Please note that due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement, we cannot name our client here.

Case Study: Pharmaceutical Company

We have recently delivered Key Account Management programmes to a pharmaceutical company.

In simple terms, Key Account Management is about developing and maintaining long-term relationships with important clients for who you offer a differential advantage over others.

Having considered the needs of the business, and their own internal culture, we opted for a hands-on, creative learning experience. There were no lengthy PowerPoint presentations. Instead, we chose to create an interactive, practical training programme. With this in mind, we built a plan around the following:
 

Targeting the Right Accounts

There is a resource cost with any client/business relationship. A crucial aspect of KAM is to ensure that we use resources on targeting the right customers. This module focuses on identifying the clients with which to foster the most mutually beneficial relationship. In general, these will be high-value accounts but not in every case. We must, therefore, focus on identifying the clients to target.
 

Account Mapping

We often centre our KAM programmes around consultative selling. We encourage our clients to sell solutions, and to sell solutions one must understand what issues need solving. Therefore, we aim to develop a culture where people listen to the client’s need and effectively communicate the solution to influence the key stakeholders.
 

Account Zipping

One of the primary reasons for implementing KAM programmes is due to the size of the customer. Therefore, we then must consider team selling and developing multi-level relationships with the client. Both sides of the relationship may have to deal with multiple people within the respective groups. It becomes vital that the team is on the same page, communicating efficiently and effectively with the client and with each other.
 

Key Account Planning

Key Account Planning is all about development – of both business and client. Here we look at setting strategic objectives, situational analysis, and importantly, developing a strategy that promotes the client. When you’re looking to maintain a long-term relationship with the client, it is vital to ensure that you work to maintain that relationship. Therefore, keeping on top of the clients’ situation, changing needs and future goals is key to being able to implement a strategy for your own business.
 

Outcomes

Although early days, the company has reported an immediate uptick in business/client engagement, along with added sales. There is still some work to be done in integrating KAM as a fundamental pillar of the company culture, but the company is already making great strides in becoming more efficient and profitable.

The post A Quick KAM Case Study appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

What is Key Account Management?

KAM is a process where you identify your most important customers and seek to grow and maximise a mutually beneficial arrangement. Clients classified as Key Accounts will enjoy benefits such as priority supply, access to a designated account manager, enhanced or prioritised customer support, etc. In return, a Key Account customer will favour your business above your competitors and forge a mutually beneficial relationship. Instead of thinking about the relationship with your client as vendor/buyer, you should think about it as a partnership.

It is no surprise that a high number of businesses want to implement KAM. Unfortunately, Key Account Management is not as straightforward as a simple change in sales techniques. It requires an organisational overhaul.

Organisational Restructure

You cannot implement KAM in a matter of weeks, or even months. Too many businesses think they can merely restructure the sales team, designate high performers as KAM Managers (or titles such as Relationship Managers to their clients) and reap the rewards. Like most things, it just does not work like that. If your Key Account Manager makes a promise to a client, ask yourself, who will fulfil that promise? Will it be Operations, Warehousing, Logistics? To implement KAM, you need to look at how every part of your organisation will fit in and ensure that you train all of the people in the chain.

Classify Your Accounts

Not every customer will be a Key Account. Sometimes even a high-value client might not necessarily be a Key Account. Your Key Account list should be limited and exclusive by design. KAM requires resources and as discussed above, organisational changes. You need to operate within your resource means and not expect each link in the chain to be able to cope should you oversubscribe Key Account services.

You should take steps to classify your accounts to determine their value to your business. New accounts might present exciting opportunities but are still an unknown quantity. It might be tempting to add clients you have had for years but do they add significant value to your business? As a rule of thumb, you should be looking for those accounts whose continued engagement with your organisation directly contributes to your growth and success.

A business ‘promoting’ an account to Key Account status needs to remember doing so is a long-term commitment. You risk damaging your relationship with your client forever should you later ‘demote’ them to a standard account.

Do Not Just Promote High Performing Sales Staff to Key Account Managers

It is a mistake many make. Your salespeople might have gained the account, but that does not mean they are the right person to manage it long-term. Key Account Managers spend most of their time working on behalf of the client. It is vital that you remember that your Key Accounts are those you have deemed to have long-term value. Instead of focusing on top-line revenues, you need to concentrate on the lifetime value of the client.

The Key Account Manager must have a thorough understanding of all costs involved. Your highest-performing salespeople can be trained to do these roles, but you need to shake them out of the top-line mindset. If a Key Account deal falls through, the repercussions for your business could be catastrophic.

Key Account Management Evolves

Once you designate an account a Key Account, the onus falls on you to remain relevant to your customers’ needs. If your programme remains static, eventually it will no longer meet the needs of your client. Businesses that succeed at Key Account Management do so because they stay engaged. They appoint somebody to oversee the entire KAM department, benchmark their Key Account department performance and ensure that management remains poised to act on any changes necessary to ensure the continued success of the programme.

Your customers will evolve and change, and your Key Account team need to be able to do the same. Investing in KAM is investing in the long-term future growth and prosperity of your organisation. Like any long-term investment, it requires a forward-looking vision and the expectation that you will need to stay ahead of the curve to succeed.

Looking for More Information?

Robin Lines Associates has helped a number of businesses implement KAM into their organisation. We can do so as part of a Sales Training, Business Development or Cultural Change programme. Alternatively, we can work with you to find a fully bespoke solution. Feel free to drop us a line to discuss your needs.

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