9 Best Salesforce Apps You Must Have in 2025 to Unlock Enterprise Revenue Growth
Salesforce is the world’s #1 CRM platform—and for good reason. With over 150,000 organizations relying on it globally and $31.25 billion in annual revenue, it’s the backbone of how enterprises expand revenue from their strategic accounts, manage customer relationships, and drive scalable growth. But here’s the thing: Salesforce’s real power kicks in when you plug into its broader ecosystem. The best Salesforce apps on the AppExchange turn your CRM into a complete operating system for sales, marketing, operations, and customer success. Still, with thousands of apps available, choosing the right ones isn’t easy. This guide cuts through the noise. Whether you’re a growing nonprofit or a global GTM team, these are the best SFDC AppExchange tools to unlock speed, intelligence, and strategy in 2025. Top Key Account Management Applications 1.DemandFarm – Best for Strategic Account Management Use case: Managing strategic key accounts with repeatable, scalable revenue strategy Salesforce Appexchange Apps by DemandFarm: DemandFarm Account Management & Planning App for Salesforce(Enterprise) Org Chart – Relationship Map & Organization Chart App for Salesforce (Native) DemandFarm Opportunity Planner – Opportunity Management & Planning App Account Planner Agentforce Extension: AI Account Planning Agent for Salesforce If your biggest accounts still live in spreadsheets, you’re leaving revenue on the table. I’ve seen this play out across multiple teams. DemandFarm fixes that. It’s a 100% Salesforce-native app built to help you scale key account management (KAM) without losing the nuance of high-touch selling. Build multi-year account plans that link to pipeline and revenue Map white space across regions, products, or business units Visualize org charts and track influence and blockers Align seamlessly with MEDDPICC, Challenger, or your custom methodology DemandFarm doesn’t feel like an add-on. It feels like the KAM layer Salesforce always needed. If you’re serious about expanding wallet share, this is your toolkit. 2. DevOps & Release Management: Shipping with Confidence, Not Caution When your CRM is mission-critical and tied to revenue operations, even a small slip can have the snowball effect. That’s why DevOps should prioritize about stability, auditability, and clarity along with agility. These are the three best SFDC AppExchange tools to streamline release cycles, eliminate manual guesswork, and make Salesforce updates feel less like a leap and more like a glide. 1. Copado – Automate Everything, from Planning to Production If your team runs complex workflows and needs governance baked in, Copado is your DevOps backbone. It’s built to unify the full release cycle—from story creation to deployment—with security and compliance in every step. Set up end-to-end CI/CD pipelines across teams Automate testing and deployment while staying audit-ready Control changes with role-based access and version traceability Copado shines in organizations that treat DevOps like a product, not a patchwork. 2. Gearset – Git-Level Control for Non-Git Teams What people love about Gearset is how it simplifies technical workflows without dumbing them down. It compares metadata in real time, flags conflicts, and gives you the confidence to deploy without second-guessing your environment. Instantly diff sandbox and production environments Run pre-deployment validation to avoid surprises Roll back changes if anything doesn’t go to plan It’s the perfect fit for Salesforce teams juggling frequent releases with limited room for error. 3. Prodly – DevOps for Admins and AppOps Heroes Prodly is the tool that lets your admin team play DevOps without writing code. It’s purpose-built for handling data-heavy updates in apps like CPQ or Billing, where config is just as complex as code. Move data safely between orgs using pre-built templates Set up no-code pipelines to handle routine tasks Log every change for accountability and rollback Prodly feels less like a technical tool and more like a productivity multiplier for Salesforce operations. If your business depends on Salesforce but your releases still feel risky or manual, this DevOps stack is where I’d start. It helps your team move fast—but with the confidence that nothing will break along the way. Conversational AI & Lead Engagement: Turning Visitors into Pipeline, Instantly Web forms still exist, but in 2025, they’re not where deals begin. High-intent buyers don’t wait around—they expect answers, context, and relevance in real time. If your site doesn’t deliver that, they’re gone. That’s why conversational AI isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. The best Salesforce-native chat tools sync with your CRM, qualify leads on the fly, and alert your reps when it’s time to jump in. These are the ones to transform your inbound velocity in no time. 1. Qualified – Your Real-Time Conversion Engine Qualified doesn’t just pop up a chatbot—it becomes your AI-powered SDR, always on, always listening. When someone worth talking to lands on your site, it knows. It starts the right conversation, qualifies the lead, and passes everything to Salesforce without skipping a beat. Detects visitor intent based on behavior and CRM data Starts human-like conversations to uncover buyer needs Routes qualified leads instantly to sales, enriched and ready 2. Drift (Now Salesloft) – Conversational Marketing That Feels Personal Drift was one of the first to flip the funnel, starting with conversation, not conversion. It routes based on behavior, pulls CRM insights into the dialogue, and knows when to switch from bot to human without losing the thread. Lead routing and segmentation powered by real-time context AI-driven playbooks that adapt mid-conversation Deep Salesforce integration for personalized follow-ups 3. Intercom – Unified Conversations Across Sales, Support, and Success If you’re balancing multiple touchpoints—across teams, channels, and funnels—Intercom brings it all together. It lets your team manage sales, support, and onboarding conversations from one shared inbox, while pushing every interaction back to Salesforce. See the full CRM profile of every visitor, right in the chat Trigger proactive messages based on lifecycle stage or behavior Scale with bots, then hand off to reps at the right moment Customer Service: Capture Intelligence Beyond the Ticket Customer service is the feedback engine, and feedback is fuel for product, marketing, and revenue. When these insights live inside Salesforce, you gain a single source of truth for how your customers feel, where they struggle, and how
Webinar with Forrester: Scaling KAM Best Practices: Engineering Repeatability for Revenue Expansion
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:
8 Steps of Sales Opportunity Planning
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
Maximizing Customer Retention: The Role of Key Account Management in Customer Success Management
In the business world, customer success management is no longer an afterthought; it’s a necessity. Consensus across research confirms: retaining existing customers costs 5 to 25 times less than acquiring new ones. But businesses are realizing that it goes beyond keeping customers satisfied; it’s about truly understanding their needs and delivering value at every touchpoint. The rise of the digital era has changed the rules of the game. Complex products, multifaceted needs, and fierce competition have become the norm. In this context, a one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. Success lies in a tailored, strategic approach to customer success management. One that leverages Key Account Management (KAM) principles to retain customers and transform them into brand advocates. KAM principles encompass fostering robust relationships, tailoring solutions, maintaining consistent communication, prioritizing the long term, and constantly reviewing and adapting strategies. This journey requires a keen understanding of your customers, insightful data, and a commitment to going the extra mile. And it’s a journey that pays off in spades. Read More: What is Customer Centricity and Why it isn’t the destination? The Changing Role of Customer Success Managers / CSMs in a Technological World “This season is an opportunity for the CSM to shine.” (From episode #9 of The Shift podcast). In today’s ever-competitive business environment, customers expect consistent value and support. Customer Success Managers (CSMs) play an indispensable role in ensuring this. But their role goes beyond just implementation or ensuring customer satisfaction or customer retention. The changes? Multi-faceted roles – serving as advocates, advisors and educators. Guide customers through complex technical platforms and maximize value Ensure smooth adoption of products or services CSMs are often tasked with understanding intricate technical platforms and ensuring that customers can effectively utilize them. The platforms they deal with can vary from sophisticated data analytics tools to advanced customer relationship management systems. However, despite technological challenges, CSMs are the ones who ensure that these tools deliver value to customers. Learn More: Best Customer Segmentation Strategies for Customer Success Teams Strategies for Sales Growth with Existing Customers: Avoiding Pitfalls Organizations often fall into common traps when trying to drive sales growth with existing customers. Sherrod Patching, VP – Customer Success, GitLab, highlights a typical pitfall: an overemphasis on feature-function discussions. She says, “… it’s easy to just pivot to feature function. (But) ensure you understand how these features and functions that they’re so excited about are going to lead them to business outcomes and ensure they’re on the right path.” (Snippets from episode #9 of The Shift podcast). Particularly for products with high release cycles, it’s not about turning on features for the sake of it. It’s about highlighting those that bring customers closer to desired outcomes, like faster development times or increased efficiencies. Other common mistakes to avoid: Overlooking customer segmentation: Different customers have unique needs. 73% of customers expect companies to understand and 62% expect companies to anticipate these needs. Ignoring customer segmentation can hinder the ability to engage effectively and tailor offerings. Neglecting relationship building: Building trust and rapport with customers is essential. It’s not just about the bottom line; it’s about fostering long-term relationships. These relationships can bring on upselling and cross-selling opportunities. A McKinsey study reported that upselling and cross-selling can increase marketing ROI by nearly 30% and overall sales by approximately 20%. While results could vary by business, sector and service, the bottom line is sales performance can increase even with existing clients. Ignoring customer feedback: Failing to act on customer feedback means missing opportunities to delight customers by improving current offerings and developing new, relevant ones. Shockingly, just over 20% of B2B companies consistently measure and act on insights from customer experience. By sidestepping these mistakes, organizations can build lasting relationships, optimize sales growth strategies and drive long-term success. Emerging Trends in Customer Success Management Several trends are reshaping how customer success management is viewed. One significant trend is Account-Based Marketing (ABM). This targeted approach allows customer success teams to tailor their efforts and resources towards those customers that are most likely to succeed. Another emerging trend is the growing emphasis on social selling. By leveraging social media, customer success teams can connect with potential customers, build relationships, and promote their offerings. There is a noticeable shift towards proactive engagement. Rather than waiting for customers to reach out, customer success managers actively engage them, offering content, support and offers tailored to their needs. Customer education and empowerment are also gaining traction. Customer success teams are investing heavily in webinars, tutorials and other resources that help customers fully understand the features of offerings. This focus on education allows customers to get the most out of the product or service. Lastly, customer journey mapping is a crucial tool for customer success teams. By understanding the customer’s entire journey, from the first contract and through the relationship, customer success teams can identify opportunities to improve the customer experience. “This seamless experience for the customer, that’s shared with the customer, that’s documented in systems, that then carries through, becomes a continuation of a single journey.” (Snippets from episode #9 of The Shift podcast). These trends highlight the increasing complexity of customer success management and the need for innovative strategies to meet customer needs and drive continuous improvements. Addressing Challenges in Account Planning and Governance Organizations frequently struggle with account planning and governance – a crucial process that requires strategic plans for customer account management. Challenges often arise due to misalignment among teams, lack of customer insights, poor communication, focus on short-term goals and inadequate resources. Masterclass by Forrester Principal Analyst Anthony McPartlin: Why companies fail with key account management? There is a need for a cohesive approach to account planning. Account planning by the Sales team and success planning by the Customer Success team needs to be aligned. Many organizations treat these as separate processes, resulting in siloed approaches. However, ensuring that account plans and success plans operate in tandem is vital. “But those two need to go hand in hand. What you want
The 30-60-90-Day Blueprint: Your Path to Key Account Success
Powering Progress: The 30-60-90-Day Blueprint Plan for Key Account Excellence The 30-60-90-Day Blueprint: Your Path to Key Account Success Your Guide to Key Account Management Excellence. Learn how the 30-60-90-Day Blueprint powers progress, fostering sustainable business growth. In the world of B2B sales, success is all about relationships. The most important of these relationships is with your key accounts. That is the customers who have the potential to generate the most revenue for your business. By building and managing long-term relationships with your key accounts, you can create a foundation for sustainable growth. The 30-60-90-Day Blueprint is a time-bound, comprehensive approach to Key Account Management. It breaks down your first 90 days into three phases: The 30-day phase: You actively engage in learning and comprehending the intricacies of your key accounts. During this period, you diligently gather essential information about their businesses, goals, and challenges, establishing a strong foundation for your future interactions. The 60-day phase: The focus shifts towards building robust relationships and delivering exceptional value. To achieve this, you strategically devise and execute plans tailored to meet the specific needs of each key account, aiming not only to meet but also exceed their expectations. The 90-day phase: Your efforts are geared towards cementing and solidifying these newly formed relationships. It is crucial to continue delivering value consistently, ensuring that your key accounts remain content and satisfied. This stage sets the groundwork for long-term success and opens the doors to further growth and opportunities. Through sustained dedication and customer-centricity, you position yourself as a trusted partner for your key accounts, fostering enduring relationships that propel mutual prosperity. Understanding the 30-60-90-Day Blueprint The 30-60-90-Day Blueprint is your trusted roadmap in Key Account Management, guiding your journey with strategic precision. This game plan operates on understanding, delivering value, and building strong relationships, gradually leading to long-term success. By breaking down KAM into manageable stages, it eliminates guesswork and empowers you with a clear vision, focusing your efforts on specific goals while optimizing resource utilization. As a catalyst for progress, each stage builds upon the previous, ensuring continuous growth. With a keen understanding of your key accounts, you can effectively cater to their needs, consistently deliver value, and forge powerful strategic relationships. Follow the proven path of the 30-60-90-Day Blueprint to unlock the full potential of your key accounts, driving increased revenue, heightened customer satisfaction, and strengthened relationships. The First 30 Days: Building a Strong Foundation The first 30 days of the 30-60-90-Day Blueprint are all about getting to know your key accounts. Knowledge is power, and in this phase, the spotlight is on in-depth research and analysis. Gather information about their businesses, their goals, their challenges, and their expectations. This information will help you understand your key accounts’ needs and how best you can meet them. You’ll also start to build relationships with your key accounts. This means communicating with them regularly and listening to their needs. It also means being responsive to their requests and going the extra mile to help them succeed. Through effective communication, you understand the nuances of your clients’ needs – giving you an edge in offering them precisely what they need. With a solid understanding and clear objectives, you can craft an actionable plan. This roadmap outlines the steps you’ll take to meet and exceed your clients’ expectations, making the first stride towards a mutually beneficial relationship. By the end of the first 30 days, you’ll have a solid understanding of your key accounts and their needs. You’ll also have started to build strong relationships with them. This will put you in a great position to deliver value and achieve mutually beneficial results. The Next 60 Days: Driving Growth and Value The second stage of the blueprint, spanning the next 60 days, moves the lens from understanding to action. With deep insight into your key accounts’ needs and goals, you’re well-positioned to deliver value and drive growth. The first step in this next phase is developing a customized account strategy. This plan, tailored to your key account’s needs, will outline how you will enhance engagement, identify growth avenues, and drive account expansion. Your strategy must be flexible, allowing for modifications based on evolving needs and market dynamics. An important aspect of this phase involves exploring opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. By aligning these opportunities with your clients’ needs, you could find additional revenue streams, while simultaneously providing more value to your clients. Collaboration is essential during this phase. Cross-functional teams within your organization can provide unique insights and skills. This ensures a holistic approach to Key Account Management. By pooling resources and harnessing internal expertise, you create a synergy that amplifies the value delivered to your key accounts. Project monitoring should not be ignored. Regularly assess your strategy’s effectiveness, identify potential gaps and adjust as required. This cyclical process helps you stay in sync with your key accounts’ expectations. You can thus ensure that your efforts are on the right track. By the end of the second phase, you’ll have implemented targeted strategies, driven significant growth, and created tangible value for your key accounts. This places you in a strong position to solidify your relationships and lay the foundation for long-term success. The Final 90 Days: Solidifying Success and Expanding Relationships The final phase of the 30-60-90-Day Blueprint is about consolidating your success and laying the groundwork for future growth. It’s in this phase that your efforts bear fruit. You will concentrate on cementing the relationships you’ve built and continuously delivering value to your key accounts. Your primary task is to deliver on promises made and meet client expectations. The emphasis is on maintaining the high bar of performance you’ve set. But you also need to be consistent in the quality of service you provide. Your ability to meet and surpass expectations will bolster your clients’ confidence in your partnership, and drive their loyalty and satisfaction. However, it doesn’t stop there. This final phase calls for the provision of continuous value-added solutions. This involves
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
Benefits of Digitalizing Your Key Account Management Program
The quest for the right solution is never-ending in B2B spheres, as organizational needs constantly change and evolve. Large organizations rely on technology to streamline their processes and improve their efficiency – and are constantly looking for tools that can help them in this regard. With digital key account management tools, sales teams can offer numerous advantages over traditional methods, including increased security, convenience, and visibility. Buyer behavior has drastically changed over the last couple of years, and a significant portion of post-pandemic interactions are expected to remain virtual. This shift in behavior has brought key account management to the forefront of many organizations’ strategies, prompting CSOs and CROs to rethink their approach to managing accounts. With key account management evolving and becoming more complex, organizations are turning to AI as a key differentiator and enabler. Meeting buyer needs with digital account management solutions Buyers have significantly changed their behaviors, and more personas are coming into the digital key account management sphere. It’s becoming critical for organizations to leverage technology to enable their employees to develop better connections with buyers. However, adding additional steps or work for the sales team can create friction and become a significant hurdle for organizations to leverage technology better. To create a frictionless and seamless process, organizations must evaluate the additional work that gets added on to the sales team when they are selling. This approach is not just about technology; it’s about how technology and processes can work together to create a better experience for everyone involved. Large clients are looking for solutions that can help them drive optimize processes, streamline growth and reduce costs. However, the decision-making process can be complex, involving multiple stakeholders, technical buyers, and influencers. As a result, companies need to have an effective key account management tool that can help them navigate this complex landscape and identify the key decision-makers within an organization. Check out more on the DemandFarm account planning masterclass on ‘Making Account Plans Actionable, Measurable and Sustainable’ here. Managing key accounts digitally is important for companies, as conversations have largely moved online – rendering the traditional methods powerless. Having tools to visualize the customer’s organizational structure, understand the influences among stakeholders, and identify key decision-makers provides much needed context for sales teams. With this context, key decision makers can use relationship maps to target the right decision makers. Start small and take a hypothesis-driven approach Every company is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing and managing the relationship. The best way to manage is to test at a small scale and expand organically through the learnings. Develop a hypothesis for how the objectives can be accomplished and allow teams to test them out. By collecting data to measure success, teams can adjust course where needed. Iteratively testing and learning leads to an approach that works for the organization and can be scaled organically in the sales team. Find champions Champions are the people in the organization who spearhead change and advocate for digitalization of key account management. They empower others to share the vision and help teams focus on the goal. Focus on competitive advantages Finding ways to extend competitive advantages can involve white space mapping, identifying new opportunities with existing clients, or finding new clients for existing solutions. Having a unique digital relationship strategy gives a surgical and intentional approach for how sales teams identify key areas of communication. To build trust and relationships, sales teams can play on their strengths and highlight related features prominently to meet stakeholder needs. One of the most important factors when selecting a digital key account management tool is its ability to integrate with the company’s existing solution set – so that teams don’t feel like they are using a third-party product. If the tool is easy to learn and operate, minimal training is required for employees to understand its functionalities. When implemented effectively, a digital key account management tool can transform the way companies manage their large clients. It can help sales teams to better understand their customers’ organizational structure and the key decision-makers involved in the purchasing process. This understanding can lead to more effective sales strategies and ultimately, increased revenue. Companies that work with large clients need to invest in digital key account management tools to effectively manage their relationships. By leveraging these tools, companies can gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs, and develop more effective sales strategies that drive growth and reduce costs. The need for digital tools to manage customer relationships Organizations have completely overhauled their strategies over the last two years, especially when it comes to customer relationship management. Small and medium sized businesses that rely heavily on personal interactions with clients now use a digital-first approach to Key Account Management. To remain relevant with customers, solution providers have to create and implement a digital account and relationship strategy that could help them retain or even grow their key relationships in this new remote world. There are a few factors that sales teams have to consider: Aiming for a data-driven approach to relationship strategy and management. As consultants, the sales team helps clients define business problems, collect data, and use that data to inform decisions that produce positive outcomes for their organization. However, by turning that lens internally, organizations can come up with a suitable approach to manage opportunities, and improve their outcomes through managing accounts and relationships. Managing culture and people changes is important while shifting to a new approach. It requires proactive and sustained communication across a variety of stakeholder groups to influence broad behavior change across the company. To make it stick, sales teams should align incentives and the way they measure things to reflect the business outcomes they really care about as a business. Enabling teams with the right tools powers them to punch well above their weight. Even with the best approach and a workforce ready for change, lack of infrastructure and relevant tools to do the work can cause frustration,
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
It’s 2024! It’s time to go Digital now and adopt Digital Key Account Management!
The question ‘is it time to go digital with your KAM’ can be addressed from two perspectives – internal and external. Internal perspective: First is the internal perspective. At the organizational level, the question to ask yourself is whether it is the right time to take the plunge. In uncertain times, what is generally seen with customers is that the tacit knowledge of key accounts is retained by certain account managers. Unfortunately, in circumstances where those account managers get laid off or furloughed, the critical knowledge they possess is also lost. The account intelligence is ‘in their head’ and they take it with them. External Perspective: When you try to look at it from an external perspective, there is a lot more risk involved with large key accounts. Most large accounts are hedged on just one person or “champion” giving them their maximum revenue. In case that person leaves your accounts, the amount they were bringing into the organization is automatically at risk. In such a situation, it is important to give visibility to the organizations that relationships are important. Why should you adopt Digital Key Account Management? What are some of the benefits of adopting digital account planning solutions for your key accounts? How will it optimize the investments in your organization and build stronger relationships with your customers? How will it be different from the existing account management strategies that you have adopted for your key accounts? To answer these, it is essential to know how digital key account management can be a value-add in your organization. Centralize Account Intelligence It’s time to strengthen and centralize this account intelligence. The key to this is making account intelligence an asset within your organization. This enables the next person who is supposed to take over that particular key account to have more visibility. Increase Internal Collaboration: Considering the current work-from-home or hybrid environment that most organizations have adopted, collaboration is a must. Collaboration has also become much more challenging than before because of the sort of environment we live in. People often don’t have as much face time with each other as they did pre-pandemic. Thus, they need a common system or repository where they can come together and collaborate on key accounts. Increased efficiency Digital tools can help account managers automate day-to-day tasks and focus on more strategic tasks such as building relationships with key accounts and providing personalized solutions. By automating routine tasks, organizations can reduce the workload on account managers, enabling them to focus on higher-value activities. Personalized solutions Digital Key Account Management enables account managers to provide personalized solutions to key accounts by tailoring them to their specific needs based on predictive analytics and insights. By providing personalized solutions, account managers and sales leaders can build stronger relationships with key accounts, increasing customer loyalty and retention. Competitive advantage By adopting digital strategies, organizations can differentiate themselves from their competitors and meet the evolving needs of their customers. Organizations that fail to adopt digital strategies risk being left behind, as customers increasingly expect personalized and efficient solutions. Digital Key Account Management can help organizations stay ahead of the curve, ensuring they remain competitive in the long term. Improved analytics Digital Account Planning solutions provide organizations with improved analytics. This provides organizations with real-time data on key accounts, such as their engagement levels, preferences, and buying behavior. This data can be used to analyze trends, identify opportunities, and make data-driven decisions. Mapping the right stakeholders If we are unaware of the key stakeholders, decision-makers, or influencers within the target client’s organization, there is a possibility of losing the lead and the entire deal in the highly competitive B2B world. In order to ensure that the bargaining power of your sales and account management teams doesn’t fall short of expectations, stakeholder mapping is a must. More importantly, stakeholder mapping also ensures that customer needs are being prioritized. Knowing what key stakeholders in large accounts need both in the short-term and long-term ensures that your organization can satisfy them and have a strong relationship with them to build on. Thus, mapping the right stakeholders is important. Having visibility of white spaces Having visibility of the white spaces and your actions towards that is important to identify new opportunities and increase revenue within key accounts. By analyzing white space, or areas of potential growth and untapped opportunities within existing accounts, organizations can better understand their customers’ needs and preferences, and tailor their offerings accordingly. White space analysis also helps businesses to prioritize their resources and focus on high-potential opportunities, ultimately leading to greater profitability and customer satisfaction. Additionally, by regularly conducting white space analyses, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and remain agile in a constantly evolving market, ensuring that they continue to deliver value to their key accounts over time. It’s important because you will have a better understanding of your customers about how the movements in these organizations are going and how it impacts your business and your strategies. Choosing the right solution for going digital To maximize the benefits of your account planning strategies, it’s time to go digital. For this, picking out the right tool is vital. However, in the current digital environment we live in, there is an abundance of choice which makes choosing the right account planning a daunting task. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the right solution for your key account management needs. Maximize Sales Tech & Martech ROI In a world where sales tech and marketing tech stacks already have an abundant presence in an organization, investing in another new tool can seem redundant. Hence, choosing a tool that can maximize existing sales and marketing tools your organization has invested in is important. It is important to note whether you are getting the ROI on the investments you have already made before making the next choice on your digital account planning tool. Winning the CFOs approval: How to Present RoI of a Key Account Management Software
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