Welcome to your Key Account Management self-learning guide.upskillapps.com/BDP-SLGs/KAM_Excellence-SLG.pdf ·  · 2016-07-25Welcome to your Key Account Management self-learning guide.

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Welcome to your Key Account Management self-learning guide.

The aim of this guide is to introduce you to best practice and a proven approach to Key Account

Management Excellence.

The key areas of focus are:

What is Account Management & the role of an Account Manager

A Structure for Success (VPPA)

Strategic Intent

The Consultative Process (Engage, Elicit, Execute)

Contracting, Progress & Review

Negotiation

Influencing

Project Management

Make sure you have planned sufficient time to complete this learning. You may find it easier to split

your learning into smaller chunks, concentrating on a few sections at a time, which will help you to

absorb the information better.

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Account Management is the management of an organisation’s relationship with its long term clients or corporate clients. Account Managers are responsible for managing existing client relationships; for identifying ongoing opportunities, generating further sales and ensuring the client is delighted with the service they receive.

Most Account Managers will be assigned several clients who their company has, or hopes to have, a long term, profitable relationship with. It is the Account Manager’s job to build and nurture these relationships; to understand their clients’ needs and requirements, plan how to meet these needs and, as a result, generate sales for the business.

Businesses often identify certain client relationships as ‘key’ to their long term strategy. These key accounts may be their most regular or biggest clients or they may be clients where there is huge potential to do more business.

In some businesses, Key Account Managers have a similar role to Account Managers. They may simply have fewer, more important clients. However, most Key Account Managers strive to nurture a closer, more collaborative relationship with their accounts.

The objective of Key Account Management is to gain an in depth understanding of the client’s business, their strategy, goals and challenges, and then use this understanding to offer services and products that will support their business journey. Great Key Account Management ensures both supplier and client grow together and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship.

The responsibilities of an Account Manager can vary depending on the industry they work in, size of the company, and nature of the business. For instance, each client account can vary in demands and an Account Manager may work with sales & distribution for one account and a board director or project team for another.

An Account Manager may also manage a single account or a variety of accounts depending on the requirement of the company. Although responsibilities can vary for different companies and accounts, most Account Managers are responsible for:

Generating sales for a portfolio of accounts and reaching the company’s sales target

Identifying new sales opportunities within existing accounts by up-selling and cross-selling

Managing and solving conflicts with clients

Interacting and coordinating with the sales team and with staff members in other departments working on the same account

Establishing budgets with the client and company

Agreeing timescales and meeting deadlines

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There are 4 'essentials of success' for Account Management: Values, Proposition, Process and Adherence. These 4 essentials or areas of focus can be remembered using the acronym VPPA.

Most organisations have a set of values or beliefs regarding the way the organisation

sets out to do business and treat clients. Use these values and your own personal beliefs as a guide when dealing with your key accounts.

Account Management can bring a wide range of challenges and sometimes you’ll have to think on your feet. If your values underpin everything you do and shape how you operate, this will help you;

Maintain a consistent approach throughout the relationship with your client.

Act in line with your colleagues and your organisation as a whole.

Guide you to the point that you know what to do even when you don’t know what to do.

In a nutshell it is your internal wiring that makes you... you! The very best Account Managers are absolutely clear on both their organisations and their own personal values.

Your proposition is how you sell yourself, how you articulate your role and goals

as an Account Manager. It’s how you explain your purpose to your client and how you begin to achieve buy-in to your approach.

Your proposition should be a few sentences that explain WHY you exist, HOW you operate, WHAT you do and provide PROOF POINTS to evidence the value you add. It should emphasise the things that make you different and the tangible value you add to those you partner with. It should not describe your product!

Many Account Managers operate in industries where it is not immediately apparent how their firm differs from their competitors. For instance, from a client’s perspective one Accountant looks and sounds much the same as another. Your Proposition is your chance to convince the client that you are different and can achieve a better outcome for them.

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It is crucial that your Process, at every stage, delivers your Proposition; i.e. that you

deliver what you have promised to clients! This cannot be overstated. This is where your actions have to match your words. Otherwise clients will start to dismiss your words.

Your process must:

Deliver your Proposition & Promise

Have clarity for each element of the Process

Have people with the capability and competence to deliver it

Have the support and development required to keep improving

By Adherence we mean adhering to your values, to your proposition and to your

processes. Sometimes this is a case of JDI – Just Doing It. It sounds simple but actually doing what you promise effectively and efficiently can be the biggest differentiator between you and your competitors.

The best individuals, teams and organisations don’t just know their Values, articulate their Proposition, and have a Process. They actually DO IT with ABSOLUTE CONSITENCY!

They do it to the HIGHEST of STANDARDS and they all help each other meet those standards. Not only do they do it, crucially they can PROVE that they do it. The quality of their understanding, documentation and record keeping clearly demonstrates their effectiveness to their client, to their business leaders and to any regulators.

Adherence: living your values, proposition and process consistently, to the right standards and being able to provide evidence for this by good record keeping.

Some say that the business world has changed forever and the difference between those organisations, teams and individuals who are thriving and those struggling is how well they harness and align their organisational and personal values and propositions to their clients, to what their clients both need, want and truly value.

This alignment is critically important, especially in the Account Management world.

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Effective Account Management is made up of formalized, repeatable and measurable processes. These processes can be learned and, in time, become engrained in your company culture.

The following seven habits / processes will help ensure your effectiveness as an Account Manager:

Create and refine a scripted, orderly handoff from sales to your account management team. Make sure that every new client belongs to someone in your company and that your new client is (at minimum) being tracked in a methodical way and, optimally, being proactively and strategically advised and engaged.

Sift through all the intelligence that marketing and sales have gathered during the lead nurturing and sales process. Get the specific teams to share the information they have gathered with you as an Account Manager. Then augment that with more research about your client’s business, its markets, challenges, goals, and competitors.

Your goal is to figure out how you can help your client meet their goals and solve their problems.

With all this research in hand, you can start to work out what you can do for your client—beyond selling the product or service they just purchased. Maybe with fresh eyes, you can see a potential problem looming. Talk to the client to see what their major issues may be. Maybe you have a fresh take on an old problem the company has been banging away at for a long time. Uncover all the opportunities you can to help this client be more successful and enrich your relationship.

Your ultimate goal is to grow with the client, not away.

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Write down all those great ideas in a strategic plan that your account management team hammers over and polishes to a sheen. Figure out what your client really needs and which of these needs you’re able to fill. Make recommendations about how other companies can help or augment your plan to include complementary service offerings.

Putting your client’s welfare above your own profits will generate returns to you in the long run.

Surprise your client by showing that you’ve done your homework, gone above and beyond the call of duty, really taken its business problems to heart, and put your best people on those problems to come up with ideas for solving them and being more successful. Demonstrate that you’re in it for the long haul, that you value this business and that you want the company to succeed, not only with your product but as a company.

Review and refresh the plan periodically to ensure you are constantly striving for improvement.

Decide how often you will communicate with your client, for what purpose and using what avenues. Be proactive. Never let your client be left wondering when or how they will hear from you.

Ensure you deliver to any agreed obligations.

Keep the partnership going by continuing to stay up on that client’s issues, understanding how the company is using your product, resolving problems along the way, deepening the relationship, bringing fresh ideas to the table, never letting the relationship go stale. Remember, competitors are wolves.

Don’t let a relationship grow stale and create an opening where a competitor can woo your client away.

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Great Account Management begins with great communication. Make sure you explain your approach to the client. Before you explain what you do and how you will do it, begin with WHY you do what you do.

A Value Proposition is your promise to the client of the value you will deliver. Some see it as a concise 'elevator pitch' outlining what you do and how you do it. We believe it should be so much more. Before you explain what you do and how you will do it, begin with WHY you do what you do.

In his TED Talk and Book, Start With Why, business guru Simon Sinek explains how the best organisations in the world are driven by their understanding of why they exist, their purpose, cause or belief... the very reason the organisation exists. And we don’t mean to make money... that’s the result! While what you do or how you do it may be easier to explain, why you exist is far more inspiring.

People don’t buy what you do or how you do it, they buy why you do it.

As Sinek says... start with why!

This will help you create a powerful Value Proposition that resonates with all your clients.

An important note to make is that organisations are not only driven from this centre of purpose but they also have a strong wrap around which is their organisational culture. This helps create a social norm where people understand strongly what is required, what is acceptable and what is not.

HOW

How we do it?

WHAT

What we do?

WHY Why we do it?

Purpose

Cause

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Your Value Proposition should be built around your organisation's primary values, which form the foundation on which your organisation performs. These values should underpin everything you do and shape how you operate. They should guide you to know what to do, even when you don't know what to do.

When creating your Value Proposition think about:

Why your organisation exists, what it was setup to achieve Your organisation's Values Your organisation's Vision & Purpose How this affects the way you do business How this affects your clients

This will help you create a powerful Value Proposition that resonates with all your clients.

Your Value Proposition should include:

1. Why you exist - your purpose 2. How you operate 3. What you do 4. The value you add - proof points

1. Start with why you exist as an organisation and what you stand for. This will dramatically change the way that you present your organisation to the outside world. Explaining things from your organisation's purpose, rather than merely describing the services or products you offer.

2. Then explore how you operate, don't forget about the organisational culture and how this impacts people's perceptions of your organisation. A good organisational culture helps create and drive social norms where people understand what is required, what is acceptable and what is not.

3. Describe what you do and what you provide to organisations in terms of your product and/or service offering.

4. Finish strongly with the value you add i.e. the benefits of your product/service and how it can help solve problems for your clients. This is the proof of the value you add.

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Have a go at creating your value proposition:

Why you exist:

How you operate:

What you do:

What value do you add? (proof points):

An important note to make is that organisations are not only driven from this centre of purpose but they also have a strong wrap around which is their organisational culture. This helps create a social norm where people understand strongly what is required, what is acceptable and what is not.

A social norm is a convention and implicit agreement within a group of individuals about what is or is not appropriate behaviour. It comes about when people's values, beliefs and attitudes are shared and everyone has similar agreement about what is acceptable. This can have real power within your business.

They should enable you to know what to do, even when you don't know what to do!

Your Value Proposition should be your new elevator pitch. Your client needs to believe in you and the value you add; within the time it takes you from entering the lift to reaching their floor... you haven’t got long!

When delivering your Value Proposition ensure you are:

Clear

Concise

Confident

Keep your Value Proposition as brief as possible. The best Value Propositions take just a few seconds to explain and often have a diagram or visual to support them.

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Let’s now think about your client. Before you approach them with your Value Proposition, take some time to think strategically about the account.

Think about how your client might perceive you and your organisation. What have you offered them in the past? What have you helped them achieve? Do they see you as one of many providers they go to or are you part of the team?

In terms of a consulting approach it will inevitably depend on a number of factors e.g. the size of the client opportunities, their/your current focus and objectives, challenges, and certainly the strength of the current relationship.

You can use the Perception Ladder below to check how your client may perceive you and your organisation.

In most cases, Account Managers are looking to move up the Perception Ladder; to build the relationship to the extent where the client perceives them as a Business Partner.

However, this may not be the case. If the client has a limited budget, presents logistical challenges or sits outside your business’ overall strategic goals, you may decide to simply nurture your position as a Broker or Service Provider.

Decide where you would like to be on the Perception Ladder with each client. This is your strategic intent. As you move up the Perception Ladder and increase the value you add to a potential client, the client's price sensitivity will decrease while their client loyalty increases.

Ideally in Key Account Management you want to be seen as a Business Partner.

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There are many analytical tools to help guide your strategic intent. The following are a few to help you distinguish how you should be treating each account.

Exploratory KAM

Selling company must match a key account manager to its key contact

Buying company will look for product knowledge and knowledge of its business

Basic KAM

Key account manager's personal skills are needed

Key account manager must establish integrity

Co-operative KAM

Key account manager must establish high level contacts and fulfil a consultancy role

Key account manager must be perceived to have authority

Interdependent KAM

Key account manager must manage others delivering services to the client

Key account teams assume important

Integrated KAM

Focus teams at all levels, key account manager coordinates

Focus teams self-managing, key account manager coordinates

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Undoubtedly increasing the level of engagement will increase costs. The more time and resources you put in to building a relationship, the more it will cost your business. However, these extra costs should be offset by increasing levels of return.

Be careful of falling into the trap of increasing the level of engagement and not seeing proportional returns. Too much financial support of an Account could see the cost of sales overtake sales revenues, as the level of intent and support is stepped up. Make sure you are not managing a loss!

In order to correctly apply the appropriate level of orchestration to accounts, YOU need to understand, influence and decide where your accounts are in this matrix.

This model allows you to examine how you perceive your client. Is there a high level of opportunity for you with this client? Do they take a lot of your time and attention? If you regard the account as a Key Account, then typically the account will be in the top right quadrant: there will be lots of opportunity there and as such you are willing to invest a lot of resources.

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How do you decide where an account falls in this matrix? Is it just about the monetary size of opportunity within that account?

It is not always just about the monetary size; you should also take into account other factors. For example, you may have historical reasons for spending more resources on a particular account. You may know that while there is no current opportunity, there will be greater opportunities later. You may perceive the opportunity is greater for you than it would be for another Account Manager because you have a personal relationship with a key stakeholder.

In order to properly interact with potential clients, you need to understand the difference between transactional and consultative selling.

Transactional selling is where the client knows what they want and the only variables are price, lead-time and perhaps an element of client service. Most commodities are bought and sold in this way and the sales person has a minimal role to play in the process. The buyer often doesn’t really value the role that the sales person performs. However, sometimes for some accounts this is the relationship they want and it will drive the best overall profit for you.

Consultative sales is where the sales person becomes a problem solver. The client often doesn’t know what they need or possibly wants something which won’t meet their requirements. Providing the relationship is developed, they welcome the knowledge and solution approach of the consultative sales person. The buyer will always focus on price until the seller can demonstrate value in a total solution.

You will need to flex between Transactional and Consultative selling depending on the account's requirements.

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Strategic Intent Activity

Spend some time thinking about your ‘Strategic Intent’:

Consider your most important accounts and think about where you are in terms of the relationship currently and where you want to get to.

Consider the size of the opportunities that exist in relation to the level of resource that has or should be allocated.

Decide whether your approach needs to be more transactional v consultative or a combination.

Finally, consider if you need to rebase the relationship.

Notes:

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Segmentation is an integral component to the account management process. When managers are drawing the lines, market segments are just as important as geographical areas. Without Segmentation, sales people will naturally gravitate towards one of two extremes. They tend to chase the largest opportunities with the fewest accounts or the smallest opportunities with the quickest turn-around time. There is obviously a major problem with this... everything in between gets lost.

Segmenting allows you to give the appropriate amount of attention to all business sizes, types, and areas. If your markets are properly segmented, your sales team should have no undesired coverage gaps. One of the main ways you can segment is by employee band size:

The first segment is for the largest accounts. These accounts are for the most skilled Account Managers as they have the biggest opportunities and the longest, most drawn out, sales cycles.

Next is the mid-sized business segment which have medium length sales cycles.

Finally, the small business segment with the shortest sales cycles.

Increasingly organisations will look to blend both face to face and digitally enabled distribution. Smaller, lower value accounts may benefit from increased digital focus.

After segmenting the market, you can take these variables and estimate the available market. Essentially, you are determining which market segments you should pursue, in the process creating a pursuit list.

The goal of creating this list is to identify and prioritize the clients that will accelerate your commercial success. Some clients are more likely to buy than others and their timing in adopting your products or services can be dramatically different. In addition, the willingness of certain market leaders to buy your product or service could give it a boost in the broader market.

You can then rank the potential clients based on those that best fit your value proposition and can best influence the broader adoption of your product or service. For example, if you have determined your products or service's primary value is its technology, then identify target clients that value technology. You could also determine how likely these companies are to adopt new technologies and the level of their influence over the market.

Finally, identify the decision makers within your priority clients. In most companies, they will hold similar roles, but don't take this for granted. Ensure your efforts are directed to the right people.

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Great sales people can be a joy to meet and interact with. They should have complete client focus and be totally wired to deliver highly valuable solutions to identified needs. Account Managers need to be able to take this to the next level.

When you first speak to or meet a client, you need to engage successfully so that you can begin to establish trust and consequently, get the client to open up about their wants and needs.

There are three big things you need to get the client to buy in to during the Engage phase of an interaction/meeting:

Buy in to YOU - the Account Manager

Buy in to THE PROCESS - how you will work with the client.

Buy in to YOUR ROLE - the benefits and extra value you hope to deliver for the client.

The best sales people plan their approach carefully. Before any meeting or client interaction, begin by thinking about what you want to achieve by the end of the meeting. What are your Optimum Desired Outcomes? We call these your ODOs.

Just aiming to sell as much as possible is not a precise enough objective for your Account Management activities. Your ODOs need to be specific measures of success.

It may be that the client agrees to a further meeting with clear statement of interest. It may be that you achieve the sale. It may be that you obtain a referral.

Ensure you set clear objectives that are specific and measurable. Ask your client what they are looking to achieve and if they have any specific objectives. Put yourself in the mind-set to have a more productive meeting and be able to review your success afterwards. Clear objectives that are specific and measurable allow for a more productive relationship e.g.:

Growing the revenue from the account

Building a strong collaborative partnership

Delivering a specific project

An advanced form of ODO thinking is to imagine what you want the client to say about you after you have left. For example:

“They were incredibly professional” “They really understand our strategic goals and ambitions” “They showed a deep understanding of our needs as a Key Account”

Once you have thought this through, you can then reverse engineer from these desired outcomes and ensure that during your relationship you hit the required hotspots. You can prove you understand the market and your client's needs. This maximises your chance of success and of achieving your ODO's.

Remember to keep your ODOs realistic!

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Within the meetings itself, in order to achieve buy in to you, you must establish rapport with the

client.

Sometimes the simple things can make all the difference and when you become a grizzled veteran Account Manager you can forget the importance of them, for instance...

Being on time

Personal presentation

Smile

Body language

Eye contact

Handshake

Confidence

Opening engagement

Good questions

Good listening

Being the kind of person they would want to do business with

Two great tips for initial rapport building are:

1. Prepare: Use resources like LinkedIn and websites to do your research and prepare some questions.

2. PPF: Use Past, Present & Future as a model to ask about their current role or situation, their past and potential future.

People like people that are like themselves!

The most effective sales account meetings are then set out and controlled with a written or verbal agenda.

The very best meetings, irrespective of whether formal or informal, occur when people understand what the purpose and approach for that meeting will be. This is where an agenda comes into its own.

Having planned and prepared and thought through your ODOs, these should then be reflected in the structure set out in your meeting agenda. For many business meetings, it’s appropriate for this to be a written agenda. Add your company logo and the client’s company logo to personalise it.

All agendas, whether written or verbal, should be shared with the other party. Ask them whether they feel that that is an appropriate approach, and whether there is anything they would seek to change.

Finally, use your agenda as a track to refer to as the meeting progresses, and at the end of the meeting use it to summarise any agreements/actions etc.

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The final building block to engaging well is to set out your clear value proposition that enables the client to understand your purpose and the benefits you can deliver for them.

This is CRUCIAL... you have to distinguish and/or differentiate yourself to ensure you stand out.

Ensure this happens quickly as people make up their minds pretty quickly! Ensure you have an elevator pitch or statement for this. An elevator pitch or statement is a short summary used to quickly and simply define yourself, your organisation and its Value Proposition.

Remember, you’ve already created your value proposition earlier in this guide.

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Once you have engaged successfully with your client, you have earned the right to ask them some key questions and to elicit a clear understanding of their strategy and challenges.

Typically, there will be three separate areas for Account Managers to explore in this phase.

The facts, both hard and soft

The client’s needs and challenges and any resulting opportunities for you to help

Specific criteria or constraints to shape the solution and partnership

How you gather factual information will vary significantly dependent on your industry and type of sale. Some Account Managers need to conduct a detailed fact find over many meetings, whilst others will gather some simple high level information from one key contact.

One thing that people often do less well is gather the soft facts; the background, the emotional drivers. A tool that can be used to achieve this is the client lifeline.

We’ve also included a blank client lifeline for you

Know Your Account

Strategy & Vision

Key Markets & Opportunities

Key People

Challenges

Your Own Imperatives

What is your strategy & vision?

What are your key markets and opportunities?

Who are the key people?

What are the major challenges?

Who are your imperatives?

TIME

Short Medium Long Term

Markets & Approaches

Key People

Your Own Imperatives

Strategy & Vision

TIME

Strategy & Vision

Once you’ve had this general conversation, specific areas of need can be explored in more detail. To do this, use the IDI™ model.

What would the client like the ideal situation to be like?

What are they trying to achieve?

How important is this to them?

When would they want it to happen?

What is the difference between these ideals and the current situation?

What is their shortfall of goals versus reality?

What are the negative implications of them suffering this gap or shortfall?

What does it mean to them?

Conversely what are the positive implications if they achieve their ideals?

The precision with which questions are asked is important:

Always seek permission to ask questions and let the client know why you would like to ask questions

Phrase questions clearly, avoiding the possibility of ambiguity

Use a series of questions to obtain more detail and clarification in a specific area

Ask ‘open’ questions to try and get people talking

Take notes as much as possible but always ask permission

Organise sufficient time for questioning

Open questions are not usually binary i.e. they are not usually answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. They could be phrases like: "Tell me about..." or "Tell me more about..."

Remember, most people enjoy talking about themselves and what is important to them; they want you to understand

their situation.

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Good Account Managers are good listeners. Clients want to deal with people who take a keen interest in their requirements and with whom they can relate.

Always bear in mind that listening is an active process and the key things to remember are:

Listen carefully and check immediately if something is not clear

Concentrate (i.e. focus on what is being said rather than on what you plan to ask or say next)

Augment your memory with good note taking, especially key points

Look like a good listener; focus your attention visibly on the other person and acknowledge information as you go: ‘right... good... got that’

This is the key to being successful. You must understand fully what is important to your client and why. Go further, find out what the current problems for them are. Ask about the implications:

What happens if things don't change?

What benefits would you see if things did change?

Then elicit specific tailoring information i.e. budget, timescales etc. Use the IDI™ model to get to the point of agreeing needs.

In most cases accounts may have several important requirements. They can say things like: "I must have the project completed by the end of the year, costing no more than X and the project must not hinder any other business activities". These priorities can create a dilemma e.g. some items may be able to be done quicker but at a higher cost that is unavoidable.

Questions should therefore be directed at ordering priorities. For example, once you know that the due date is the most important priority and costs are a secondary priority, you can deal with the matter on the client’s terms.

The power of questioning is completely wasted if it makes no difference to what is done next. If you ask a lot of questions and then leave the answers to one side, while then giving "the standard spiel", your credibility will take a dive.

The answers to your questions must act as the fine-tuning for how you proceed through the next stage. Successful Account Managers refer to and use the information they have elicited throughout the meeting so that it is apparent to the client that they are doing so e.g. "In view of what you said earlier we will focus on timing as the highest priority".

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When you have a full understanding of your client’s needs and objectives, you must then define your solution.

Use IDB™ to explain how your service or product will help the client achieve their goals.

When choosing the best solution for your client, what have you taken into account?

What factors did they want to be included? What priorities did they allude to during the elicit phase? These may be factors like pricing, timescales, product performance, flexibility, service, reviews etc...

Try to follow the CCC (Concept - Contract - Cost) path here.

Describe your solution firstly as a Concept. Use diagrams if appropriate. Give a high level explanation of how things will work.

Cover the Contract; specifically, what are you proposing in terms of products and/or services.

Explain how much the solution will Cost and what your organisation will invest in terms of money and/or time.

Finally, finish on a high. Talk about the benefits that your solution will provide for your client. These should be easy to describe.

Simply refer back to the Ideals. These should all be achieved by your solution. You can also draw benefits from the removal of negative implications and the achievement of positive implications.

If you are in doubt, practice your explanations with a colleague prior to using them with a client!

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People do not buy products or services, they buy what they do for them. You must therefore be able to differentiate between, and work with, what are called features and benefits:

Clients are best persuaded by a style of selling which "talks benefits".

Benefits are most important to clients, but features are what make these possible, making their mention important too. A benefit is only useful if it matches the needs of an individual client and they must be well described in order to add power to your case. This is why the IDB™ process ends with benefits.

When you are in any sales role, some clients may treat everything you say with scepticism. You say something is good and they react by thinking: "Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they". A credible case may need to contain proof; evidence from a source other than the Account Manager.

The following all add credibility:

Results of research

Testimonials of existing or past customers (or even just a mention of them)

Standards (particularly those set by statutory or official bodies)

Tests or demonstrations

The power of numbers (e.g. 20000 sold, 30 years’ experience)

You need to match such factors to your own product or service.

Successful salespeople use sufficient proof to make sure potential buyers see their case as truly credible. They also select just the right things to mention to a particular client.

Having finished on the benefits section of IDB™, the next thing you must do is ask, simply and confidently, for agreement to work together. Complexity of technique is often unnecessary here; if what has been done previously has been effective, then closing should be a simple question; "Are you happy to go ahead?"

Always close and always do it confidently and positively.

If your client is going to ask questions or raise any objections, this would typically be the stage when they do. A great tip for handling objectives is to use the APAC model.

A feature is what a product/service, or a part/element of it, is

A benefit is what a product/service does for, or means to, a customer

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Before an objection can be answered it must be acknowledged. Jumping in, especially with a denial, gives quite the wrong impression and tends to lead to an adversarial situation and potentially to an argument. The following tips should help:

Acknowledge but do not agree with the objection before you answer it.

Clarify your understanding of the question the client is raising before you answer it. Probe for clarity if required: this is crucial. Very often people do not clearly explain the underlying reason for an objection, never assume. Once you feel you have probed fully; check you have isolated the issue. Then answer as clearly and honestly as you can.

Aim your answer directly to what is on the client’s mind.

Ask for feedback. Have I been clear enough or are there still some questions you’d like to ask?

The final stage of a good account meeting should be to agree actions and discuss the appropriate next steps which will include ongoing contact and support.

Interpersonal contracting is extremely important for account management. It enables you to discover what the client is looking for from the relationship and explain what you are seeking to achieve.

It can also allow you to review and rebase the contract from time to time to ensure both parties are getting what they want from the relationship.

In Account Management, more time is invested by you and your organisation, which makes this contracting for mutual value even more crucial. Contracting allows you to meet your account’s specific needs in terms of what they are looking for from you and how you can delight them, as well as how you can achieve a valuable return for yourself.

You can use the four box grid below to contract with each of your clients to agree what you and they are looking to achieve.

Start in the top left box by understanding what your client wants to achieve and then gain an understanding of what they would like from you. Once you have understood your client's wants and needs, you can then do the same for yourself in terms of what you would like to achieve and what you would like from the client.

CLIENT CLIENT

YOU YOU

What they want to achieve

What they want from you

What you want to achieve

What you want from them

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It’s a meeting where the objective is to ensure critical momentum; to progress any initiative, agreements or project currently underway and thereby ensure a successful, overall, eventual outcome.

It’s very important to ensure this is done as a separate meeting as:

Momentum is critical

Clarity of position in a process is essential

Your skill drives all elements towards an overall success

Allows you and the client to focus on one slice at a time

Can be with internal or external stakeholders

Often slightly less formal than initial engagement meetings

More focussed on a specific topic

Supportive

Reporting good news and giving positive feedback

Highlight any problems and areas requiring attention

Development opportunities

Reinforces the importance of the strategic account plan

Refocussing on the ODO

Critical momentum

Improving communication

Building the relationship with all key stakeholders

Increasing your profile

Good PR

Ensuring things get done and you stay on track

Develop business opportunities

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There is an old maxim to the effect that business will only continue to flow as long as you are remembered; and memories are short. Moreover, there are all too many competitors’ intent on filling any gap you leave.

The moral: business is too important to be allowed to go by default. This is the whole basis of regular Account Management. When you have done the groundwork, secured the basis of the relationship and created a satisfied account in the process, it is a waste not to build on that success. To create chances for repeat business you must:

Keep in touch regularly Watch for and create opportunities Maintain service and quality standards

The following can be used as a rough agenda when conducting review meetings:

Review key deliverables Actions complete What has gone well What hasn’t gone well Actions arising Next steps

Here are some tips that can be used to help conduct successful review meetings:

Positioning of the meeting purpose is key Agenda Seek first to understand Promote partnership Don’t ignore underperformance and challenge where required Recognise good practice and success Keep it factual and clear Re-contract for what you would like

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Persuading involves being able to convince others to take appropriate action. Negotiating involves being able to discuss and reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Influencing encompasses both of these.

Who influences you; in the past, currently? What is it that makes certain individuals "people of influence"?

Professor Robert Caldini states there are six laws or rules which govern how we influence and are influenced by others:

Items are more valuable to us when their availability is limited. Scarcity determines the value of an item.

For example, if an account is told that an item is in short supply and will soon run out they are more likely to buy it. Time also works here. If a time limit is placed on the account’s opportunity to buy something, this can influence their decision. For example, the account is told by the seller that they recommend they buy immediately as the price will increase next week.

If you give something to people, they feel compelled to return the favour. People feel obliged to return a favour when somebody does something for them first. They feel bad if they don't reciprocate. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours".

Strong Account Management is built on reciprocity.

We are more likely to comply with someone who is (or resembles a figure) in authority. In other words, people prefer to take advice from “experts". There is a deep seated duty to authority within us learned from parents, school, religious authorities etc.

Be an authority in your own area. Know your organisation, its products and services and know your market.

We are more inclined to follow the lead of someone who is similar to us rather than someone who is dissimilar. We engage better with people who are similar to us. We are more likely to help people who dress like us, are the same age as us, or have similar backgrounds and interests. We even prefer people whose names are similar to ours. For this reason, sales trainers teach trainees to mirror and match the client’s body posture, mood and verbal style.

This is why establishing a strong, ongoing relationship with good rapport is so important.

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We view a behaviour as more likely to be correct, the more we see others performing it. We assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something that we don’t. Especially when we are uncertain, we are more likely to trust in the collective knowledge of the crowd. This explains herd or lemming behaviour. For example, when there is panic in the stock market everyone follows everyone else and sells. However, great investors know that this can be the time when the best bargains are to be had and, instead, buy.

Share stories of what other clients and accounts have done to be successful in partnership with you.

Consistency is seen as desirable as it is associated with strength, honesty, stability and logic. Inconsistent people may be seen as two-faced, indecisive and "butterflies": never committing themselves for long enough to complete tasks. People will do more to stay consistent with their commitments and beliefs if they have already taken a small initial step.

Match your actions to your words, be consistent and deliver on all promises.

The exertion of influence is delivered in various different styles. Different people will tend to be stronger in some areas than others and this can be obvious when looking at their interactions with others. Know your natural styles and work on the styles where you have weak areas to expand your potential to influence.

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The key to successful negotiation is to come to profitable, sustainable and mutually beneficial

arrangements that progress and enhance your relationship

You should not be looking to stitch up…or be stitched up.

The overriding objective of any negotiation is to reach the best deal possible. The best way to do

this is to discover your client’s maximum or minimum settlement point (M.S.P.)

Begin by understanding your own MSPs. As part of your preparation, work out your Most Favourable Position (MFP). If you are the buyer this will be the minimum amount of money you hope to pay. If you are the seller this will be the maximum amount of money you hope to get.

Then consider what would be a Realistic Target Position (RTP) and finally where your Walk Away Position (WAP) is. If you are the seller your WAP is your minimum settlement point, the least amount you will sell for. If you are the buyer your WAP is your maximum settlement point, the most you are prepared to pay.

In Negotiations, the Settlement Zone or Zone of Potential Agreement (ZOPA), describes the zone where an agreement is possible between two parties. It’s the zone where the negotiated deal falls between both parties Most Favourable Positions (MFP) and Walk Away Positions (WAP).

When a deal can be done this zone is effectively the gap between the Buyer's WAP and the Seller's WAP. Outside of the zone, no amount of negotiation will yield an agreement. As either a buyer or a seller, your goal is to negotiate a deal as close as possible to your MFP, while remaining within the ZOPA.

Settlement is possible, if the parties reach the overlap zone i.e. the ZOPA.

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It’s important to prepare for each and every negotiation. Here’s our 7 point checklist for preparing

for your negotiations:

Negotiation involves the following stages…

Here’s the process.

Decide on

your

objectives and

desired

outcome

The other

parties and

your…

Power, Fears

& Needs Consider

variables and

concession

parameters

Decide upon

order and

value of

concessions Calculate

overall

package

profitability

at each

major

concession

point

Prepare your

opening

stance Rehearse

Identify Prepare Debate Agree

What is in scope?

What is to be negotiated?

What are the needs and

aspirations of both parties?

Decide when and in what

order you will present

particular terms and

concessions?

How will you approach the

negotiation itself?

In the Negotiation itself

encourage an active

discussion and debate.

Get your points across and

try to understand the other

party’s point of view.

Agree the high-level

principles of the deal.

Then work on the specifics,

the timescales and the next

steps for each party.

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With all negotiations, consider the following; our negotiation is a nutshell:

Win:Win – Good negotiators seek out mutual agreements

Prepare – Thoroughly

Empathise – Respect their position

Play by the rules – Your reputation is worth too much

Be straight and patient – Better a good deal slower

Communicate clearly – Set objectives

Antennae up – Be alert always looking for opportunities

Be positive and confident

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All Account Managers will require some degree of project management skills in order to excel. As an Account Manager, you will be expected to orchestrate the relationship between a number of different departments, internally and externally. We refer to this as operational management.

What is the difference between operational management and project management?

Temporary Permanent

Usually internally oriented Usually externally oriented

Definite beginning & end Repetitive cycle

Defined scope, budget & timeframe “Business as Usual”

It’s important you do the following:

Understand your ODOs (Optimum Desired Outcomes) for projects

Plan how you will manage the process and deliverables

Allocate tasks to the required personnel and ensure these tasks are completed

Initiation meetings help to set yourself up for success. Conduct an initiation meeting with all key individuals in your business who will be involved in the project. At the meeting agree;

Project timelines

Your team

Project approach

Progression & review meeting frequency

Key stakeholders

Reporting back - regular updates

Clients vision of success

Personal contracting for success

AOB

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Deliver on your promises - it’s simple to say, but makes such a difference to clients

when you make and keep commitments to them. Deliver what you say you will at

the appointed time, whether through a phone call, email, or in person. Clients value

your services most when you show them you respect deadlines and fulfil promises.

Tailor your work to their needs - whether you are in the middle of securing a

promotion, expanding your business’s reach, or developing a new account, don’t let

any other priorities interfere with the attention you give to existing clients. Keep

your focus on them so you can maintain long-lasting, productive partnerships.

Be honest about shortcomings - no company is perfect, but many account managers buckle at the thought of admitting weakness to a client. Tell the truth about why you cannot meet every expectation, as clients will trust you more in the long run. They don’t expect a business or its people to be flawless, so an honest clear approach is best. Take responsibility for any company negatives, as ultimately you represent the firm as a whole.

Avoid backlash from all sides - unless you are dealing with the owner of a business, your client has to report to company higher-ups the same way you do. Keep everyone in the loop so surprises don’t arise. Inquire about whether your client’s superiors know of alterations to the developing deal and inform your company of progress and changes. Your chances for long-term success are greater when you update all interested parties to the relationship frequently.

Review client expectations and adjust where necessary - expectation management is essential if both parties are to be delighted. Make sure you set realistic expectations that you can deliver upon; but when you have delivered, make sure that it is valued by your account.

Be proactive – it’s very important to recognise that each client, their relationship with you and their level of receptivity will be different. Here are some ways to ensure proactivity:

Force yourself to set aside time dedicated to thinking about ideas for the client, put it in your calendar and treat it like a mandatory meeting.

Solicit co-workers on your team or even people who don’t work on the account. Treat it like a mini-brainstorming session. It is okay to make it fun, even outrageous.

Focus on the client’s business. Never forget, the client walks around with a thought balloon over their head that says, “What’s in it for me?” First and foremost, the client wants to hear about ideas that will grow their business, be good for their brand and save them money.

Ideas can come from many places. Look at better ways to do what’s already being done. Look to other categories or industries and modify what they do for your client. Have a quick 5-minute “what if” blue sky session. Don’t be afraid to be creative and out of the box and then reign ideas in.

Make sure your idea is doable and defendable. Do enough homework to feel that the idea is implementable (which means practical, executable and affordable). The last thing you want is to diminish your credibility with the client by showing you don’t understand their business by suggesting an impossible idea.

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People person - A good account manager will relate to people along all aspects of the supply chain. They will be able to engage with everyone from senior directors to assistants to technicians. Furthermore, they will also manage their tone, body language and non-verbal aspects of communication to build rapport with all stakeholders.

Well organised - In order to ensure that services are delivered on time, account managers will need to be well organised. By managing themselves and their diary effectively, they will prioritise tasks and rearrange commitments when necessary to get the job done.

Sets expectations - When a company sets high expectations but fails to deliver, it can have a significant negative effect on their reputation. A good account manager will strike a balance between setting the right level of expectation, acting with integrity, whilst also ensuring that expectations on delivery are managed in line with this.

Great Presenter & Negotiator - One of the more important aspects of the account manager's role is to develop the relationship. Quite often the account manager will need to pitch to potential clients in order to seal the deal or further phases of the project. The account manager will also need the capability to negotiate a profitable contract and land the business.

Commercial Understanding - When it comes to bringing new clients on board, clients like dealing with people who understand their needs and, preferably, the sector in which they operate. Account managers don’t always need to be absolute subject experts but must have the ability to demonstrate that they can grasp the important aspects of the sector.

Manage Meetings - In many roles, it can be easy to let meetings overrun and lose focus. A busy account manager can ill afford to waste time dealing with irrelevant issues. A good account manager will lead positive meetings with clients and staff to ensure that matters are addressed and effective decisions are made quickly.

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Here’s a final summary; our ‘KAM excellence in a nutshell’

Value Proposition — Ensure you understand and can articulate your Value Proposition

Engage (Initial Impression) — Be conscious of the manner you adopt, appear professional & tailor your approach to the client

Elicit (Client Needs) — Use the IDI® model to understand your client’s needs

Execute (Present Solutions) — Use the IDB® model to define your solution for the client

Contracting — Gain commitment from both parties

Progression — Conduct progression meetings to ensure momentum

Reviews — Consistently review with clients to ensure you are satisfying them as well as opening up any other potential opportunities

Be positive and confident

Before we finish, let’s have a look back at the aim of this guide and the key areas of focus to see if they have been met.

The aim of this guide was to introduce you to best practice and a proven approach to Key Account

Management Excellence.

The key areas of focus were:

What is Account Management & the role of an Account Manager

Structure for Success (VPPA)

Strategic Intent

The Consultative Process (Engage, Elicit, Execute)

Contracting, Progress & Reviews

Negotiation

Influencing

Project Management

Your final activity is to plan how you are going to implement what you have learnt from this guide.

You’ll find below an Action Plan to record the specific actions you will take. When completing your

Action Plan, consider the following questions:

What are you going to do differently in light of this guide, by when and how?

What will success look like?

Area/Objective Specific action & by when? How will I measure success?