Account Management Reinvented: The Role of Digital Mindset in Accelerating Sales Enablement
Consider these scenarios: Scenario 1: Before: “Good morning, Mr Brown. Thank you for meeting with me last week. Based on our discussions, we’ve created a proposal. It has just been mailed to you and you should receive it in a week. I look forward to continuing our discussions then!” After: The phone dings and announces “You’ve got mail!” A notification pops up – “Your proposal from The Good News Company needs your attention!” Scenario 2: Before: “Yes, Sarah! We’ve done business with Xtreme International for years, and that sparse file is all we have to show for it. Jacob, who handled the account for us was terrible at filing reports and updating records. When he left last month, he took everything he knew with him. If you need information, I’m afraid you’re going to have to start from scratch!” After: “Yes, they’ve been an important client for years. Everything to do with our dealings has been carefully recorded and stored in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Here, let me show you how it works so you can extract the data and information you need to service this account.” Scenario 3: Before: Brendon is trying to find the best contact within an important clients organization. He shortlists several people from previous reports filed. He must now call and find out if any of these stakeholders are still relevant to the task he needs to do. ‘There must be a better way to do this’, he thinks. After: Brendon logs into his company’s Org Chart software. He is so pleased to be able to see, at one glance, all the key stakeholders in his key account. He knows immediately who can best influence the decision he will need when he presents them with a great growth opportunity. Any information he needs about his key accounts contacts is now at his fingertips. And it’s all up-to-date! Scenario 4: Before: “We’re sorry! There seems to be a recurring problem with this download. Check your internet connection and try again later.” After: Dear Ms. Johnson, we notice you’ve been having problems downloading our most recent whitepaper. Here’s a link that lets you have immediate access. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We’d like to offer you a $50 discount on your next purchase with us. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? Of course, they do! We’ve all been Brendon or Sarah or any of the others to some degree or another. But wait! Before and after what?? For those of you who haven’t guessed, the right answer is digital transformation. Building a Digital Mindset Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into various aspects of an organization. It has created a fundamental shift in how businesses operate and deliver value to their customers. It has become a strategic priority for all businesses, intending to stay relevant in the ever-evolving marketplace. One of the critical elements for successful digital transformation is creating a digital mindset within the organization. A digital mindset is an approach to thinking that focuses on embracing change, adapting to new technologies, and constantly seeking innovative ways to solve problems and improve business processes. It’s about understanding the opportunities and risks associated with digital technologies and using them effectively to optimize business performance. In today’s competitive business environment, a digital mindset is no longer optional for businesses; it’s essential for staying relevant and competitive. As technology continues to evolve rapidly, sales teams must use modern tools and strategies to stay ahead of the curve and drive business growth. Let’s explore how a digital mindset is powering the next wave of growth in account management and its subsequent impact on sales enablement. Watch Now: Prasad Varahabhatla (Senior Director, Sales & Data Operations at Philips) shares about Digital transformation within sales function Understanding Key Account Management and Sales Enablement Before understanding the role of a digital mindset, let’s take a look at the fundamentals of key account management and sales enablement. Key Account Management: It’s a strategic approach to managing and nurturing relationships with a company’s most valuable customers or ‘key accounts’. These clients typically bring in the most revenue or have strategic value. Effective Key Account Management involves building strong relationships, understanding customer needs, and delivering exceptional service. Sales Enablement: It’s the process of providing sales teams with the necessary tools, resources and training to sell more effectively. It includes everything sales teams need to better understand their customers, communicate the value of their products or services, and close deals successfully. The Role of Digital Mindset in Key Account Management Check out our Masterclass to level up your Key Account Management on the topic ‘Making Account Plans Actionable, Measurable and Sustainable’ A digital mindset can transform Key Account Management, enabling sales teams to adapt and thrive in the ever-changing B2B landscape. Here are some ways in which a digital mindset influences Key Account Management: Embracing Technology: A digital mindset encourages sales teams to make the best use of technology to improve their account management processes. By employing digital tools, teams can streamline their workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and focus more on high-value activities, such as relationship-building and strategic planning. Information-led decision-making: A digital mindset emphasizes the importance of decision-making based on the data available. Sales teams can draw on data analytics and AI-powered tools to gain insights into their key accounts, identify new opportunities and make more informed strategic decisions. Personalization: Digital tools and strategies allow sales teams to offer a more personalized experience to their key accounts. By leveraging data and AI-powered tools, teams can better understand their customers’ journeys, preferences, needs and pain points. This allows them to tailor their offerings and communicate more effectively. Agility and Adaptability: A digital mindset creates an agile and adaptable approach to Key Account Management. This means sales teams can quickly adapt to changing market conditions, customer expectations, and technological advancements. This ensures they stay ahead of the competition. Impact of Digital Mindset on Sales Enablement The
Key Account Manager vs Sales Manager: Navigating the World of Digital Key Account Management
Is a key account manager the same as a sales manager? Meet Anna, a diligent Sales Manager at Brilliant Solutions, a thriving software company specializing in cutting-edge automation tools. Her daily tasks revolve around driving sales, managing the sales team, and ensuring sales targets are met. She focuses on generating leads, closing deals, and keeping her team motivated to push their limits. With a knack for numbers and an eye for detail, Anna tracks her team’s performance and ensures they have the necessary resources to succeed. On the other side of the same office is Ted, an experienced Key Account Manager. A typical workday for Ted involves nurturing long-term relationships with Brilliant Solutions’ most valuable clients. He’s the go-to person for these clients, addressing their unique needs and ensuring they receive personalized attention. Ted is a master of collaboration, working closely with various departments within Brilliant Solutions to guarantee top-notch service for his key accounts. While both Anna and Ted contribute to the organization’s success, their roles differ in critical ways. There are plenty of similarities between the roles of a Sales Manager and a Key Account Manager, but equally, they are quite different. While we examine these, let’s also look at how each role can benefit from Digital Key Account Management. Similarities between Sales Managers and Key Account Managers You might be wondering if is key account manager a sales job. Both Sales Managers and Key Account Managers play essential roles in driving business success. They share some core responsibilities like: 1. Revenue generation Sales Managers: Focus on acquiring new customers and achieving sales targets. Sales Managers aim to expand the customer base and generate revenue for the company. To achieve this, they devise and implement sales strategies tailored to their target market. They set measurable goals for their team, ensuring that the company meets its financial objectives. Sales Managers also monitor their team’s performance, providing guidance and coaching when necessary. Key Account Managers: Responsible for maintaining and growing revenue from existing high-value clients. Key Account Managers focus on the company’s most valuable clients, striving to maintain and grow their revenue streams. They analyze client data to identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling and devise strategies to improve client satisfaction. By fostering long-term relationships, Key Account Managers ensure a steady flow of revenue and increase the client’s lifetime value. 2. Collaboration Sales Managers: Work closely with marketing, product development, and customer support. Sales Managers recognize that collaboration is critical for business success. They partner with the marketing team to create campaigns that generate leads and align sales strategies with overall company objectives. Sales Managers also collaborate with product development and customer support to ensure a smooth sales process and exceptional after-sales experience. Key Account Managers: Collaborate with different departments to develop custom solutions and services for key clients. They understand the importance of interdepartmental cooperation in meeting the unique needs of their high-value clients. They collaborate with product development to create customized solutions, work with marketing to develop tailored promotional materials and liaise with customer support to ensure their clients receive exceptional service. This cross-functional collaboration helps maintain strong relationships and client satisfaction. 3. Relationship building Sales Managers: Foster relationships with clients and team members. By cultivating relationships with both prospective and current clients, Sales Managers can secure sales and ensure customer loyalty. They understand that building trust and rapport with clients is crucial for long-term success. In addition to external relationship-building, Sales Managers focus on nurturing strong internal relationships. They motivate their team, offer support, and foster a positive work environment that encourages growth and collaboration. Key Account Managers: Excel at nurturing long-term relationships with high-value clients. High-value clients are critical to the success and longevity of the business. Key Account Managers develop the special skillset to foster and maintain long-term relationships with these high-value clients. They take the time to understand their clients’ unique needs, provide personalized attention, and consistently exceed expectations. By demonstrating genuine interest and commitment, Key Account Managers strengthen client loyalty and ensure continued revenue growth. Differences between Sales Managers and Key Account Managers Despite the similarities, Sales Managers and Key Account Managers have differences in their roles. Some key aspects where these differences can be seen are: 1. Client scope: Sales Managers: Focus on the broader market and on growing the customer base. Sales Managers concentrate on the overall market, seeking to acquire new clients and grow the company’s customer base. They manage the sales pipeline, monitor the flow of leads and opportunities, and ensure that their team actively pursues potential clients. Key Account Managers: Concentrate on a select group of high-value clients. Key Account Managers dedicate their time and effort to a select group of high-value clients. They focus on retaining and growing these relationships. They prioritize the unique needs of these clients, delivering customized solutions and services that cater specifically to their requirements. 2. Long-term vision Sales Managers: Driven by short-term sales targets. They are primarily concerned with achieving short-term sales targets. Sales Managers thus focus on generating revenue quickly and efficiently by closing deals and meeting their teams’ sales quotas. Key Account Managers: Emphasize long-term growth and client retention Key Account Managers, on the other hand, prioritize long-term growth and client retention. Their primary goal is to ensure key accounts remain loyal and satisfied with the company’s products and services over an extended period. By focusing on nurturing these relationships, Key Account Managers contribute to the company’s long-term success and stability. 3. Problem-solving Sales Managers: Address general client concerns and overcome objections. Sales Managers work to sell the company’s existing products and services. They do this by addressing general client concerns and overcoming objections during the sales process. They use their expertise in the company’s offerings and their understanding of the target market to provide solutions that meet the clients’ needs, ensuring a smooth sales experience. Key Account Managers: Coordinate custom solutions for client-specific issues. Key Account Managers take a more tailored approach to problem-solving. They act
Comprehensive Career Path Guide for a Key Account Manager
Key Account Management (KAM) focuses on building long-term relationships, and aims to improve customer satisfaction – especially in a B2B scenario. The KAM practice is essential in ensuring that a company retains its most valuable customers and that these customers receive the best possible service and support. A key account manager’s primary responsibility is ensuring that the needs of key clients are met, and that they remain satisfied with the company’s products and services. To do this effectively, they develop a deep understanding of the client’s business and their industry. This includes understanding their goals, challenges, and the competitive landscape in which their clients operate. They are also responsible for identifying new opportunities for growth and working closely with internal teams to develop strategies that drive revenue growth. They must also collaborate with marketing, sales, and product development teams to ensure that their clients receive the best possible service and support. While the key account management practice is demanding, it also offers many benefits. One of the most significant benefits is the opportunity to build strong relationships with key accounts, which can lead to long-term customer loyalty and repeat business. Additionally, the role of a key account manager offers varied opportunities for career growth and advancement, as many companies recognize the strategic importance of the position and invest in developing skills of their key accounts team. Key account management provides exposure to different departments within the company. Managers often work closely with sales, marketing, and product development teams, gaining a broad understanding of how the company operates and how different teams contribute to the overall success of the business. This exposure can provide valuable insights into different areas of the business and can help them develop a holistic view of the company. The position can be financially rewarding too, as many companies offer competitive compensation packages to attract and retain top talent in this critical role. Leading organizations also provide commissions and bonuses based on the growth and retention of their key accounts, opening up another avenue for managers to earn from skills. What does a Key Account Manager do? A Key Account Manager is responsible for managing a company’s most important clients or accounts. Their primary goal is to ensure that their clients are profitable and satisfied enough to remain loyal to the company. They achieve this by focusing on revenue and retention, and by identifying opportunities for growth and improvement. Their day-to-day activities may include conducting regular check-ins with key accounts, analyzing data to identify trends and opportunities, presenting product updates and new features, negotiating contracts and pricing, and ensuring that customer issues are resolved quickly and effectively. Regular analysis of a client’s spending habits is a crucial aspect of KAM. By understanding how much their client is spending and on what, managers can recommend ways to optimize the use of the company’s products and services. They may also suggest new products or services to address the client’s unmet needs, and help the client see how these solutions can solve their problems. While key account managers are tasked with generating additional revenue from their accounts, this is not done at the expense of the client’s satisfaction. They must balance the need for revenue growth with a deep understanding of their client’s needs, preferences, and budget. One way to generate additional revenue is to sell complimentary or upgraded products and services. Another approach is to increase the amount of business the client does with the company, either by expanding into new areas or by increasing the volume of purchases. Improving margins is also an effective way to generate additional revenue, which may involve raising prices or finding ways to reduce the cost of serving the client. Key Account Management is a relationship and service-driven role. Key account managers work with a range of individuals within a client organization, from end-users to decision-makers to CEOs. Building strong relationships and improving customer loyalty are important for long-term success. They must be able to communicate effectively with different stakeholders and adapt to the client’s changing needs and expectations. The role of a Key Account Manager is critical to the success of a company’s most important clients. Their responsibilities include managing revenue and retention, analyzing spending habits, identifying growth opportunities, and building strong relationships with key stakeholders. They help their clients achieve their goals, while also ensuring the continued growth and success of the company. Qualities required to be a good Key Account Manager A Key Account Manager plays a crucial role in maintaining a positive and productive relationship between their organization and its most important clients. To excel in this position, certain qualities are required. While these are inherent in some, they can be learned with practice. Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills: The Key Account Manager must establish and maintain warm partnerships with their key accounts, and this requires focused attention, responsiveness, and quality communication. Being able to listen, remain flexible, address a diversity of needs, and stay open, even in complicated or heated situations, are critical interpersonal skills. The ability to collaborate well with people from different company cultures is also vital. Written and spoken communication skills: Facilitating communication between all parts of their organization and those of their key accounts is a primary job of key account managers. Being able to identify the communication styles of the people they work with and tailor their approach accordingly is crucial. The Key Account Manager must be able to adapt their language to each specific audience, as different people require different communication styles. Strategic thinking: Managers should think strategically to create mutually beneficial scenarios for their key accounts and their organization. This requires careful planning and strategic thinking in areas such as operations and sales. The Key Account Manager must aim to create a win-win situation for both parties. Analytical skills: Key account managers analyze threats and opportunities within their industry and their key accounts’ industries. Financial analysis skills are often beneficial for Key Account Managers. Sales and business development skills: Increasing
Connected Apps Ecosystem in Digital Account Management
A connected apps ecosystem in key account management involves the integration of your digital key account planning tool with other tools in your sales tech and marketing tech stack. This includes contact discovery tools, sales intelligence or conversational intelligence tools, marketing automation tools, customer success tools and revenue intelligence tools. Role of a connected apps ecosystem in digital key account planning A connected app ecosystem is critical to leverage every possible data point from the existing tech ecosystem to provide data-driven digital selling ability to sellers. When a lot of tools are used to keep track of your accounts, you will often operate in silos within your ecosystem. This leads to an increased chance of missed opportunities and ignored red flags, buyer intent to action and strategy. In turn, this affects customer retention and growth. How does sales enablement currently manage this data? Sales enablement teams are often spending hours of their valuable time collating data and processing it further for reporting. Making sense of this data and feeding it to the users on a periodic basis is time-consuming. Over time, the sales tech and marketing tech landscape for most B2B organizations becomes crowded. For a salesperson, each of these apps delivers value – sales intelligence tools, sales forecasting tools, customer success tools, marketing automation tools, Account-Based Marketing tools, and lead generation tools. Companies today have dozens of SaaS apps to solve many point problems in every department. As technological solutions become more easily accessible, the number of apps being utilized will only increase. How do you keep track of all of this data? Does it become overwhelming for the sales team? Check out DemandFarm’s free, on-demand Masterclass on ‘Making Account Plans Actionable, Measurable and Sustainable’ now! Challenges encountered with heavy sales tech stacks There are five main challenges that arise with heavy tech stack. They are, Non-optimal ROI from tools No Cross-Pollination of data No visibility into Risks and Customer Sentiment in the right context Excess time spent on maintenance App Fatigue from using too many tools Most of the sales tech and marketing tech apps will have data at an organizational and enterprise-wide level. For any user to extract the maximum value out of all, they would need to log into each of these apps individually. This can not only be a highly laborious task but also leads to data silos, productivity loss and what is commonly called ‘App Fatigue’. For any sales organization to make complete sense of the data generated by each of these disparate apps, it is important that they not only talk to each other but are also able to deliver contextual value at the right time for a sales or marketing person to maximize impact. If these data sources are contextualized to strategic accounts then key account managers gain better insights. Optimizing a connected apps ecosystem with your digital account planning tool A single place for Account Intelligence can serve as a perfect place to plug in critical data points in the right context of Account Planning. Integrating your Account Planning solution with other sales tech to enrich the data quality and plan your account strategy can lead to better results both in the short term and long term. When bringing all of these data together, additional value can be found in the form of actionable insights that can be extracted from these data silos. 1. Integration with contact discovery tools: The benefit of integrating with Contact Discovery Tools is to get auto-populated data within your account planning tool rather than having to build it from scratch each time. 2. Integration with sales intelligence and conversational intelligence tools: This will enrich the existing data of your key accounts. Such an integration would enable gathering intel from calls and surfacing it in various parts of your digital account planning tool for further analysis to help strategize and grow your key accounts. Accurate B2B buyer intent data allows you to identify exactly if and when a B2B prospect is actively considering, or looking to purchase your product or solution. This enables informed and timely campaign decisions for your sales and marketing team. 3. Integration with Marketing Automation tools: By integrating marketing automation tools with your digital account planning tool, Key Account Managers can get access to marketing data which helps in better qualification of leads, better conversions, better engagement and hence stronger relationships. When product demand, white space identification and targeted marketing data collectively comes together with your account planning data, you get good insights across your key account portfolio. 4. Integration with Customer Success tools: The benefit of this integration is to equip client-facing teams with key insights regarding customers’ post-sale journey. This brings in increased transparency and alignment. It can help view and track all relevant metrics from your customer success tool and digital account planning tool in one place for better planning. This further enables client-facing teams to formulate informed strategies. DemandFarm’s connected apps ecosystem DemandFarm optimizes your account planning in a connected apps ecosystem in the following manner: 1) By being native to Salesforce, DemandFarm ensures consistency and continuity in your experience 2) By working with your sales enablement team to gather use cases of how 3rd party application data can be brought into DemandFarm and made available at the right junctures enabling timely, appropriate interventions as needed for your key accounts. 3) By leveraging the data from these 3rd party apps, our insights engine can generate powerful and intelligent nudges, recommendations and contextual insights to make your teams more productive and impactful. 4) By specializing in key account planning and management, DemandFarm enables connection to multiple apps, leveraging data from them and contextualizing it to key accounts. Check out DemandFarm’s free & on-demand masterclass on digital account management on ‘Making Account Plans Actionable, Measurable and Sustainable’ here.
65+ Essential Key Account Management Terms Explained: Key Account Management (KAM) Glossary
KAM Glossary (with 68 Definitions) To help strategic account managers / key account managers /sales professionals enhance their understanding of Key Account Management (KAM), this glossary provides clear and concise definitions and explanations of essential terms, definitions, and concepts related to key account management. What is key account management? Whether you’re new to Account Management or a seasoned KAM professional, this glossary can help you improve your knowledge of account management & strategic selling strategies and build stronger relationships with your most important customers. Key Account Management Glossary: 65+ Crucial Account Management Terms Explained Account Hierarchy: Account Hierarchy is the structure and organization of key accounts within a company visualized in a hierarchical system of decision-makers and stakeholders. Account Management Account management is a strategic approach to managing business relationships with key customers or clients. The goal of account management is to develop and maintain long-term relationships that create value for both the customer and the business. Account Mapping The process of representing customer-centric data points and relationship dynamics in a visual way is known as Account Mapping. It is used by sales and account management teams to understand how customer organizations work, identify key decision-makers, and plan their course of action. Account Planning Account Planning is the process of developing a strategic plan for managing and growing key accounts, typically involving collaboration between sales, marketing, and customer success teams. Account Planning Software Account Planning Software refers to technology solutions or tools designed to support the key account management process, typically featuring tools for account segmentation, account planning, account reviews, relationship mapping, and opportunity management. Account Planning Templates Account planning templates are structured, pre-defined blueprint documents used to manage strategic & key accounts. They include key details about the client, such as strategic goals, relationship maps, opportunities and challenges, action plans, and success metrics. They help ensure a consistent and focused approach to account management. Account Review Meetings Regular meetings between a company and its key accounts to review progress, identify challenges, and set goals for future growth and collaboration. Account Segmentation The process of dividing a company’s customer base into groups or segments based on factors such as size, industry, and revenue potential. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) A marketing strategy that is aligned with account-based sales, focusing on targeting high-value accounts with personalized, targeted campaigns. Account-Based Sales / Account-Based Selling (ABS) ABS or Account-Based Sales / Selling is a sales strategy that focuses on targeting a specific set of high-value accounts and tailoring sales and marketing efforts to their unique needs and preferences. Champions Champions are Individuals within a key account who are advocates for a company’s products or services and are willing to help promote and support their adoption within the organization. Consultative Selling Consultative selling is a sales approach focused on building relationships with customers, understanding their unique needs, and providing customized solutions based on valuable insights and expertise. The goal is to establish trust, drive sales, and help customers achieve their business objectives. Contract Renewal Management The process of managing the renewal of contracts with key accounts involving negotiation, pricing, and value proposition analysis is known as Contract Renewal Management. Cross-selling The process of selling related products or services to existing customers, typically with the goal of increasing revenue and customer lifetime value is called Cross-selling. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) The total cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. Customer Advocacy The process of mobilizing key accounts to become advocates for a company by getting testimonials, case studies, and referrals. Customer Churn The rate at which customers stop doing business with a company over a given period of time. Customer Feedback Information and insights provided by customers about their experiences with a company’s products, services, and support. Customer Journey The path that a customer takes from initial awareness of a product or service to becoming a loyal advocate. Customer Journey Mapping The process of visualizing and analyzing the various touchpoints and interactions that a key account has with a company is Customer Journey Mapping. It is used to identify opportunities for improvement and optimization. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) CLV is a metric that represents the total value a customer is expected to bring to a company over the course of their relationship. Customer Retention The process of maintaining ongoing relationships with existing customers, with the goal of reducing churn and increasing lifetime value. Customer Segmentation The process of dividing a company’s key accounts into groups based on their specific needs, preferences, and behaviors, often used to inform targeted sales and marketing strategies is Customer Segmentation. Customer Success A function within a company that is focused on ensuring customer satisfaction, retention, and long-term value. Detractors Individuals within a key account who are resistant to a company’s products or services and may actively work against their adoption or use within the organization are Detractors. Digital Key Account Management The use of digital tools and platforms to manage relationships with key accounts is Digital Key Account Management. It involves the use of a combination of connected applications like Key Account Management Software, CRM software, data analytics, and communication tools. Enterprise Deals Large, complex deals involving multiple decision-makers and stakeholders within a key account, often requiring a high degree of relationship-building and strategic planning. Executive Sponsorship A key account management strategy that involves engaging senior executives from both the company and the key account in the relationship-building and growth process. Global Account Management The process of managing relationships with key accounts across multiple regions and countries, often involving a complex network of decision-makers and stakeholders is called Global Account Management. Influencer An influencer is an individual or group within a customer’s organization who has the ability to affect or shape the decision-making process related to the purchase of a product or service. Influencers are not necessarily the final decision-makers, but they can play a crucial role in influencing the decision-making process by providing information, insights, or recommendations to decision-makers. Joint Business Planning A collaborative
Challenges in Digital Key Account Management Adoption and the need for Change Management
Digital Key Account Management is the process of managing and growing a company’s most important customers using digital tools and technologies. It is essential for Sales Enablement, as it enables businesses to manage their key accounts more efficiently and effectively. However, adopting Digital solutions for your Key Account Management process comes with its set of challenges. Challenges in adopting Digital Key Account Management for Sales Enablement 1. Integration with Existing Systems One of the main challenges of adopting Digital Key Account Management is integrating it with existing systems. Many businesses use a variety of digital tools and platforms to manage their key accounts, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Marketing Automation software, and Business Intelligence tools. Integrating a new Digital Key Account Management tool with these existing systems can be complex and time-consuming, requiring significant investment in IT infrastructure and resources. Finding a solution that can integrate well into your existing sales tech stack is thus essential. 2. Maturity Level and Discipline Before adopting Digital KAM tools, businesses need to assess their readiness to leverage these tools effectively. This requires having a clear understanding of the organization’s maturity level and discipline. Is the organization ready to adopt a digital approach to account planning, and does it have the discipline to use it effectively? Implementing Digital Key Account Management tools requires discipline, as it involves following a set of processes and procedures consistently. Therefore, businesses need to assess their level of discipline and maturity before adopting. 3. Account Complexity As accounts grow in complexity, businesses need a strategic view to manage them effectively. Digital Key Account Management tools can help businesses manage complex accounts effectively by providing a comprehensive view of the account and its activities. Therefore, businesses need to assess the complexity of their accounts before adopting Digital KAM tools. 4. Changing Client Needs Businesses are constantly evolving, and client needs are changing rapidly. Therefore, businesses need to keep a dynamic planning approach to stay aligned with their changing needs. There is a need to stay aligned with their clients’ changing needs by providing real-time data and analytics. Therefore, Digital Key Account Management tools need to be able to keep up with the evolving needs of their clients. 5. Resistance to Change One of the biggest challenges of adopting Digital Key Account Management is resistance to change. Many sales teams may be hesitant to adopt new digital tools and technologies, as they may be comfortable with their existing processes. Resistance to change can slow down the adoption process, and even derail it altogether. Sales Enablement leaders must work with sales teams to overcome resistance to change by showing them the benefits of the digital tool being adopted and providing training and support, and involve them in the decision-making process. Need for Change Management Sales teams and stakeholders need to both be on board with changes. Here are a few reasons why change management is necessary for successful implementation of digital account planning solutions: 1. Combating Resistance to Change As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest challenges to adopting digital key account management solutions is resistance to change. With the right change management processes, this resistance can be curbed. Enthusiastic early adopters and tech-savvy team members who are less resistant to change are vital to overcoming the inertia that usually follows any major changes that are implemented in a digital ecosystem. 2. Clear Communication Effective communication is critical in any change management initiative, including Digital Key Account Management. It is essential to communicate the changes, the reasons for the changes, and how the changes will affect the sales team overall and other stakeholders. Clear communication can help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that there is a shared understanding of the goals. 3. User Adoption If the sales team and other stakeholders do not adopt the new digital tools and processes, the implementation will not be successful. Change management can help to ensure that the sales team and other stakeholders are prepared to adopt the new digital tools and processes by providing training and support and involving them in the decision-making process. 4. Managing Expectations It is essential to set realistic expectations about what a shift to digital account planning can achieve and the timeline for achieving those outcomes. Managing expectations can help to avoid disappointment and frustration, which can lead to resistance to change. Download: Change Management Guide for Sales Leaders to Implement Digital Account Management Software How does one go about championing a change to Digital Key Account Management? There are three main criteria that go into championing the change to Digital Key Account Management 1. Aligning with your organization: Did you know that the tools and language used in the organization’s daily life might not be the same as the standard? It’s important to make sure that the requirements are aligned before implementing anything. Plus, aligning with previously existing systems also reduced naysayers when it comes to the adoption of a new digital Key Account Management tool. 2. Getting a team of ‘Advocates’: Having a group of beta testers or advocates can make it much easier to introduce new tools to your organization. These advocates are essentially super users who have tried out the tool, which means any issues can be sorted out before they roll it out to the organization. Plus, they can help others get trained on the new system, acting as champions for the change. Having these ‘advocates’ on board can make a huge difference when it comes to shifting to a digital key account management practice. Ensuring that you have the right early adopters is essential for showing value. It takes time to embrace change, and the right early adopters can speed up the process to show the value of adopting a new digital ecosystem that might be something they are not used to. It is a challenge to set aside time to take up something new, but enthusiastic early adopters can accelerate this adoption. 3. Support from
Benefits of Digital Key Account Management for Large Businesses
The world of B2B selling has transformed dramatically in recent years, as the shift towards digitalization has changed the way businesses interact with one another. With the growing size of buying groups in the digital age, it is imperative to consider factors that play into the challenges and benefits of digital key account management. DemandFarm’s Dr. Karthik Nagendra-Chief Marketing Officer had a one-on-one chat with Andrew Collings – Head of Enterprise at Gearset where they discussed the changing landscape of B2B selling and shared insights on how organizations can adapt to this new environment. Working with large businesses and going outbound According to Andrew, the key takeaway when working with large businesses and going outbound is being deliberate about a planned approach. This provides structure to your organization’s interactions. He emphasizes the importance of having a digital key account management software that: Integrates into Salesforce without requiring external software to manage accounts Represents data visually and is easy to use for faster adoption Accommodates custom needs accurately Shows all information in one place without having islands of data “We live inside Salesforce. All of our customers are Salesforce users. So the key thing for me was getting something across that integrates really well. I didn’t want to add to the tech stack and have other random bits of software outside of that,” – Andrew Collings. Challenges in Shifting to Digital Key Account Management Shifting to Digital Key Account Management also comes with its fair share of challenges. One of the primary challenges that organizations face is carving out time to document things in the tool. Additionally, making information shareable to everyone for increased collaboration and encouraging early adopters internally to drive usage is also important. “ A lot of people are really great at keeping things in their head. So they know all the people involved, but it’s in their heads. So actually, you need to spend time and put it into the system so that everyone else can enjoy your knowledge.” – Andrew Collings Selling the value internally: Andrew’s advice is to get the enterprise team included in the decision-making process. Ensuring the entire organization is part of the change, making everyone an advocate and engaging the whole team will in turn make the adoption of Digital Key Account Management easier. The leadership team plays a big role in creating an impression that as a business it is vital to understand all the stakeholders in the buying process. This will ensure that the rest of the organization will also become more involved once they realize its importance. Discovering all the gaps: Another major challenge for Andrew was that they discovered all the holes in their accounts. With larger, multinational businesses with huge teams and thousands of staff, there were often just 3-4 contacts who might not necessarily be the right contacts. So knowing where there was a lack of contact, where the relationship needed to be strengthened, and in which accounts further work needed to be done proved to be vital to growth. Is it time for a change? “When I was in the field selling, I used to do this on the spreadsheet, and it was one of the worst things I’ve ever done. And I look back at it and just think, that was really rubbish.” – Andrew Collings It is no longer sufficient to rely on PowerPoint presentations or rely on static spreadsheets for your Key Account Management and Account Planning. They are no longer efficient and just don’t cut it anymore. With the increasing need for Digital Key Account Management tools, organizations must consider adapting their operations to meet the evolving needs of the market. Download: Change Management Guide for Sales Leaders to Implement Digital Account Management Software Benefits of Adopting Digital Key Account Management One of the significant benefits of Digital Key Account Management is the ability to maintain a strong relationship with stakeholders during the buying process. By being aware of stakeholders’ feelings about your organization, it is possible to mitigate any red flags like lack of engagement, which can prevent loss. Additionally, having a Digital Key Account Management tool allows organizations to maintain a comprehensive view of their accounts in one place, enabling them to better identify opportunities and make informed decisions. Getting a holistic view of the organization “Leading a team, I’ve always been more interested in people within an organization, than that particular product or problem, I’m much more interested in people,” says Andrew. By focusing on people and their interactions within the organization, leaders can coach and support their team members effectively. At the same time, sellers can identify gaps in communication and ensure that all key stakeholders and buyers are accounted for. Understanding how an organization is structured and how teams are connected is critical. While some organizations are highly connected and referrals flow freely, others are more siloed. Understanding these differences can change how a seller approaches a business, including asking for referrals or using Account-Based Marketing to target the entire organization. Identifying communication gaps Sellers can also benefit from shifting to Digital Key Account Management. When all subsidiaries are plotted alongside one another, it’s easier to identify gaps in communication. This ensures that everyone involved in a deal is accounted for, preventing surprises during contract negotiations. Some things to consider before signing contracts include: Are you aware of all your champions and their influence? Have you understood all the stakeholders involved? Are you benefitting these stakeholders with something that will actually help them? Increasing collaboration internally and externally “Probably the most important thing for me is broader teamwork.” – Andrew Collings Ensuring that Business Development Representatives, account managers and executives, and the ABM team work together to engage with positive leads can be achieved when everyone has access to all the information about an account. This process is made more streamlined with the help of a digital tool for account planning. Additionally, when interacting with the Customer Success Team, having a digital account management
Digital Key Account Management: Challenges and Solutions
In the world of B2B software, having large technology companies as key clients is critical for growth and success. However, supporting and fostering these accounts requires a strategic and dynamic approach. Traditionally, account plans were created once a year and reviewed by the executive team. However, in today’s dynamic business environment, plans change quickly, and regular updates are necessary. This is where digital key account management comes in. Digital key account management provides several benefits over traditional account planning: it is dynamic and flexible, allowing for quick updates and changes. It provides a step-by-step approach to account planning, ensuring all account owners use the same approach. With digital key account management tools, employees can share information across the organization easily, ensuring everyone is aligned and up to date. Watch Now: Insights on Digital Key Account Management by David Shen, Head of Revenue Operations at Cambridge Mobile Telematics Factors to Consider While Adopting Digital Key Account Management As businesses continue to adapt to the digital world, one aspect that needs to be considered is key accounts and how they are managed. Shifting towards digital key account management is becoming increasingly essential, especially in sales. With B2B software sales moving majorly digital due to the pandemic, organizations need to identify the need to adopt a digital approach to key account management that is tailored to deal with large businesses that come with large buying committees. It is no longer just a matter of someone coming to the vendor asking for the tool. Now, sales teams must go outbound and convince people within that business to buy their product. This requires a different selling motion, and getting buying across the whole group is now a requirement. Digital Account Management Masterclass by Pawanjeet Singh – AVP & Head of Sales at DemandFarm To make this process easier and more organized, businesses need a solution that integrates well with their existing tech stack. It should be easy to use and represent the parent and child customer structure accurately. The software should be visual and easy to navigate, making it easier for sales teams to learn new muscles. It should also be able to provide comprehensive views of all data and not have little islands of data scattered around. It also provides other teams within the organization, such as customer success, BDRs, and ABM teams, access to this data. This means that the software chosen for digital key account management must be accessible to everyone within the organization. To make the transition smoother, businesses should consider software solutions that integrate well with their existing tech stack, accurately represent their customer structure, and provide a comprehensive view of all data. By choosing the right software, businesses can streamline their sales process and make it easier for everyone within the organization to access the data they need. Challenges in Adopting Digital Key Account Management As businesses continue to embrace the digital age, many are finding that adopting digital key account management tools can help them streamline their operations, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and ultimately drive better results. However, like any new technology or process, there are challenges that come with adopting these tools. The following are some factors to consider when making this shift: Maturity level and discipline: Is your organization ready to leverage a digital tool, and do you have the discipline to use it effectively? Executive buy-in: Do you have the support of the executive team to ensure adoption across the organization? Account complexity: Are your accounts growing in complexity, and do you need a strategic view to manage them effectively? Business transition: Are your clients going through a transition, and do you need to keep a dynamic planning approach to stay aligned with their changing needs? Team transformation: Do you have the right team to drive the transformation, and do you have champions who can lead the adoption process? Integration and training: Have you integrated the digital tool into your existing processes, and have you provided the necessary training and support to ensure successful adoption? Follow & Listen to: The Shift Podcast on Digital Key Account Management One of the biggest challenges businesses face when adopting digital key account management tools is ensuring that these tools do not detract from customer or client interactions. It is essential to ensure that these tools add value and do not add more internal steps or processes that pull the account team away from building relationships with clients. Therefore, it is crucial to think through the transition process and assess the impact of these tools on client face time. By doing so, businesses can ensure that they are not only adding value but also maintaining strong relationships with their clients. Many businesses have other corporate tools and systems in place that these tools need to integrate with. This can be particularly challenging when it comes to financial tools, as revenue tracking against plans and budgets for the year is essential. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that these tools integrate seamlessly with other systems and that any changes or updates do not cause undue disruption. Ensuring that the tool aligns with the requirements of the organization. Every organization has its processes and terminology, which can differ from the standard used by the industry. To overcome this, organizations should work to ensure that the tool’s requirements are aligned with the organization’s needs – this can be as simple as remaining fields to make sense to its users. This ensures that there are no misunderstandings that can cause naysayers to reject the tool. Training is another challenge that businesses face when implementing digital key account management tools. It is essential to ensure that everyone is trained properly and understands how to use the tools effectively. However, lengthy training sessions can be time-consuming and may not be the most effective approach. Instead, businesses can consider rolling out training over a more extended period, with shorter, more focused training sessions. This allows individuals to try out the tool, ask questions, and
The Complete Guide to Digital Key Account Management in 2025
In today’s digital-first world, traditional Key Account Management (KAM) strategies are no longer enough to keep up with the ever-changing demands of customers. The B2B sector is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and it’s critical that companies adapt to this new landscape to stay ahead of the game. Research is increasingly showing that companies implementing a digital Key Account Management strategy outperform their peers. This means, developing a comprehensive digital Key Account Management strategy is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but a ‘must-have’ for any B2B company looking to drive revenue growth, strengthen relationships with their most valuable customers and improve customer satisfaction. So, what does a successful digital Key Account Management strategy look like? It starts with understanding the unique needs of your key accounts and developing a customized approach that leverages the latest digital tools and techniques to drive engagement and revenue growth. This includes the whole gamut – from leveraging data analytics to identifying customer needs and preferences to automating routine tasks to allow your sales team to focus on revenue-generating activities. Digital Account Management Masterclass This comprehensive guide is an excellent resource to help you develop a comprehensive digital Key Account Management strategy. It will take you through how you can define your digital Key Account Management objectives, identify your key accounts and utilize the latest digital tools to drive customer engagement and improve profitability. Watch Now: Insights on Digital Key Account Management by James Manno, VP of Sales Enterprise @ Qualtrics Understanding Your Key Accounts If you’re in business, understanding the importance of your key accounts is crucial. Your key accounts typically generate a significant portion of your revenue. They can help sustain your business over the long term. But, managing key accounts in the digital era required a unique set of skills and strategies By following these steps, you can develop a successful digital Key Account Management strategy: Understanding your key accounts is the first step in developing a successful digital Key Account Management strategy. It involves identifying who your key accounts are, understanding their business goals and objectives and developing a customer-centric approach. To identify your key accounts, you’ll need to analyze your sales data to determine which customers generate the most revenue for your business. Your key accounts may also include some customers that have been part of your journey for a long time. Or those that you’ve identified as having immense growth potential. Once you have a list of your top customers, you can then start to examine their specific needs and goals. This could involve conducting customer surveys, reviewing customer feedback, or engaging in one-on-one conversations with key decision-makers at these accounts. Once you have a better understanding of your key accounts, you can begin to develop a customer-centric approach. This involves tailoring your sales and marketing strategies to meet the specific needs and goals of each account. For example, if you have a key account that’s focused on sustainability, you might want to highlight the eco-friendly nature of your offerings in your sales and marketing material. Ultimately, the key to developing a successful digital Key Account Management strategy is to put your customers at the center of everything you do. By focusing on their needs and business objectives you can develop more effective sales and marketing strategies. You will also be able to build stronger relationships with your key accounts and create sustainable revenue streams for your business. Follow & Listen to Insights from The Shift Podcast by DemandFarm on Digital Key Account Management Developing a Digital Key Account Management Strategy Developing a digital Key Account Management strategy can be a complex process, but it’s essential for success in the B2B sector. To get started, it’s important to consider a few key factors. First, it’s important to understand the role of data and technology in your strategy. Using the right tools and technologies makes it easier for you to track customer interactions, identify buying patterns and tailor our approach to each key account. This may involve investing in customer relationship management (CRM) software, data analytics tools, or other technologies to help you gather and analyze customer data. Once you have a clear understanding of the role of data and technology it’s important to set specific goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for your digital Key Account Management strategy. Your KPIs may include increasing customer engagement, improving customer satisfaction, or driving more revenue from key accounts. To achieve these goals, you’ll need to select the right digital tools and technologies to support your strategy. This might include tools for account-based marketing, social media management, email marketing or other digital marketing channels. It’s important to select tools that align with your goals and the needs of your key accounts. For instance, imagine you’re a manufacturer of industrial equipment, and you have a key account that’s a major player in the oil and gas industry. Here, you might want to focus your digital Key Account Management strategy on account-based marketing. The tools that would work best for you include LinkedIn advertising or content marketing to reach decision-makers in the oil and gas company. You could showcase how your industrial equipment can improve the operations and profitability of your key account. Additionally, your digital Key Account Management Strategy might involve implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system. This CRM system could be used to track interactions with the key account, manage the sales pipeline and ensure that everyone involved with the account has visibility into the account’s history and current status. This helps coordinate and streamline the efforts of sales and account management. It also helps identify opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. Guide: Cross-selling & Up-selling Explained While selecting digital tools and technologies to support your digital Key Account Management strategy, it’s important to consider factors like scalability, ease of use, and integration with existing systems. For example, if you’re already using a particular CRM or marketing automation platform, it makes sense to look for digital Key Account Management tools that
Guide: How to do Opportunity Management in Salesforce CRM
Higher sales rates and revenue increase are the holy grail of IT product and services organizations, and thoughtful sales forecasting contributes a lot to it. with Salesforce Opportunity Management, they can structure their processes, enhance customer communication, and more. Opportunity management in the sales cloud offers all the necessary tools to close the biggest deals from anywhere. With intelligent alerts, teams can provide requisite attention by gaining insight into every deal and adjust forecast levels to reflect the new normal. With a sales path, teams can stay informed of where they are in the sales cycle, get tips on how to push deals forward, and easily view all open items in recent activities at every stage. Quick view simplifies the management of what is being done and what’s next – so that sales team members can stay on top of recent developments with a quick view, which makes it easier to collaborate with the larger team so everyone has what they need to close the deal. Tasks can be managed along with rich notes from existing workspace too. What is Opportunity Management in Salesforce? Details of a sales deal between the product/service provider and customer are captured in Salesforce Opportunity Management. The data helps sales teams manage all the deals with Salesforce, while being connected to stakeholders. Team members can access and share the information needed to close the sale, from anywhere. Existing information about completed sales is also present in Opportunity Management, which can provide insights into improving the processes so that future potential sales can be conducted more efficiently. Learn More: The 2023 Practical Guide to Sales Opportunity Management Start with: Setting up opportunities Opportunities can be created for existing accounts or through a lead conversion process. Not only this helps users to track changes in deal size, but also allows for the closing of dates with the help of Opportunity deal change highlights. Hovering over a highlighted opportunity gives more details about the updates, and updates can be visualized for opportunity amounts through the Opportunities List view and Kanban-view. Some of the key fields that help in tracking updates are made to an opportunity are: 1. Stage: This required field allows for opportunity tracking. A standard drop-down list of set values provided by Salesforce makes the selection easy, and they can be modified to suit the needs of the business. 2. Close date: Close date is a required field, and is crucial for forecasting. It is updated to the date when the opportunity is closed automatically. 3. Amount: This field displays the total cost of the opportunity under consideration. The sum total of opportunity products are shown, after they’re added to an opportunity. 4. Probability: The likelihood of the opportunity being converted, is reflected here. There is a default probability to close for each stage, going from a scale of 100% for a closed deal and 0% for a lost one. 5. Expected revenue: This read-only field is automatically generated by multiplying the probability with the amount. It can be a useful metric to use, while reporting the efficiency of the sales pipeline. Learn More: 8 Steps of Sales Opportunity Planning Moving to configurations Effective tracking and closure of opportunities can happen once the configurations are set according to the needs. Here are some configurations that can be set up: Update reminders can be leveraged by managers to send open opportunity reports to team members according to the hierarchy of defined roles. This ensures accurate and updated opportunities driven by precise forecasts. Big deal alerts are automatically sent as emails to customers, whenever an opportunity reaches a threshold amount and probability. Users can configure the ‘from’ Similar opportunities help in finding closed-won opportunities that match current opportunities for quick and simplified information access. Fields are configured in similar opportunities related lists so that users can see them easily. Utilizing opportunity-related objects Opportunity-related objects help in providing details about key stakeholders that are involved in a deal. They can be entered and tracked using opportunity’s related list items like track competitors, partners, and others who have a say in the deal closure. These related lists can be leveraged according to the business requirements: Opportunity teams help in leveraging members of different departments while working on deals. Team members can be designated as ‘internal’ or ‘partner’, with designated roles and access levels. Opportunity splits facilitate revenue sharing from opportunities and provide adequate credit to team members for their part in closing deals. Individual sales credits can be rolled into sales team member quota, and reports can be pipelined for an entire team. Partners simplify association of existing accounts to opportunities. Primary partners appear on the opportunity report, speeding up the mode of action that should be tailored to the specific requirement. Competitors’ fields can be leveraged to track market progress in the opportunity sphere. The list can be chosen from existing competitor names, or new ones can be added. Contact roles describe the role of every lead or touch point in converting the opportunity. By defining contact roles, sales team members can ensure everyone knows who to contact on the customer side. Field History Tracking comes into picture when users modify tracked opportunity fields, be it standard or custom. The change adds a new entry to the related list in Opportunity Field History. Details of changes to all entries are included, along with the details of the one making the change. Stage History adds a new entry when a user changes the stage, probability, close date fields, or the amount of an opportunity. The two lists together aid in the tracking of opportunity – as one chronicles field history, and the other keeps note of the changes to opportunity stages. Creating and managing opportunities The process of creating and managing opportunities on Salesforce is a feature-rich one, and these steps show how that can be achieved. Here’s a sequence that shows how opportunities with designated key accounts can be managed: Log into your Salesforce account and navigate
