On-Demand Webinar: Unfiltered take on AI in Account Planning: Meet DemandFarm’s KAM AI
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It’s that time of year when we look back and say, “Wow, how did we survive all that?” There are good reasons to think 2024 has been less of a stroll and more of a high-stakes triathlon for Key Account Managers and Sales Leaders. A. The markets have played ping-pong—bouncing
The traditional sales tech stack is dying, and there’s no denying it! How sales tech has been built, integrated, and expected to deliver results over the past two decades is fundamentally changing. Sales and revenue teams have been focused on solving specific challenges, one at a time. When lead qualification became complex, they added a lead scoring tool. When pipeline visibility suffered, they integrated forecasting software. When outreach needed scaling, they layered on sequence automation. Each solution worked. Each solved a real problem. But inadvertently, they created something else entirely. What started as targeted problem-solving has evolved into a layered system of 12-15 disconnected tools that work while balancing both efficiency and chaos. The best sales ops professionals today, the ones commanding top salaries, are those who can navigate these complex integrations, understanding which tools operate at which layer and how they interconnect. But here’s the reality. Even the most skilled ops teams are drowning in complexity. The Hidden Cost of Tool Proliferation: A Sales Ops Nightmare If a sales leader needs specific data, the number of calls a particular rep made for a specific campaign cohort. Simple request, right? Not when your data lives across Salesforce, Outreach, Gong, and your attribution platform. The sales ops manager discovers that pulling this report requires touching four different systems, three API connections, and two manual exports. What should be a 10-minute task becomes a half-day project. Take another scenario. Your team wants to swap your current ABM tool for something more advanced. However, the current tool feeds data into your CRM, which triggers sequences in your outreach platform and logs activities that your conversation intelligence tool analyzes. The integration layers run so deep that a “simple” tool swap would require rebuilding your entire workflow architecture. This is the daily reality for sales operations teams. They’re not just managing tools; they’re maintaining a fragile ecosystem where one small change can trigger workflow chaos across multiple applications. The turnaround time for any modification is painfully high, and the stress of managing these interconnected systems has become a significant burden. Our sympathies are with the ops teams holding this complex machinery together. The Wave of AI: A $2.6 Trillion Transformation Ahead McKinsey’s latest research reveals a staggering prediction: AI adoption in sales could increase global GDP by $1.4 trillion to $2.6 trillion over the next three years. This isn’t about incremental improvements. This economic transformation is happening at scale, driven by organizations fundamentally rethinking how sales technology should work. The company’s positioning for growth isn’t just adding AI features to existing systems but building toward AI-native sales operations. And early indicators suggest this approach will enable organizations to: Analyze massive data volumes to surface buying intent signals before prospects realize they’re ready to buy. Generate personalized outreach that could achieve significantly higher conversion rates than traditional approaches. Predict deal outcomes with greater accuracy, months before closure While this transformation unfolds, many sales ops teams still debate basic CRM feature upgrades. It’s time we stopped limiting ourselves to thinking that AI is just the future, or treating AI as merely another feature. In reality, AI will become the infrastructure on which sales processes are built. We’re moving toward AI-first processes that will redefine how much human intervention is needed and reshape sales roles entirely. Why Your Current Sales Stack Works Against You Walk into any B2B sales organization today, and you’ll find the same painful reality: sales reps spend 65% of their time on non-selling activities. Data entry, tool-switching, manual research, and administrative tasks, ironically performed on the tools designed to help them sell. The problem runs deeper than efficiency. Traditional sales tech was built on the assumption that human intelligence could process, prioritize, and act on all available data. However, that assumption broke around 2020, when customer data volume doubled every 12 months. Today’s sales reps are drowning in information while starving for insight. Your CRM tracks every interaction but can’t tell you which prospect will most likely buy next month. Your email platform logs every response but can’t detect the subtle sentiment shifts that signal a deal going off-track. Your conversation intelligence tool records every call but can’t predict which coaching intervention will actually improve performance. More data doesn’t equal more insight. The Intelligence Revolution: How AI Will Change Everything The AI wave will create entirely new capabilities that are impossible with traditional sales technology. Predictive Prospecting That Could Eliminate Cold Outreach Traditional prospecting relies on demographic data and behavioral triggers that are weeks or months old. AI-powered prospecting will analyze real-time signals across thousands of data sources to identify prospects actively researching solutions. The AI Edge: Instead of 2% response rates on cold emails, organizations using these systems are reporting 15-20% response rates because they’re reaching prospects at precisely the right moment in their buying journey. Source: Early implementations reported in HubSpot and Salesforce case studies Real-Time Sales Coaching That Will Actually Work Instead of quarterly reviews based on static scorecards, AI-powered platforms will analyze every sales conversation in real-time. They’ll detect when a rep is talking too much, missing buying signals, or failing to address objections effectively. The coaching will happen during the call, not weeks later. The AI Edge: One global SaaS company implementing AI-driven conversation intelligence saw its average deal size increase by 23% within six months. Source: Salesforce Einstein Analytics case study Pipeline Management That Will See Around Corners CRM-based pipeline management is reactive. It tells you what happened, not what’s about to happen. AI-powered pipeline intelligence will combine deal data with external signals, stakeholder behavior, and historical patterns to predict deal outcomes before they become apparent. The AI Edge: Companies testing AI-driven pipeline management report 40% more accurate forecasting and 27% faster deal velocity. They can intervene in at-risk deals before they stall and accelerate promising opportunities before competitors notice them. Source: Multiple implementations tracked in Salesforce Ben research The End of Tool Proliferation: A Unified Future Most sales leaders miss this crucial
AI has swept across the enterprise. From marketing automation to customer support, from predictive lead scoring to content generation—every function is being reimagined by intelligent systems. The logic is simple: train the models, refine the data, automate the process, and scale. But this linear formula doesn’t quite hold in key account management (KAM). AI’s promises feel premature, disconnected, and sometimes out of context in KAM. And that’s not because KAM is behind the curve. It’s because KAM is still driven by human complexity that AI cannot replicate—at least not yet. Strategic account growth depends on trust built over years, understanding of internal power structures, shared institutional history, and relationship intelligence that often isn’t written down. In most organizations, the real insights live in human minds, whiteboard scribbles, Slack threads, and exit interviews—not structured CRM fields. Which means that AI, no matter how powerful, has almost nothing to learn from. The Hidden Cost of Being “Too Human” Veteran account managers navigate complex buying committees, shifting priorities, and nuanced organizational cultures by relying on instinct. These instincts are priceless but also inherently unscalable. What one senior manager knows after ten years in a single account rarely makes its way into the hands of the broader team. There is no institutional memory, no pattern recognition, no data trail for AI to latch onto. And so, while every other function in the enterprise gets a tech upgrade, KAM remains high-touch, manual, and dependent on the same people. It’s like asking AI to pilot a plane mid-storm without access to any flight data. The system might be intelligent, but it’s blind. This is where the cost of being “too human” reveals itself. Decisions remain tribal. Knowledge stays local. Growth becomes fragile. And when those senior managers leave, they don’t just take their contacts—they take the map. AI in Lead Gen vs. AI in KAM Why AI succeeds in lead gen but might not be efficient in KAM. Here is why. Lead generation is an AI playground. Public data abounds: job titles, firmographics, intent signals, content consumption patterns. You can model buyer journeys, automate email sequences, predict timing, and even write the perfect cold message. And if the AI gets it wrong? You lose a few leads. It’s a recoverable mistake. But KAM operates in an entirely different paradigm. You’re not casting a wide net. You’re safeguarding multi-million-dollar relationships that took years to build. The risks aren’t just financial—they’re strategic. Losing one key account can mean stalled product adoption, delayed expansion, or reputational damage in the C-suite. You don’t just lose revenue. You lose momentum. Which is why the AI models that power outbound engines fail in key account growth. The variables in KAM aren’t public. They’re personal. The real data isn’t found in firmographics—it’s found in relationship dynamics, unspoken goals, evolving priorities, and quiet power shifts. And without that intelligence, AI is just guessing. KAM Skipped the Maturity Curve Most tech categories follow a logical arc: first, systematize the process. Then, standardize it across the organization. Only then do you automate. CRM followed this path. So did marketing automation. Even customer success tools took a decade to reach maturity. KAM, on the other hand, skipped steps. In the rush to modernize, teams jumped from post-it notes to predictive analytics—without ever building the structured systems in between. There’s an unspoken assumption that AI will figure it out. But AI is not magic. It can only learn from what exists. And if your goals, relationships, and conversations only live in PowerPoint decks or managers’ memories, there is nothing to train on. This mismatch between ambition and foundation is why most “AI-powered” KAM tools feel underwhelming. They promise transformation, but deliver alerts no one trusts and suggestions no one uses. Inside-Out Intelligence Is the Missing Layer What KAM truly needs isn’t more automation. It needs intelligence—but not the kind you can scrape from LinkedIn or synthesize from press releases. KAM needs inside-out intelligence: signals captured within your business, from the conversations your teams have, the goals your clients set, the shifts in influence, and the history of engagements that unfold over time. Think of it this way: most sales AI is a telescope—it looks outward. But KAM AI must be a microscope. It must examine what’s already happening inside your strategic accounts and make sense of it. What are the patterns from past goal failures or successes? Which relationships are weakening? Which internal stakeholders are blocking expansion and why? Where does whitespace keep showing up but never convert? These questions cannot be answered by public data. They require an internal data layer—structured, logged, and ready for intelligent systems to analyze. And that layer, for most teams, doesn’t exist yet. The Paradox: Too Human, Not Enough Wisdom Here lies the central contradiction. KAM is rich in wisdom—but poor in data. Every conversation, insight, and decision is drenched in context. But none of it is captured systematically. So when organizations look to AI for help, they’re essentially asking it to scale tribal knowledge without first documenting it. This is why AI in KAM often feels tone-deaf. It delivers generic suggestions because it lacks access to account-specific history. It proposes playbooks without understanding the nuances of a particular buyer relationship. And it fails to anticipate risk—not because it’s unintelligent, but because it was never fed the right signals. The problem isn’t AI. The problem is what we’ve failed to preserve and structure. Why External Data Won’t Save You It’s tempting to think that buying intent tools or hiring better enrichment platforms will bridge the gap. But external data has diminishing value as soon as an account becomes strategic. That’s when you need to know: Who truly influences decisions? Which relationships are active, dormant, or in decline? What motivates your champion’s internal narrative? Which internal shifts are impacting deal momentum? These insights aren’t inferable from external feeds. They live in your meetings, emails, call notes, and rep memories. Which means you can’t outsource your way into account intelligence. You have to
Strategic account teams can strengthen customer partnerships and spot expansion opportunities before the competition by meeting periodically to review goals, outcomes, and next steps, Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are “pivotal gatherings for a company’s stakeholders”—they offer a dedicated forum to assess performance, align goals, and chart the course for the upcoming quarter. However, manually preparing QBRs or Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) can be extremely time-consuming and inconsistent, as information is spread across systems, some of it tribal knowledge. Let’s see what QBR and EBR software are, how teams use them, and compare some of the best QBR/EBR tools that natively integrate with Salesforce What is QBR Software? A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a meeting (often quarterly) between a vendor and customer to review how the partnership is performing and plan. It’s a chance to highlight progress, discuss challenges, and ensure both sides remain aligned on goals. QBRs are crucial for maintaining transparency and building trust – they keep everyone accountable to outcomes and enable course corrections between annual cycles Assembling QBR reports and decks by hand is tedious. Teams often resort to pulling data from Salesforce into spreadsheets, taking screenshots of dashboards, and pasting into slides – a process ripe for errors and lost time. QBR software streamlines the entire QBR process. These solutions pull together data from relevant sources (like your CRM) into a single hub for analysis and presentation. A QBR tool can automatically generate up-to-date reports, charts, and even presentation slides. For example, QBR software will tap into Salesforce to fetch the latest KPIs, customer activity, support tickets, and pipeline updates, then present them in a pre-built template or dashboard. This ensures each QBR is based on live data and consistent reporting, rather than static spreadsheets. QBR software is the “unsung hero” for client-facing teams – it takes the heavy lifting out of quarterly reviews so you can concentrate on delivering value. What is EBR Software? An Executive Business Review (EBR) is similar to a QBR but geared toward a higher-level executive audience. While a QBR might dive into granular metrics every quarter with day-to-day contacts, an EBR typically happens less frequently (e.g., annually or semi-annually) and focuses on big-picture results and strategic alignment. The goal of an EBR is often to inform senior stakeholders or decision-makers about the overall health of the partnership, ROI achieved, and plans, sometimes right before a renewal or budget cycle. In other words, an EBR distills the year’s worth of progress into an executive-friendly narrative. Most QBR software can also support EBRs, but the content may differ. EBR-focused functionality might include roll-up reporting across multiple quarters, ROI calculators, and executive-level dashboards that emphasize key performance indicators (KPIs) and business outcomes over detailed task lists. The software helps summarize and visualize data in a way that tells a strategic story for executives. For example, you might use an EBR tool to generate a one-page executive summary, a relationship heatmap of key contacts (to show the strength of your executive relationships), or high-level trend charts of value delivered. The distinction is subtle – QBR software and EBR software often overlap – but it’s mainly about audience and frequency. Some KAM teams even rebrand their QBRs as EBRs to encourage executive participation. Use of QBR/EBR Software Teams leverage QBR/EBR software in several key ways to enhance their account management process: 1. Automated Templates & Reporting One of the primary uses is to automatically generate QBR/EBR decks or reports using live data. Instead of reinventing the wheel each quarter, companies set up standard templates within the tool – for example, a slide for key metrics (quarterly revenue, usage stats, support tickets), a slide for goal progress, a slide for next quarter plan, etc. The software fills in these templates with the latest Salesforce data, so preparing a QBR becomes a matter of minutes rather than hours. 2. Live Salesforce Data Sync Because the best QBR/EBR apps integrate natively with Salesforce, they pull information in real-time. This means your review is always up-to-date with the current opportunities, support cases, contact roles, and any new activities logged in CRM. Teams don’t have to worry about outdated spreadsheets. For instance, if a big deal closed yesterday, it will automatically reflect in the QBR deck’s revenue numbers. 3. Internal Collaboration QBR/EBR tools often serve as a workspace for multiple team members to collaborate on an account’s strategy. Sales reps, customer success managers, and even product or support can contribute updates to the tool leading up to the review. Many platforms provide shared notes, @mentions, or the ability to attach comments and action items to the account plan. Some integrate with productivity suites (like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) to facilitate building presentations together. If you run into issues accessing files or navigating your device during prep, simple fixes for Mac or desktop can quickly resolve the problem and keep your work on track. 4. Action Tracking and Follow-Up These tools don’t just produce a report and call it a day – they help track what happens next. Most QBR/EBR software includes the ability to log follow-up tasks or key decisions from the meeting. For example, if in a QBR the client asks for a training session, you can record that as an action item in the tool and assign an owner. This ensures accountability for commitments made during the review. By the next QBR, you can easily see which follow-ups were completed. Some platforms integrate these with Salesforce Tasks or Success Plans, so nothing falls through the cracks. This tight loop improves alignment and shows the customer that their feedback is acted upon. Best QBR/EBR Tools for Salesforce 1. DemandFarm DemandFarm is a Salesforce native account planning and QBR tool. It lives entirely within your Salesforce environment, so all your account data, updates, and insights are stored in CRM. DemandFarm provides a comprehensive toolkit for conducting account reviews, including interactive account plans, org charts, and analytics. Users get visual widgets like relationship maps (think of an org chart with color-coded
This is the beginning. And almost anything can happen! A document lies open with an account name, a champion’s name, and a revenue figure at the top. A review trail stretches endlessly, and some notes representing relationships. Somewhere, an account manager scrolls through it all, searching for context as a decision is due. But memory, fragile and fallible thing, fails them again. That was account management a decade ago. Then came digital tools like PowerPoints, spreadsheets, and templates. They added structure, yes. But with them came complexity. Account managers now had to juggle volumes of fragmented data, each piece demanding attention, none offering clarity. That was account management until a couple of years ago. Now, the era of AI-powered account management has arrived. And it doesn’t just digitize the old but also reimagines what’s possible. From Questions to Realization: Not All AI Is Equal Many account managers saw this change coming. They asked peers. They explored tools positioned and marketed as “AI-powered Strategic Account management.” Some of the account managers got access to those tools and asked seemingly simple but important questions: “Why don’t we have an org chart?” “What happened with that Q2 deal?” “Who owns this relationship now?” The tools blinked. Responses came, but incomplete, contextless, and shallow. Demos were watched. Hope flickered. Then came the realization: not all AI is built for KAM. Because KAM isn’t just data and logic. It’s not a volume game. It’s trust, nuance, insider knowledge, and timed precision. Many AI tools help streamlining and automate. Very few are built to offer intelligence and truly support strategic account management. The Illusion of Progress Elsewhere, AI thrives. It predicts churn, writes emails, scores leads, and tracks conversions. In areas where complexity is less, human instinct is rare, and data is plentiful, AI dazzles. But KAM is different. It’s not a funnel, it’s a forest. Growth here doesn’t come from speed but comes from depth. It requires navigating hidden trails, uncovering blindspots, recognizing fading relationships, sensing where new influence may emerge. AI in KAM struggles not because it’s not capable, but because it lacks internal data to train on. It often doesn’t have access to whispered concerns, the half-promises, the reorgs, the champions who quietly left. When signals aren’t captured, they can’t be analyzed. When plans aren’t documented, they can’t be improved. And so, the illusion of AI in KAM took hold: bold predictions, but with sparse data. So many systems and so few signals. But Here is the First Glimpse of AI Change KAM A quiet pivot emerged, focusing on AI capabilities married with human intellect and instinct. AI as the intelligence layer above the years of internal data to train on and become omniscient. Not to replace the AM, but to empower them. Introducing KAM AI by DemandFarm. This new chapter in Key Account Management doesn’t begin with answers. It begins with better questions: “Who haven’t we spoken to in months?” “What changed since last quarter?” “Why is this opportunity drifting?” It’s context-aware, drawn from structured knowledge of goals, relationships, and risks. It doesn’t rely on rigid logic but on memory rooted in account data. It’s a companion and a system that remembers what you’ve planned, what you missed, and what’s quietly evolving beneath the surface as a white space. Building the Middle: From Insight to Intervention “This is the middle—and this is the thick of things.” It begins with a hard truth: spreadsheets don’t scale. Static plans don’t breathe. Meetings focused on updates, not strategy, leak revenue more than we realize. KAM AI builds a better middle ground: Relationship maps that evolve—tracking exits, flagging lost influence. Org charts that light up—surfacing gaps, revealing dormant connections. Account research that lifts insights—focusing not on data overload, but on relevance. Here, AI doesn’t automate strategy. It sharpens, offers direction, suggests timing, and—crucially—knows when to stay silent. This isn’t the AI of dashboards and alerts. This is the AI you can trust and rely. Making Planning a Daily Practice Once, account planning was episodic. Quarterly. Annual. Ritualistic. But relationships don’t sync with your calendar. Risks don’t wait for QBRs. Expansion doesn’t knock on a schedule. The real leap isn’t technological—it’s cultural. Planning becomes a daily rhythm, a living system. AMs log in not to build decks, but to find direction: Heatmaps show where growth lies dormant. Risk alerts track relationship shifts. Patterns surface that were once invisible. Here, KAM AI shines by staying out of the way, offering clarity, not complexity. Quietly surfacing what matters most. But Not Without the Work AI is not the beginning. It builds on the groundwork on goals documented, plans maintained, conversations tracked. Not as surveillance. But as stewardship. There are no shortcuts to maturity. Tools support. They don’t decide. Playbooks scale but they don’t think. As Jeremy rightly quotes in the webinar below—“AI is not an ‘or.’ It’s an ‘and.’” The account manager remains at the center. Only now, they’re flanked by a memory that catches more, forgets less, and provides context whenever account silence starts to creep in. The Future Is Already Unfolding We’re past the point where annual planning and handwritten notes are enough. The new world of KAM is faster, less complex, but also deeper. Success won’t come from those who automate the most but from those who understand. And understanding at scale is what KAM AI is designed for. DemandFarm is one of the few shaping this future. Not by promising perfection. But by making the first step easier. By helping account managers begin their day with guidance, not guesswork. Because the future of KAM isn’t about less human effort. It’s about more human impact, backed by systems that remember, reveal, and respond before it’s too late. “This isn’t the end. Just the first time the machine remembers why the account matters.” Ready to see what the future feels like? This blog is based on the webinar “Stepping into the Future of Account Management.” Watch the full conversation with Jeremy
In my years working alongside account management and customer success teams, one thing has become painfully clear: the Quarterly Business Review (QBR) process is broken. Traditional QBRs demand hours of manual effort, juggling multiple systems, and aligning narratives, only to end up with a static presentation that barely scratches the surface of customer insights. The need for speed, clarity, and strategic relevance has never been more urgent. That’s why I believe the era of AI Quarterly Business Review is here. Fueled by AI Quarterly Business Review Software and key account management tools (like DemandFarm), this transformation is helping teams transition from outdated reporting rituals to dynamic, data-driven storytelling. Whether we call it an AI-Based QBR, a Generative AI EBR Solution, or simply “the smarter way to do reviews,” one thing is certain that there is no need for key account managers to do the heavy lifting. Now, let’s dive into how exactly AI is revolutionizing quarterly reviews changing the facet of QBRs. Why Traditional QBRs Are a Bottleneck Let’s call it what it is! Traditional QBRs are hard. Sifting through CRM exports, spreadsheets, emails, call transcripts, and dashboards just to build a slide deck manually… (you know what I am talking about). You’re spending your time on low-value work. Multiply that effort across multiple accounts, and it quickly becomes clear why QBRs are often deprioritized or delayed altogether. According to McKinsey, 60% of work hours are spent on data collection and preparation rather than analysis and action. That’s exactly where AI comes in. That’s time that should be spent on strategic thinking, customer conversations, or true expansion efforts. Even when they’re completed, traditional QBRs suffer from: Data overload: Too many metrics, too little context. Inconsistent narratives: Different CSMs, different styles, different messages. Outdated information: Lag between data extraction and final review. Low engagement: Slides that speak “at” stakeholders, not “with” them. And when it’s time for your Executive Business Review (EBR)? The stakes are even higher, and the problems multiply. AI for QBRs and EBRs: Top Use Cases That Work This is where AI for QBR EBR processes comes in to help teams work smarter. Let’s unpack the most valuable use cases we’re seeing across high-performing Customer Success and Account Management teams: 1. Automated Summary Generation Instead of combing through metrics and typing up paragraphs of insights, AI tools can auto-generate summaries based on real-time performance data. It can detect patterns like revenue growth, product usage dips, or ticket escalation frequency, and write context-aware takeaways for your slides. I’d say it helps you make better sense of the account data you have. 2. Sentiment Analysis and Account Health Advanced AI tools analyze customer sentiment from call transcripts, survey feedback, support tickets, and even email threads. This helps teams track evolving account sentiment and flag early warning signs. For example, a spike in negative sentiment combined with lower usage might trigger an alert even before a formal escalation. This transforms your QBR from retrospective reporting into predictive intelligence. 3. Auto-Generated, QBR-Ready Slide Decks Using integrated features within platforms like DemandFarm, you can upload reports, input context, and generate custom slides that adhere to brand guidelines and tell the right story, automatically. Want slides for ARR growth, NPS trends, product adoption, and expansion pipeline? You are covered! 4. Narrative Personalization C-level stakeholders want strategic insights. Day-to-day champions want detailed next steps. AI helps you customize narratives for different audiences without rebuilding the deck from scratch. With smart prompts, the same deck can adapt its tone, visuals, and depth of detail depending on the reader or presenter. 5. Content Enrichment On Demand Give your designer a break! AI can help you add competitive benchmarks, best-practice recommendations, or even inspiration from previous top-performing decks. It’s like having a design assistant who also knows a thing or two about QBRs. The Benefits of Using AI-Based QBR Tools Now that we’ve explored the use cases, let’s look at the broader business benefits of adopting AI-Based QBR processes. Across the teams I’ve worked with, the value unlock typically falls into four main buckets: 1. Speed and Efficiency The most obvious win: time savings. Teams have cut QBR creation time by 50–80%, freeing up hours each week to focus on what matters most like customer strategy and relationship-building. 2. Consistency at Scale Whether you manage 5 or 50 accounts, AI ensures that every QBR follows a consistent framework, aligns with brand standards, and maintains a high bar of professionalism. The days of Frankenstein decks with clashing fonts and mismatched storylines are long gone. 3. Data-Driven Storytelling AI helps surface the “so what” behind the metrics. Instead of dumping data, you’re telling stories that are complete with cause-and-effect relationships, insights, and strategic implications. 4. Cross-Team Collaboration AI tools now support multi-user workflows, allowing CSMs, Sales, Product, and Marketing teams to co-create the QBR in real-time. When was the last time you loved back-and-forth email chains or outdated versions floating around? How DemandFarm Supports AI-Based QBRs At DemandFarm, we’ve seen firsthand how powerful an AI EBR Solution can be when it’s deeply integrated into the account planning process. With our Opportunity Planner, we’re bringing automation and intelligence to the heart of every QBR. Here’s how: Pre-Filled QBR Templates: Our system pulls live CRM data, performance metrics, and opportunity insights directly into branded templates. Insight Recommendations: The AI flags win/loss patterns, whitespace areas, and product adoption risks—so you can proactively address them in your review. Visualized Account Maps: Dynamic org charts and relationship heatmaps show not just what’s happening, but who’s driving impact. AI-Assisted Narratives: The platform helps you auto-generate contextual summaries tailored to the account’s journey and goals. What the Future of QBRs Looks Like Let’s fast-forward to what an AI Quarterly Business Review might look like just a year from now: You log into your QBR platform. An AI assistant greets you with: A fully drafted slide deck Suggested discussion topics Visuals for key KPIs Red flags for at-risk relationships Actionable next-step recommendations You tweak the tone,
The average B2B purchase now involves over 11 stakeholders, up from just 5 a decade ago. This means that for key account managers and sales teams, this means an org chart tool for Salesforce is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s essential. An organizational chart (org chart) integrated with your CRM helps visualize all the decision-makers, influencers, and gatekeepers in one place. This visual map of relationships lets you track each stakeholder’s influence and sentiment, identify champions vs. detractors, and plan your account strategy accordingly. A clear org chart within Salesforce can distinguish between a stalled deal and a strategic approach that closes a mega-deal. In fact, research shows that when sales teams map at least six supporters in an account, win rates can triple. Why are Salesforce-integrated org charts so important? Imagine trying to manage a Fortune 500 account without a visual of who’s who – it’s like flying blind. An org chart tool brings your CRM data to life: instead of a flat contact list, you get a dynamic diagram of reporting lines and influence networks. Key account managers (KAMs) and sales reps quickly see the chain of command (who the decision-makers are), the power structure, and even informal influence (“who trusts whom”) within the client organization. These insights let you optimize your account strategy – for example, by pinpointing which stakeholders to build relationships with, who might be a champion for your solution, or who could block your deal. Simply put, org chart tools for Salesforce empower sales teams to sell smarter, focusing on the right people with the right approach. Why Do You Need an Org Chart Tool for Salesforce? If you’ve ever tried to maintain a customer org chart manually (in PowerPoint or Visio), you know how quickly it becomes outdated and ignored. Here’s where a dedicated Salesforce org chart tool works: 1. Real-Time Updates & Single Source of Truth A tool like DemandFarm when integrated with Salesforce can pull live data from your contacts and accounts. That means when a new VP is added to the account or someone changes roles, your org chart reflects it instantly. No more stale org charts from last year’s kickoff. Modern relationship mapping tools “take the data sellers collect while working through a deal and enable it to be visualized” in an easy org chart format. 2. Relationship Mapping (Beyond Titles) A good org chart tool does more than show who reports to whom. It captures the influence, sentiment, and context around each stakeholder. For example, you might tag someone as a Champion (strong supporter), a Decision Maker, or a Detractor. You can visually distinguish power players from end-users. This adds a strategic layer on top of the hierarchy. You can “map champions, detractors, stakeholder power, and buying influence” right on the chart. Relationship maps go far beyond a basic org chart – they become a living strategy document for the account team. 3. CRM Integration & Automation Having the org chart inside Salesforce means your team doesn’t need to jump to another tool or maintain separate files. Everything lives in your CRM account record. Many tools even offer drag-and-drop building of charts using your Salesforce contacts, and some include AI assistance to suggest contacts. Demandfarm’s AI can detect go-to-market engagements and then prompt you to build robust org charts in seconds For instance, DemandFarm’s org chart tool is a 100% Salesforce-native app that lets you visualize complex hierarchies and develop engagement strategies all within Salesforce. 4. Identify Gaps and Opportunities An org chart tool can highlight “white space” in your account – e.g. departments or levels where you have no contacts. If you realize you only know managers but have no C-suite relationships, that’s a gap to fill. Some solutions even provide analytics or AI recommendations. By visualizing the stakeholder landscape, you can spot where you’re weak and take action (like asking your champion to intro you higher up). This leads to better account penetration and fewer blind spots. 5. Collaboration & Strategy Planning Because these org charts are in Salesforce, they can be shared across your team and updated collaboratively. Sales, account managers, customer success, and leadership can all view and contribute to the relationship map. Many tools include notes or planning fields right on the org chart, so you can log who owns the relationship with each person, or what the next action. This collaborative visibility means everyone is on the same page when strategizing on an account. For example, DemandFarm allows teams to capture “every ounce of deal-critical context and relationship intel” centrally. Top Salesforce Org Chart Tools in 2025 Several tools have emerged to help sales teams build org charts and relationship maps in Salesforce. Here are the top options – their features, pricing, pros/cons – to help you make an informed choice. Below is an unbiased look at the best org chart tools as of 2025 1. DemandFarm – Relationship Mapping & Org Chart DemandFarm is a comprehensive Key Account Management suite, and its Org Chart module is often regarded as the gold standard for Salesforce org chart tools. It’s a 100% Salesforce-native organization chart app that empowers sales and account teams to visualize Complex organizational hierarchies Create context-rich relationship maps, and Develop effective engagement strategies With DemandFarm you can do all this without leaving Salesforce. DemandFarm: Organization Chart App for Salesforce(Native) Standout Features of DemandFarm DemandFarm’s Org Chart tool automatically builds org charts from your Salesforce contacts, and leverages AI-driven relationship intelligence (via its “KAM AI” engine). In practice, this means the tool can suggest new contacts to add (e.g. “Recommended Contacts” based on intelligence) and even auto-generate parts of the hierarchy for you The interface allows easy drag-and-drop editing of the org chart. You can annotate each contact with key attributes like their role, influence level, decision-making power, and stance (e.g. Champion, Neutral, or Detractor). DemandFarm also lets you map out “who’s pushing, who’s pulling” on a deal – visually indicating positive or negative influence lines between stakeholders Engagement
Marketing to everybody is like marketing to nobody. The first step in ABM is identifying your ideal customer profile.” – Ankit Sharma. In episode 13 of the Shift podcast, Dr. Karthik Nagendra, CMO at DemandFarm, interviews Ankit Sharma, VP Marketing at Netcore Cloud. Join us as we delve into the dynamic world of ABM in the digital age, exploring the strategies, technologies, and best practices that are reshaping the way businesses engage with their most valuable accounts. Ankit Sharma shares his wealth of knowledge, offering unique insights into the evolving landscape of ABM and how it continues to drive exceptional results for organizations in today’s fast-paced and highly competitive business environment. In this episode, you’ll: – Learn the key strategies and tactics for implementing ABM effectively. – Discover the impact of AI, machine learning, and digital tools on ABM. – Explore the importance of sales and marketing alignment in ABM success. – Identify essential metrics for measuring the success of ABM campaigns.
In episode 12 of the Shift podcast, join Dr. Karthik Nagendra, CMO at DemandFarm, and Peter Hanford, Group Director of Digital Growth at Ebiquity Plc, as they explore how organizations can thrive in today’s ever-changing business landscape by embracing digital transformation for sales success. Discover the power of data-driven strategies that fuel intelligent decision-making and strategic planning. Uncover insights into: Forging Data-Driven Brilliance: Get to the heart of sales success by leveraging clean and structured data. Uncover how data is the key to unlocking growth opportunities. Empowering Seamless Automation: Dive into the world of technology and automation, streamlining data tasks and enabling sales teams to shine. Explore how automation paves the way for rapid client segmentation and co-creation. Embracing Customer-Centricity: Shift your focus from internal goals to solving client problems. Learn how collaborative planning based on client objectives can lead to dynamic and adaptable strategies. Tune in to The Shift today!
In episode 11 of the Shift podcast, Dr. Karthik Nagendra, CMO at DemandFarm, interviews Julie Lentz, Head of Retail Industry Media Sales for Google. Learn how organizations can develop a digital-first approach to sales that not only engages customers but also fuels revenue growth. In this podcast, you’ll learn: 1. The importance of balancing data and relationships in key account management 2. The significance of empathy and change management in driving digital transformation 3. How to use technology to improve digital selling 4. How to develop a digital-first sales strategy that engages customers and fuels revenue growth Tune in to The Shift today!
Have you wondered how to engage specific high-value accounts effectively? In episode 10 of the Shift podcast, Dr. Karthik Nagendra, CMO at Demand Farm, interviews Tejas Arur, Business Communication & Customer Engagement Strategist at Axtria Inc., about the key principles and strategies behind account-based marketing in a digital age. They discuss the importance of personalized and targeted marketing strategies, the role of data analytics and AI in account-based marketing, and the need for synchronization between account-based marketing and account-based selling. Don’t miss out on their unique perspective on: Are personalized and targeted marketing strategies vital in today’s digital landscape? How does data analytics and AI elevate your account-based marketing efforts? What’s the key to synchronizing account-based marketing and account-based selling? How can you create a seamless customer experience through multichannel and omnichannel strategies? Tune in to The Shift Podcast today!
Maximizing Customer Retention with Key Account Management Looking for valuable insights into growing your existing customer base? The Shift Podcast has got you covered! In episode #9 of The Shift Podcast Dr. Karthik Nagendra speaks to Sherrod Patching, VP CSM at Gitlab to delve into customer retention trends, strategies, challenges, and much more. Learn how to leverage customer success and account management teams to drive growth. In this podcast, you’ll get to: Understand emerging trends in customer success Align product features with customers’ top-level business objectives Address challenges in account planning and governance Leverage analytics and Big Data for customer success and account management Tune in to The Shift today!
Digital transformation has become an essential element for businesses to remain competitive in today’s ever-changing business landscape. It has provided many benefits, including increased productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and enhanced sales performance. What has changed in the sales experience, since the ability to integrate digital tools seamlessly into the sales process has improved? In episode #8 of The Shift Podcast on Digital Key Account Management, Prasad Varahabhatla (Senior Director, Sales & Data Operations at Philips) and Dr. Karthik Nagendra (Chief Marketing Officer at DemandFarm) discuss what goes into streamlining the sales experience in digital key account management. In this podcast episode, Prasad shares his thoughts on 1) Integrating digital tools and platforms into the sales process 2) Increasing popularity of Rev Ops as a function and it’s future 3) Dealing with the entire customer journey from landing to renewing 4) Customer adoption and long-term value creation And much more…!
New York, 20th August 2024 – DemandFarm is thrilled to announce that our Org Chart solution has been featured in the “Top Salesforce Sales Apps & Solutions” list by SFApps.info. Org Chart by DemandFarm, a 100% Salesforce-native app, empowers sales and account management teams to visualize complex organizational hierarchies, create context-rich relationship maps, and develop effective engagement strategies—all within Salesforce. This recognition underscores the innovation and value DemandFarm provides to Salesforce users, helping account development teams manage client relationships with greater clarity and efficiency. About DemandFarm: DemandFarm enables companies to visualize, plan, and grow Key Account revenue directly within their CRM. With over 150 clients and 15,000+ users, including global brands like DHL, TaskUs, Slalom, and HCLTech, DemandFarm is trusted by enterprises to drive consistent growth through better key account management. DemandFarm offers three Salesforce-native products: Org Chart: Visualize complex hierarchies and manage stakeholder engagement. Account Planner: Standardize account planning and analyze competitive landscapes. Opportunity Planner: Implement and manage various sales methodologies with precision.
New York, 14th July 2023, DemandFarm, a leading player in account-based sales solutions, is proud to announce its recognition in the Forrester Research report “The Account-Based Selling Technologies Landscape, Q2 2023.” The report evaluated over 30 account-based selling technology providers and highlighted DemandFarm’s ability to help companies achieve their account-based goals by providing a comprehensive suite of features that enable them to align their sales, marketing, and customer success teams. “We are thrilled to be recognized by Forrester for our account-based management capabilities,” said Abhijit Gangoli, CEO & Co-Founder of DemandFarm. “This recognition is a testament to our commitment to helping our customers achieve their account-based goals and driving revenue growth. We are proud to be part of the account-based selling technology landscape and look forward to continuing to innovate and deliver value to our customers.” Forrester defines account-based selling technologies as: “Strategic account mapping and alignment technologies that help organizations’ account planning and execution efforts by revealing complex relationships; identifying white space; supporting opportunity planning efforts; and enabling collaboration that makes it easier to identify, win, retain, and grow business with key accounts.” Forrester’s report highlights the popularity and increasing importance of account-based selling (ABS) in recent years. ABS platforms allow sellers to gain visibility into account potential, streamline account planning processes, and increase sales rep efficiency. The report notes that ABS has evolved from a set of tools focused mainly on embedding a sales process or methodology to a market that uses data governance and AI to provide more meaningful insights and predictive actions for complex sales motions. The expanding landscape of ABS technologies can leave buyers with too many vendors to choose from. However, it is important to select the right ABS vendor based on business goals, vendor size, type of offering, geography, and use case differentiation. Moving forward, ABS technologies are expected to undergo further evolution, with a growing focus on investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and closer integration between marketing and sales tech stacks. Businesses that invest in these platforms can expect to see increased performance from their sellers, deeper insights into account potential, and a more sustainable and predictive sales process.The platform is expected to underpin collaboration spaces that bring together internal and external stakeholders to increase alignment and opportunity potential. About DemandFarm: DemandFarm helps companies visualize, plan and grow Key Account Sales. It helps companies manage key account selling inside their CRMs to centralize sales knowledge, find missed opportunities and create consistent growth across their organizations. With 250+ clients and 25,000+ users since 2016 customers like TaskUs, Slalom, Contentful, Zebra, AGS Health, Emids, Duke Energy, Mindtree, Cloud Academy trust DemandFarm with their key account planning.
New York, Sep 22, 2023: DemandFarm continues to stand out in Digital Key Account Management space. Review site G2.com has recognized DemandFarm consecutively in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer 2023 report. This is a sign of DemandFarm’s continued leadership in the B2B Digital Key Account Management space. DemandFarm has been awarded the ‘Best Support’ badge for excellence in customer satisfaction across its 25000+ user base. DemandFarm has consistently scored with above-average ratings on its Quality of Support provided (95% against an average of 91%) and Ease of doing business with ( 98% against an average of 93%). 89% of users are likely to recommend DemandFarm to others G2 is a review site that enables organizations to find the appropriate software and services to satisfy their needs by accessing over 1 million reviews. To read more reviews about DemandFarm, check out the G2 website here: https://www.g2.com/products/demandfarm/reviews#reviews
The Great Place to Work® Assessment is considered a ‘Gold Standard’ in workplace Culture assessment. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace. Our company has earned this recognition based on a rigorous assessment independently conducted by Great Place to Work® Institute India. We stood out with above-average assessment scores in our category of companies under 100 employees in all the dimensions that we were being surveyed under – Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Pride and Camaraderie. We are building a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture™ and we thrive due to a remarkable team who are passionate and driven.
DemandFarm is happy to announce that it complies with international Information Security Management System standards. The ISO/IEC 27001:2013 has been awarded for meeting internationally-recognized requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving Information Security Management System within a company. DemandFarm now assures you with a higher quality and higher level of trust, reduces the risk of cyber attacks and information security breaches. With the ISO/IEC 27701:2019 certification, DemandFarm has also followed the privacy extension. You can now trust DemandFarm even more when it comes to managing personal information and adhering to international standards of privacy regulations. Examination Scope: Information Security Management System (ISMS) Certification: ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (link to certificate) Examination Scope: Information Security Management System (ISMS) Certification: ISO/IEC 27701:2019 (link to certificate) We are committed to ensuring information security at all levels and maintaining the certifications!
Pune, July 21, 2022: Review site G2.com has recognized DemandFarm as a Leader in the Summer 2022 Reports. This is a validation of DemandFarm’s continued efforts in championing Digital Key Account Management and at being leaders in CRO. Additionally, DemandFarm was also awarded the G2 ‘Users Love Us’ badge for excellent customer satisfaction across its 25000+ user base. G2 is a review site that enables organizations to find the appropriate software and services to satisfy their needs by accessing over 1 million reviews. Here are some of the reviews that G2 users have left as a testament to DemandFarm’s excellence in Digital Key Account Management: “The flexibility of the tool and the deployment team. Demand farm allows you to shape the account plan to the needs of your business while offering best practices to guide you along the journey.” – Tom C, VP Global Sales Operations, Enterprise (>1000 employees) “The integration of the different modules makes it a valuable instrument for organizations to manage, monitor and adapt customer planning. It gives a total, transparent overview of all activities based on relationships with the different players in the power base.” – Bennie P, Sales Director, Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.) To read more reviews about DemandFarm, check out the G2 website here: https://www.g2.com/products/demandfarm/reviews#reviews ABOUT DEMANDFARM DemandFarm is a pioneer in the Digital Account Planning space with a productized solution approach for strategic account growth. Since 2016, DemandFarm’s SaaS-based products have enhanced Digital Account Planning for account and sales teams across the world. This is made possible by two primary products – ‘Account Planner’ and ‘Org Chart’, built around our proprietary Account Centric Sales Effectiveness framework. Both, ‘Account Planner’ and ‘Org Chart’, are native to Salesforce and connected to leading CRMs and sales tech platforms. Find out more about what DemandFarm has to offer here: www.demandfarm.com
See how DemandFarm is redefining account planning in the era of AI, and finally making it possible for key account management teams to focus on selling. Catch seasoned KAM practitioners Jeremy King – Lead, Strategic Growth @ TrendyMinds and Harsh Sanklecha – AVP, Customer Success @ DemanadFarm share their unfiltered take on what’s game-changing, what’s just noise and what’s on the horizon for AI-driven account planning. Agenda: AI’s role in the evolution of account planning tools Top three AI trends that’ll shape account planning in 2025 and beyond Demo of DemandFarm’s KAM AI Watch the webinar on-demand:
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The truism “creating value for your customers will eventually create revenue for your company” perhaps rings loudest in the targeted, relationship-heavy, high-value space of account-based selling. In Key Account Management (KAM), as we aim to move from being a vendor for our key accounts to a strategic partner who can co-create value, the single most dominant value that can drive this transformation is – customer-centricity. Unrelenting, obsessive, customer-centricity. In this webinar, Forrester analyst Steve Silver, Carter Cathey – SVP, Global Sales at Aytm, Sean Moran – Partner at ZS, and Joshua Gregg – Ex-President at DemandFarm discuss – Why you should make sales and customer success teams the gatekeepers of customer-centricity – Why revenue growth from your key customers requires a healthy amount of obsession in ABS – Leveraging technology for collaboration, co-creation, and personalization to deliver customer experience and drive sales performance – Aligning compensation models with a customer-centric culture Watch the webinar on-demand:
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In the fast-paced world of B2B sales, Account-based Selling (ABS) has become the go-to strategy for sales leaders. However, at the core of ABS is an often-overlooked perspective–selling to the humans behind the steely structures that make up their accounts lists. Only a handful of companies and sales leaders are laying down relationship targets, and an even smaller slice plots a course to hit them. The consequence? It’s 2024 and relationship mapping still remains ad-hoc, with account managers struggling to identify the right people and initiate meaningful conversations. This experts-led webinar discusses a panacea for all these challenges – Omphalos, DemandFarm’s Spring Release: 1. How an organization’s Account Based Selling (ABS) maturity affects their approach to relationship mapping 2. 5 challenges that make it hard for your AMs to identify the right people, initiate meaningful conversations, and stitch back their efforts to the larger business goals. 3. Live demo of how you can make methodical relationship mapping the norm across your key accounts portfolio with our Spring Release. Watch the webinar on-demand:
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Recent economic headwinds have spurred organizations to rethink key account management (KAM). B2B companies are keen on swapping hit-or-miss approaches with repeatable processes that guarantee retention and growth. The wedge in this pursuit? Static plans and lack of clarity on how to standardize best practices across their key accounts. A ~27% increase in cross-sell and upsell opportunities isn’t far-fetched if you know how to standardize key account planning best practices at scale. In our webinar featuring Forrester Analyst Steve Silver on Mar 28, we discuss: 1. A definitive road map for implementing key account management (KAM) best practices. 2. What should your ideal KAM tool look like? 3. If you are just beginning your KAM journey, what best practices should you spend time on? 4. How long should your KAM implementation go on for? (See a real-world case study from our recent implementation) 5. What short, mid and long term metrics should you be tracking as a best practice? Watch the webinar on-demand:
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What happens when three industry leaders gather on a Zoom call? You get expert commentary, game-changing insights, hilarious anecdotes, and valuable lessons that will reshape your approach to customer interaction! Join Joshua Gregg – President, Americas at DemandFarm, as he catches up with Maria Dominguez – PM Global Account Management, DHL, and Russ Sharer – CSO, Brooks Group, for an unfiltered conversation. They’re delving into the nitty-gritty – the triumphs and challenges, the well-guarded secrets, and those not-so-secret gems – of Strategic Account Management (SAM). It’s all about nurturing those high-impact relationships that could be the game-changers for your business. Key takeaways: Strategic Thinking: Discover how to turn transactional customers into strategic thinkers who seek your advisory expertise. The Digital Revolution: Explore cutting-edge digital tools that bridge gaps, showcase value, and cultivate collaboration. From Sales to Trust: Learn the art of becoming a trusted advisor by building trust, showing value, and becoming indispensable. AI and You: Delve into the power of AI-driven insights and automation in streamlining your approach and enhancing customer interactions. Navigating Implementation Challenges: Explore real-world stories and strategies for successfully implementing digital tools, aligning personalities, and overcoming cultural barriers. Cultivating Customer-Centric Culture: Discover the vital role of a customer-centric culture in effective tool adoption and fostering meaningful customer relationships. Watch the Webinar On-Demand:
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The Changing Role of Technology in Key Account Management – Webinar by DemandFarm Average number of buying interactions today in a B2B sales process have surged by 58.8% since the pandemic (Forrester 2021 Sales Enablement Year End Review). As Key Account Planning grows complex with account-centric interactions, technology that can continuously improve based on intelligent insights becomes a necessity. Decision-making will soon be based on Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), not on intuition and experience. Artificial Intelligence takes into account thousands of sales engagements within a CRM to provide contextual insights from your data. In the future, AI will most likely evolve to a stage where AI capabilities are embedded within Account Planning tools and can guide client engagements. This webinar will address some challenges and opportunities that arise out of this. Agenda The role of Artificial Intelligence, Data and Analytics in Key Account Planning Intelligent and Contextual Insights Evolving role of Key Account Management teams Augmented Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence Speakers Milind Katti Co-Founder & COO DemandFarm Rick Bradberry Principal Analyst & Exec. Advisor B2B Sales Forrester Joshua Gregg Vice President, Strategic Accounts The Qt Company Michael McCarthy Senior Business & Technology Consultant, Sales Enablement Duke Energy Watch the webinar on-demand:
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Key Account Management Maturity Framework Focusing solely on acquiring new business often leads to missed opportunities within existing key accounts. In fact, key account management (KAM) can drive significant growth—improving deal closure rates by up to 25%. Yet, many companies remain trapped in reactive KAM practices, which are often as ineffective as having no program at all. DemandFarm’s KAM Maturity Assessment Model offers a comprehensive framework to help organizations evaluate their KAM maturity, identify strengths, uncover areas for growth, and highlight expansion opportunities. Before strategizing ways to increase revenue from key accounts, it’s essential to understand your current KAM position. This guide will help you: Measure essential KAM metrics Understand the key components of KAM maturity modeling Implement actionable steps to strengthen long-term client relationships
Why should B2B organizations adopt KAM Technology With recent economic headwinds tightening everyone’s purse strings, driving growth from existing customers is in vogue. As acquisition becomes increasingly expensive, cross-sell and up-sell initiatives are the latest poster child(ren) of B2B revenue growth. Why? – Gartner research has shown that account-based upsell campaigns have increased Lifetime Value by 150%. – Studies show personalized product recommendations can increase revenue by up to 300% and conversion rate by 150% As successive good experiences compound, you move from being their vendor to a strategic partner, increasing the value of your recommendations. More businesses are following suit, taking a closer look at their key accounts to identify strategic accounts with revenue potential. As prospects go from “opportunities” to “accounts,” you realize that the strategies, processes, and activities for key account management significantly differ from those for lead management. Without a dedicated KAM solution, your melange of disparate tools and quick fixes isn’t just wasting your time, it’s eating your growth. And in today’s economic climate, you really can’t afford that.This ebook covers 1. signs that you’re CRM isn’t enough to handle your key accounts 2. when should you consider buying a dedicated KAM tool 3. what the actual impact of a KAM tool looks like on a real company It doesn’t matter where you are in your KAM journey – a beginner or a veteran – if you’re invested in maximizing revenue growth from your existing customer base, this is a must-read.
Amidst economic fluctuations in 2024, B2B companies are increasingly focusing on strengthening their KAM portfolio. As their organization’s biggest revenue contributors, the increased importance attached to key accounts has increased the adoption of KAM tools. The pandemic-led digital transformation has irrevocably transformed the key account management landscape. Hybrid work environments demanded new frameworks for collaboration, and technological advancements have helped snowball this digital transformation trend into a competitive advantage. The decision to incorporate a KAM tool in your tech stack is a significant one, and choosing the right tool for your organization can be a complex process involving multiple stakeholders and balancing critical parameters. This ebook aims to be a comprehensive toolkit detailing: 1. A quick test to understand your KAM readiness 2. How you can define your KAM goals 3. A framework to recognize the functionalities (in a tool) most critical to your organization 4. Factors you’ll need to consider before making your buying decision 5. A comprehensive checklist template to evaluate KAM tools
Sales opportunity planning is a complex process that entails following several steps and requires a comprehensive guide. It’s built around a multi-step sales cycle with several stages that include research, qualification, and strategy development. All these stages are aligned to meet the common goal of realizing the full potential of a prospective sales opportunity. The success and future of any sales organization hinge on the cohesive planning and execution of each step, that is collectively known as sales opportunity management. The best and most effective sales opportunity plans are created and aligned around creating value for the buyer. It also enables managers and sales teams strategize, plan, execute, and monitor a multistage sales process. Compared to managing a sales pipeline where metrics like revenue and margin take center stage, opportunity planning is a more complex process that is planned and executed around the customer. To understand the different facets and layers of this strategy, let’s look at the 8 steps of sales opportunity planning. 8 Steps of Sales Opportunity Planning Step 1: Identifying the Opportunity The journey starts with identifying the sales opportunity that is nothing else but a qualified sales lead. By meeting the necessary criteria, this lead presents the opportunity for business potential. You need to ask yourself some pertinent questions in order to identify valuable sales opportunities, such as: Are your existing customers seeking existing services or products that your competitors are not able to provide? Are there any new services or products that you can provide and gain market traction? Are there any customers that you may have not considered that are now available to you? This process plays an important role in qualifying leads and sifting opportunities from dead ends. After identifying a set of opportunities, you can rank them on the basis of cost, potential benefit and complexity to implement. Tools such as organizational charts and product roadmaps can play an important role in prospecting and lead generation. They help you to decode the prospect’s organizational structure and identify key decision-makers and stakeholders. In fact, product roadmaps are a great asset for sales teams to understand a product’s future capabilities and how they can match with the prospect’s needs. Learn More: How to do Opportunity Management in Salesforce CRM Step 2: Understanding the Prospect’s Needs The buyer is the kingpin of the planning sales opportunities and the success of any plan hinges on understanding the prospect’s needs. Sellers must invest all time and energy into this crucial stage by meticulously researching the prospect’s pain points and goals. One way to identify opportunities for value creation is by conducting thorough customer discovery interviews. To gain a clear view of available opportunities, you must document the history with your customer and add possible future ones to the list. Sales teams must invest in tools such as customer strategy maps to align their objectives and initiatives match with capabilities of the solution they are offering. These maps are a repository of the culture of customer organizations, their goals and possible challenges. With this vital information, your sales force can identify potential areas where you can provide value that boosts the customer’s plans. Learn More: What are White Space Opportunities? Step 3: Building the Sales Team The next step in sales opportunity planning is to assess your organization for the business capabilities required to go after the opportunity. This crucial stage involves assembling a cross-functional sales team with the right skills and expertise. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined within the team and equally important is to ensure clear communication and collaboration among team members. Apart from tracking the activities of your sales team, keep your ear close to the ground to gain insights from other team members. Innovative ideas and solutions may come from their personal insights into potential value for the buyer. A valuable or crucial tip may change the game and help sales teams close a sale, or resolve a difficult issue. Step 4: Crafting the Value Proposition Once you have a clear understanding of the buyer’s needs and your team is in place, you can focus on crafting your solution and building the value case. At this stage, it’s important to create a compelling value proposition that is tailored to the prospect and addresses the prospect’s specific needs and pain points. Another aspect of crafting the value proposition is showcasing the unique selling points and benefits. Ideally, each component of your proposition should be linked to the value it provides for the buyer. These points will help you appeal to the buyer’s needs and create effective value messaging. Another important point to consider at this stage is how you compare with the competition from the buyer’s perspective. Understanding the buyer’s view of your competition will help you create a value proposition that highlights your strengths. Moreover, this value proposition can also cater to buyers that are not serviced well by your competition. Your value proposition can appeal to those needs the buyers that the competition does not service. Step 5: Creating a Customized Sales Strategy We have crossed the half-way mark of the sales opportunity plan and now is the time to develop a detailed sales plan, including timelines and milestones. You need to know the buyer’s buying process and match it to your sales process to create a customized sales strategy. It’s important to gather all valuable insights your team can contribute to formulating a winning sales strategy. Based on their success with customers, sales winners are likely propose winning ideas and also alert you about what does not work. By incorporating insights and inputs, you can create a customized sales strategy to meet specific goals and objectives. Formulating a sales strategy also entails anticipating objections and challenges and preparing response strategies for each. The final action plan must map out the steps you need to take during the entire process to close the sale. Step 6: Presenting the Solution Strategies Planning a winning strategy is one thing but presenting a
Account Planning Readiness Assessment: Developed by Forrester Assess your organization’s readiness for effective account planning with this downloadable checklist by Forrester. Evaluate crucial elements such as organizational culture, collaboration, data analytics, and customer insights. Receive actionable guidance and industry expertise to enhance your account planning capabilities and drive long-term success. By utilizing the Account Planning Readiness Assessment Checklist, organizations can gain a comprehensive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in account planning. This self-assessment facilitates informed decision-making and aids in prioritizing initiatives that will drive improved customer engagement, revenue growth, and long-term success.
The Future of Strategic Account Management Unlock the secrets to strategic account management and stay ahead of the curve! Our research team is thrilled to announce the release of our latest report, Shaping the Future of Strategic Account Planning: Insights, Opportunities & Strategies at the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) Annual Conference 2023. Find out what sales leaders from over 100 organizations had to say about their objectives, investments, and challenges in strategic account planning. Be the first to learn the trends and best practices in strategic account planning by reading our latest report. Let’s shape the future of strategic account planning together!
