Tag: Large Account Management Strategy

Successful Large Account Management Strategies for Account Managers

Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule can be seen in action in many organizations – but sales is where the effect becomes crystal clear; existing clients account for a large chunk of revenue, yet organizations focus their attention on acquiring new customers at the expense of existing ones. Treating valuable assets with greater care requires dedicated resources, which might not be feasible because of various reasons. Even in such cases, understanding and practicing successful large account management strategies and processes can help in extending the good work done at the time of sale closing. For small and medium businesses where sales teams wear many hats, it can add more value to existing customers through these methods. Guide: Comprehensive Career Path for a Key Account Manager What is large account management? Large account management can be seen as a highly scaled up version of Key Account Management, as it also focuses on long-term relationship building in a mutually beneficial way, between a vendor and their key customers. In-depth research and assessment help large account managers find opportunities that can be used to drive value for their organization. Identifying problems faced by large clients and offering creative solutions can leverage partnerships better, and get closer to achieving their strategic goals. A successful large account management program not only fosters customer loyalty, but also stimulates growth, increases profitability, and drives innovative solutions that can be scaled. While sales functions focus on customer acquisition and short-term selling, large account management weaves deeper relationships with core customers. The immediate impact on revenue overseen by sales, can grow exponentially over time if large account managers work their magic. Learn More: Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Large Enterprise Account Planning Processes involved in large account management     An effective and successful large account management program relies on formal, measurable, and repeatable processes to enable better partnerships with key customers. The factors that play a part in the success of a large account manager are quite similar to that of a key account manager: 1) Dedicated large account managers form the first line of requirement of any program that aims to provide and derive value. A program that assigns dedicated account managers who are separate from sales, so that their priorities aren’t split between other functions. The difference in the objectives of sales and large account management require different skill sets and approaches, as establishing customer relationships is vastly different from nurturing and maintaining them. Being analytical and approachable helps large account managers to build rapport with customers and provide strategic inputs on the growth opportunities. 2) Developing selection criteria distinguishes key accounts from large ones, and allows managers to provide necessary value to take the partnership forward. A shortlist of selection criteria derived from the alignments between the two organizations can drive focus on the actual issues, instead of the most recent ones. Picking three to five objective criteria, weighted according to their importance to the organization, reduces confusion among the Key Account Management team. These criteria can include product fits to customer needs, revenue and growth potential of the customer, cultural fit and geographic alignment, further partnership potentials, and so on. These factors vary from organization to organization, and different departments can designate key clients based on different criteria too. Having senior management take the lead can reduce confusion, as they can align the strategic goals and vision of the organization or product. This also streamlines the handover process from sales teams to large account management, and a formal, scripted handoff works well. This step, done regardless of the ‘key’ or ‘large’ nature of customers, leads to a central information repository that can be tracked in the account system.  3) Keeping up with the customers should begin as soon as large accounts are identified, or maybe even before that. Leaders should facilitate communication between the customer and the large account management team. The team members can take the dialogue forward and establish clear points of contact and what to expect. Managers can assist in developing an in-depth customer portfolio that assess details about the customer’s business and markets, what goals and initiatives they’re pursuing, details about stakeholder roles and responsibilities, information about key decision makers,  latest trends and reposts in the industry, what the competition is doing, etc. These data points lead to a better understanding of the issues that customers face, and account managers can provide value through collaboration. Considering the organization’s pain points, how their needs or goals overlap with that of the vendor organization’s, can help managers to identify areas of progress and any problems that might be apparent in the near future. Data can aid in assessing collaboration opportunities in the short and long term. 4) Working with the customers based on the needs assessment, can help large account managers drill down to the best strategic opportunities and create a roadmap for the next year and more. They can provide strategic recommendations like potential partnerships opportunities, creative solutions to issues, establish specific long-term goals with short-term benchmarks, call out resource requirements in advance, and other such steps that demonstrate that managers are going above and beyond to understand and address customer needs. 5) Sticking to a frequency enables the strategic plan to be executed in accordance to the needs of stakeholders, and provides opportunities for regular checks and any course correction that might be necessary. Managers can also stay updated on the market trends and customer needs, and have clarity in their communication. 6) Monitoring and adjusting processes based on performance ensures short-term and long-term goals are on track, and allows for KPIs to be changed accordingly. It also provides a way to ensure accountability, where large account managers deliver on what is promised. It also shows the ways in which vendor organization has gone above and beyond, cementing the value add in customer’s mind. If the goal of mutual long-term benefit is not materializing, it can be apparent in these assessments – and becomes easier to reclassify the