back again this year. Over a two-day action-packed pre-weekend, SAM professionals across the World and Europe will debate, discuss and devour, insights on strategic account management. Will you be around? There are 18 sessions in addition to 2 Keynotes, over these two days. Some of you might attend all of them, including the cocktails. However, if you are someone with only a limited time and energy, I bring to you DemandFarm’s recommendation on the six sessions that you should not miss. These 6 sessions cover digitalization, account-based marketing, analytics, automation and not to forget customer metrics. Firstly, do not miss out on keynotes. Johnson Controls’ Renae Leary talks about using Design to Supercharge Customer Value Co-Creation. The design is one of the least talked about subjects in the realm of Key Account Management. One needs to look at the tech space to understand the profound sales transformation design can bring. Undoubtedly, it would be interesting to listen to the story of how Johnson Controls leveraged design in transforming SAM. It remains to be seen though if Renae would talk form or function, in the context of design. Function, of course, would be forthcoming. Phillip Lund from Schneider Electric has the perfect closing keynote, owing to the touchy subject of talent in SAM. While the Schneider Electric story is about talent management, it would be welcome if Philip could also talk about talent development, skills, and millennials. 1. Quantify and track customer outcomes: Technology tools are changing the game! Fair to say, DemandFarm strongly believes in the power of technology, to help Key Account Managers become successful. Thus, a recommendation for this session. The team has regularly made a case for productivity tools for KAMs. In this session, Valkre consultants Jerry Alderman and Brian Kiep team up with Velinda Cox from Konica Minolta Business Solutions to talk about an insight – technology tools to measure your customer’s business metrics. How cool is that? Come on, how many of us are measuring customer metrics that we are impacting? If we did that and followed through, wouldn’t our customers love us? 2. Digitalization Disrupts the Relationship Map Facing the SAM Today’s customer wields enormous power. We all know why – the internet, social media, and the wave of digital transformation. Hajo Rapp from Siemens (Read Hajo’s interview with DemandFarm) and Volkhard Bregulla from HP, rightly address how digitization is dissolving the web of customer relationships: a Key Account Management strategy would build over the years. We understand the importance of relationship mapping. It is one of the key offerings of DemandFarm’s Key Account Management Software. Will these two gentlemen discuss how SAM can address the intricacies of relationship dynamics in a changing power scenario? Will they also touch upon the importance of visualizing relationships, especially in complex accounts? Nevertheless, perspectives on addressing internal business stakeholders by a technical buyer would be insightful for Key Account Managers from the technology sector. 3. Robot as an Account Manager: Are your clients ready for it? The Mckinsey consultants stole our thunder, almost. My team introduced a Key Account Management BOT called KAM-BOT in November 2016 to introduce the importance of automation in SAM. I am keen to understand what emerged from the Mckinsey survey of 1,000+ business purchasers and decision-makers across all major B2B industries, especially how they like to buy; where digital matters, and where it doesn’t. I am expecting the Mckinsey consultants – Varun and Hamza – to share specifics and some tangible action points for KAMs. Read KAM-BOT ebook 4. The New Era of B2B Growth: Moving to Analytics-Based Sales Is it possible to read anything worthwhile in business today without hitting ‘Analytics’? ‘Data-driven is another. I wish they were ‘just’ buzzwords. To Key Account Management teams, these keywords mean ‘effort’ and ‘study’. Armed with information, customers can ask the right questions that salespeople and account managers may not have anticipated. The Gallup team represented by Jeff and David will rightfully sensitize the B2B audience about the need for SAM to transition from experience, solution, and relationship-based customer management strategies to insight and data-based strategies that demonstrate unique business understanding and help proactively solve customer questions. This session should raise some eyebrows. 5. Accelerate Growth in your Strategic Accounts with Account-Based Marketing Didn’t ABM dominate as the most important sales topic in SAMA 2016? If you belong to the SaaS space, you will not disagree. Now ABM is making inroads into SAM. It is still sometime away before we can see some successful models, the debate is essential to assess proper fit. In his session, Bill Simpson from ITSMA has laid out an elaborate menu for advocating ABM into SAM teams. Will you bite it off? The questions he is addressing cover the entire spectrum from who is using ABM to why the ABM SAM alignment is critical? This one should be overwhelming. Who is headed to the bar? 6. How Aptean Accelerated Growth through a Transformational Account Management Strategy Aptean is a software product company offering a bouquet of enterprise software products. It made a change, from account acquisition to account management. Perhaps, the toughest change management in sales organizations. Charlie and Don from SOAR Performance Group team up with Aptean’s Kyle Bowker to tell the story of Aptean’s transformation. It is these stories that keep the SAM excitement going. Are you excited?

5 Key Account Mistakes to Steer Clear Off in 2019

Key Account Mistakes As we arrive into the new year, it is important to understand the new needs of the business environment. It is no more a one-sided selling process in key accounts rather you have to proactively and strategically handle your key accounts to get the best out of them. This year everything you do will likely be measured by the quality of your interactions and communication while selling is the number one priority. So let’s look into some mistakes we can avoid to have a better return on our efforts. 1. More The Communication, Better It Is Do not fall for this trap. Consistently staying in the loop and holding lines of communication clear and to the point is crucial, but there is such a thing called too much communication. You don’t want to hound the key account with asks and feedback. You’re there to make their life easier and facilitate a seamless relay. Reach out to them continuously and you risk appearing incompetent and not suited to manage their account. Use your best opinion and only reach out to the key account when it is critical in decision making. 2. You’re Not Creating Value, You Are Selling This is what people who want to earn a quick buck say. They’ve already opted in for your assistance so you should concentrate on building trust and value with the key account by producing quality work and making sure you are speaking to their particular business needs. While there are opportunities to upsell and cross-sell, you should not be too pushy about it. Try to up or cross-sell on how it would help their business, and show them that you care about their interests. Create genuine value. Most key accounts have been in their respective industry and have had plenty of exposure to dealing with key account managers. They can see right into a pushy sales guy who has no substance. Wait for the right time in the meeting to start talking about upsells. Don’t try to include a selling opportunity into the conversation every chance you get. 3. Short-Term Thinking You as the key account manager are being trusted with a key account business goals and that means you need to continually think ahead about what role you play in helping them achieve their objectives. Part of this is knowing the business that they’re in and being cognizant of market trends. Do you have a key account in the hospitality industry? Then you should be equipped for their busiest season, for example, one which starts in the autumn right before the holidays. Your role is important in helping to develop an approach that speaks to them and helps them hit their goals during that time. There are abundant resources that can help any key account manager stay on top of their key accounts industry trends. One way is to set up Google alerts for each of your key accounts leading you to know about what’s going on in their business. Other ways are to use resources as simple as doing competitor research or reading expert journals and industry magazines. 4. Overpromising And Under-Delivering This is as straightforward as it gets, but not handling key accounts expectations properly can lose you business and critically tarnish your reputation. When a communication initially begins, some key account managers may want to look good in the eyes of the key account they are managing by promising more than what they can deliver. This practice is inefficient and can lead to trouble. Effective account management process, unrestricted communication, level setting, and the right expectations will guarantee that you deliver what’s promised in scope on time.  If your key account is asking for too much, too soon, it is up to you to put your point forward and let them know that they need to adjust their expectations. If you aren’t level setting, you run the risk of being a constant disappointment to your key account. Needless to say, that doesn’t gel well with your long-term, key account relationships. 5. Conversation Gaps Given key account management’s numerous priorities, key account managers need to be proactive communicators. Regular follow-ups may seem unnecessary, but they are critical to the success of ongoing actions. Through regular communication, a key account manager may learn more about the strategic account needs and discover new ways to add value to existing services or upcoming products. Scheduling time to check in with each account allows you to stay on top of your game and promotes critical information sharing. If you’re interested in transforming your sales post the pandemic, explore our blog on Sales Acceleration in Account Management  and how it can help you grow your business in 2021.

The underlying truth about B2B key account relationships

Maintaining and building key account relationships with your partners and clients requires creating an emotional bond with them. B2C brands seem more aligned with this emotional connection with the consumers in the business world. For the most part, B2B business decisions are influenced by a board of directors, corporate consultants, purchase managers, budget restrictions that have a tiring process of approvals, making the bond rather complicated. So why even bother? We as humans and professionals need to remember that emotional forces are inevitably present wherever we are trying to work together to make a decision. Whether it be a sales team or directors of a firm coming to a management decision. This is especially important for key accounts that you want to build a long-lasting relationship with and take that extra step that goes beyond regular transactions and monthly reports. It is essential to understand the kind of role each account plays in your business and use that information to focus and invest accordingly to reach an account’s full potential. Sounds contradictory to what we know?  Here’s more Google and CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council conducted a study with a marketing research firm Motista and surveyed 3,000 purchasers of 36 B2B brands across different industries. They found out B2B brands drive more emotional connections than B2C brands. Most B2C brands studied by Motista were falling under a 10%-40% mark in emotional connection. With that said, they found that out of nine of the B2B brands they studied, seven surpassed the 50% mark. This tells us B2B brands are significantly more emotionally connected to their partners than consumers. B2B partnership in our age is treated as a transactional and rational activity. No one wants anyone to believe that something as sentimental as emotions can drive decisions even though there is enough evidence present about all these human decisions being driven by a feeling of gut, emotions, and reasoning behind it. What’s even more appalling is that a lot of organizations make the mistake of treating each of their accounts with the same level of investment both in terms of emotions and resources. Further, Let us quote Jonathan Haidt from his book, the happiness hypothesis to better understand this concept “that our emotional side is the Elephant and our rational side is the rider.  Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader.  But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant.  Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose.  He’s completely overmatched. To elaborate, here’s the rider represents the conscious, rational mind while the elephant represents the unconscious, emotional mind that cannot be controlled by the rider’s force. In our example, the rider here is the B2B buyer trying to make a rational decision but often influenced by gut feelings and emotions (the elephant)—whether consciously or not. While every partnership progresses along the way, the emotional aspect is an important factor along all the different stages of the account namely tactical, cooperative, interdependent as well as strategic. Now that we have understood the importance of emotions in our decision-making and the idea of not treating your partner as a pay-check, let’s jump to how you can leverage these emotions to create and maintain great partner relationship mapping. Sounds exciting now, doesn’t it? 1. Belief and a sense of responsibility Agreements and contracts are made to protect oneself from the negative implications that can arise out of business transactions. They are in no way a driving factor in achieving extraordinary and ambitious decisions. Having a business partner invested in your targets and goals as much as you are invested in theirs creates a parallel army moving towards the same goals with clear expectations and direction. This doubles the chances of acquiring a more mutually beneficial business at the least. Such a shift in nature can be attained by using simple methods that increase engagement between the partners such as: Being open – To build lasting relationships, partners must completely rely on you as an expert. It is important to keep your point of view intact in the best interest of both parties and not get succumbed to agreeing to your partner even when your views differ. Being Appreciative – The simple act of being appreciative can boost productivity, thus improving work quality and producing better returns. This can be in the form of more sales or revenue while creating a happier environment in general. Positive attitude – Having a positive outlook on the outcomes of your business keeps the interest of the partner alive in the project and builds goodwill. It’s important to maintain a silver lining even at times of bad news. This way the focus stays on increasing the business performance rather than focusing on the negatives. 2. Change comes easier We all know change is the only constant in every aspect of business yet we resist it because of its nature of unpredictability and uncertainty. Without change, growth stalls, and before you know it, you are doomed to fail. In this ever-evolving world of consumers, tastes and preferences change every few years at the most. The businesses that encourage and practice change, come out on the top. C=Confidence, T=Trust, and L=Loyalty built over time between partners helps in making these strategic changes quicker leading to better performance.  This combination of CTL can be achieved by: Transparency – Being transparent means showing your vulnerabilities, your strengths and weaknesses, and the actual assessment of the present status of your firm. You and your partner being clear about what you can offer at any given situation in the pipeline helps in creating the right expectations and goals that are attainable in there true nature. Healthy Conflict/Confrontation– Conflicts should not be avoided in any business scenario. It is for these conflicts that the best ideas come to life. Maintain an equilibrium by keeping your partner’s interests in mind and

Key account management without a QBR?

In life, things seem to happen as a series. Once our attention has been brought to a given event, similar events seem to keep happening at a high frequency and attract our attention even more. In the last few months, I have repeatedly heard statements or read posts on how the concept of QBR (Quarterly Business Review) is outdated and not adopted any longer to our “digitized” world. Well, I could not disagree more on the relevance of a key account management QBR. Business Reviews have always been a key instrument to orchestrate the relationship between two organizations, including those with your customers. The evolution of social and economic parameters and business models does not make them less important. On the contrary. This being said, you don’t need QBRs with all customers as this powerful instrument must be used in the right context. If regular Business Reviews take place between a customer and their supplier and participants perceive it does not create value for them, there are basically two key reasons. First, the context and depth of the relationship between the two parties do not justify a regular Business Review. Second, the recurrent process of the Business Review is not properly executed. This article takes a closer look at why companies run Business Reviews and with whom, who should be involved, and what defines a good review. In the end, a short, practical checklist is suggested to help define focused measures that can help you create more value with the Business Review process. Why do suppliers run QBRs with their customers? To answer this question in a relatively simple way, one has to consider two different types of context for the relationship between a supplier and a customer. The first type of context is Account Management, things that are done with all customers with some variations depending on their size. The second type of context is Strategic Account Management, things which are done to develop a privileged relationship with a few carefully selected strategic customers. Account Management Context In an Account Management context (AM), Business Reviews, quarterly or monthly, are mostly used to review what has been delivered since the last review and to plan the next agreed period of time. For examples, suppliers of outsourced services of any kind (IT, Bookkeeping, HR, travel and accommodation, Marketing & Communications ) leverage regular reviews with their customers to share a precise picture of what they have delivered against the contractual Service Level Agreement (SLA), discuss performance, satisfaction and issues and to plan ahead. These meetings can – and should – also be used to discuss the evolutions of the customer’s needs and of the supplier’s offering. If the supplier is delivering products and solutions – which more and more include services – the Business Review might have a different frequency and content than for a service provider but the basic principles remain the same. In a pure Account Management context, the decision to run regular BRs is usually related to the size of the customer: larger accounts are managed with BRs whereas smaller customers are managed with less frequent and simpler meetings or remotely, more and more often by a Customer Success Manager. Key Account Management Context In a Key Account Management context (KAM), because the ambition is to develop and maintain a deeper relationship mapping that brings more value to both parties, the Strategic Account Management QBRs must drive a discussion beyond normal Account Management. Moreover, and this is crucial, in a well-executed KAM program, the QBR (like all regularly scheduled interactions) are designed and executed within the frame of a Key Account Plan. A good Key Account Plan is very specific on which relationships need to be created, developed and nurtured and why (if it is not, the Account Plan is not good enough and must be improved). The Business Review can also take the form of a Joint Business Planning (JBP) session aiming at aligning the two organizations on mutually agreed initiatives and projects. For example, LafargeHolcim, a construction material company uses BRs with its Global Accounts to drive collaboration in the field of R&D and to discuss long-term opportunities on major projects. Schneider Electric uses JBPs to agree with selected customers on joint strategic initiatives that go well beyond the “business as usual” activities. Well driven Business Reviews also provide an opportunity to discuss market trends and share prospective information such as technology and product roadmaps. This is used intensively by companies using KAM is an engineering-driven environment. All in all, whatever the context, AM or KAM, which customers are offered a regular Business Review process and with which purpose, must be crystal clear to both parties. Otherwise, putting in place these Reviews will be a waste of time. ‍Companies who suffer from low-value QBRs should re-evaluate if their selection of accounts and definition of purpose are strong enough. Who should be involved? If the context (AM or KAM) and purpose (monitor delivery / execute a Key Account Plan) are clear, defining who should be involved is quite straightforward, at least for the regular participants to the BRs. In an Account Management context, the person regularly involved in the supplier side must be those in charge of the Delivery (however this term is defined) and the Account Manager in charge of the customer. Occasionally, and depending on topics on the agenda other supplier’s staff members can be invited as long as their involvement brings a tangible value. In a Key Account Management context, the members of the Core Account Team should be involved in Key Account Management QBRs. The reason why is that as members of the core key account team, they should contribute to the span and depth of the relationship between the two companies. For example, if a KAM relationship implies collaboration in the area of Product Development and Marketing, members of these functions should be involved in the BRs. In a B2B2C environment such as in consumer electronics or dermo-cosmetics, it is quite

Future of B2B Key Account Management

It is often too risky or even hazardous to make predictions these days. The pace of change is so fast and the possibility of disruption so high that divining the future would be impossible even for Nostradamus. But let me hazard a guess on the future of Key Account Management! Relationship Myths of B2B Key Account Management I always believed that the role of ‘relationship’ was misconstrued by many Concerning strategic account management. Relationships don’t give us business. The communication and delivery of ‘value’ build relationships and that in turn allows us to find more value creation opportunities. The myth of winning and dining or taking a corporate box in a baseball game to build relationships with clients will certainly be busted shortly. Social Media’s Role in Key Account Management OK, I am sticking my neck out here. Simply because social media marketing has been the buzzword for practically the past decade! To acquire new customers and to create awareness social media is a great place. But that is sales and marketing. On the other hand, if you go by the purist definition of Key Account Management where its role is played out in existing strategic accounts, social media has practically no role. An account manager should be able to reach out directly to contact(s) in existing accounts for any info, intelligence, changes, or even landscape. If an account manager is relying on social media for KAM, then s(he) is on the wrong foot already. Technological Impact on Key Account Management No discussion about the future is complete without understanding how technology can impact it. Finally, we are seeing, at least for simpler, low-value products – software has replaced human beings for generating top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) leads and also to push them to the middle of the funnel (MoFu). However, human beings are still needed to handhold the leads from the middle to the bottom of the funnel. ‍Account Management comes in after the customer is acquired, which is beyond even the bottom of the funnel; especially for complex high-value solutions. Therefore, I can safely predict that software will not replace key account managers for at least the next 4 years. The role of key account management software will only increase. What will they do best? 1. Provide a single platform for all critical key account data (opportunities, contacts, account plans, org charts, account intelligence) 2. Enable better collaboration 3. Helps in institutionalizing key account management across the organization 4. Provide insights by analyzing aggregated key account plan data 5. Technology will facilitate key account planning and execution to make it much simpler. But what about Artificial Intelligence? Can a humanoid with AI replace key account managers soon? If you’re curious to understand how Artificial Intelligence could impact Key Account Management do take a look at my blog here. Download Now: The Future of Key Account Management Report – A Global CSO study Platforms to Watch Out For I think B2B key account management software will increasingly be embedded in Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics platforms. With Salesforce undoubtedly being the world’s favorite CRM, it is highly improbable that people will be willing to purchase standalone key account management software. But these are just my predictions and I just might be wrong. What do you think the future of B2B Key Account Management truly is? What do you think, especially if you disagree? What are your predictions? Ebook: AI-Assisted Account Planning – Conversations of the Future Part 1

4 Lessons for Key Account Managers from Tony Robbins

It’s that time again! When you watch the future unfold right in front of you! Yes, Dreamforce’16 is right around the corner, due next month! Did you get a chance to check out the keynote speakers this year? I was super curious, and I’m sure so are you, but Salesforce has only confirmed a handful of speakers so far. The good news is that among those is already the who’s who of leaders, thinkers, and innovators, plus one of my all-time favorites – the “Michael Jordan” of thought leaders – Tony Robbins. A recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, and business turnaround, Tony Robbins, is the nation’s #1 Life and Business Strategist. When it comes to making a positive difference in people’s professional life, there is nobody in the game with stronger credentials than Tony Robbins. And like on millions of others, he’s made a significant impact on me too. Inspired by what’s to come in his session, I scoured the web to remind myself of some of his best nuggets that I found Evergreen for all professionals, including Key Account Management practitioners like us: 1. Know who to know: In his own words, Tony Robbins said one of the most amazing pieces of advice he ever received was “proximity is power.” His journey to becoming a great leader included positioning himself in proximity to the people who possessed the expertise, skills, knowledge, and connections that he could access directly. Such an approach opened various opportunities that helped achieve his goals. As KAM Leaders, one of the biggest challenges is to first identify the key stakeholders internally and externally. Large organizations have a web of complex and dynamic networks. The trick is really to identify, nurture and leverage – at the opportune time – the right relationship mapping, make the right connections and join the dots to spot the not-so-obvious opportunities. Building trust internally and client-side requires proximity, understanding, and acumen all at once. It’s also critical to make oneself accessible to the stakeholders and win their trust. I’ve found the possibilities to be endless when I’ve made relationship management central to my approach. 2. Shift focus from creating products to creating value: According to one of the “7 Forces of Business Mastery” defined by Robbins, it is imperative to understand, anticipate and realize the deepest needs of our customers consistently. The more value we create for our customers, the more we can dominate the marketplace. Sounds simple but practitioners will obviously know the myriad complexities hidden under this seemingly simple statement. It takes a lot to keep tabs on the dynamic landscape – be it customer industry and business goals, competitor offerings, regulatory needs or our own capacity. It takes a lot to build a watertight internal business case to invest in new capabilities because that’s where we believe the customer needs us to go. The idea is not to fall in love with our product or service, but to fall in love with the client and their needs, fears, goals. This way we have the right knowledge to create more value for clients than anybody else. 3. Embrace the magic of ‘strategic innovation’: When Robbins said that, as a leader, you have to strategically innovate; he meant being better than what currently exists. Not just in product, but in processes, service, delivery – every facet. Strategic Account Planning innovation is another pillar for creating unbeatable value for customers. Now here is the thing about innovation that struck me. It doesn’t have to be fancy; it doesn’t have to be the responsibility of unseen wizards sitting in the ‘innovation department.’ You get my drift. In fact, my favorite Tony Robbins phrase is ‘innovation is a daily habit.’ So how do we constantly identify new opportunities to serve customers better through fresh and inventive approaches that also help meet their goals?  In my experience, the key is real-time knowledge available to all team members. If all internal stakeholders know what is going on now, that gives us multiple perspectives and multiple ideas and therefore multiple possibilities to innovate. Less time spent on admin and housekeeping tasks, more on collaboration and connection. 4. Keep your eye on the goal: Today’s Key Account Manager skills include a sharp track of the business results even before the client notices a declining goal metric. Robbins points out that opportunities for maximization are plenty such as lead generation, conversions, sales, etc. The key is to document the results in each area and anticipate the challenges that hinder efforts to achieve goals. Because you can’t manage what you don’t, measure. Measuring an outcome further mobilizes the team to work on key areas of improvement and further cement positions of strength. In my years as a Key Account professional, I’ve found that quantifying the qualitative and qualifying the quantitative is a real art, and can hold the key to success. It is easier said than done, of course. Managing Key Accounts is both – art and science. Finding a balance between the two is something I take both as a personal challenge and a key focus area for innovation with my company, DemandFarm. Needless to say, Account Managers are the cornerstone of the organization, responsible for a bulk of the revenue from just a few strategic customers. Following Tony’s advice can certainly help up the chances of success. What are your favorite Tony Robbins insights? We’d love to hear them and how you used them in the Account Management Context! Write in and share the secrets!