Key Account Management Course Brochure

• Strategic Account Management, also called Key Account Management,  is a systematic approach to managing a company's most important accounts as business assets. To succeed, Strategic Account Management must be a total business initiative. It's a business mindset.
• Strategic Account Management is a process to acquire a deep understanding of each strategic account's business strategy and procurement requirements. This differentiates strategically-oriented suppliers from most competitors.
• Companies that have adopted Strategic Account Management as a positioning strategy often report strategic account revenue growth in excess of 40%.
• A central theme of strategic account management is mapping and strengthening long-term relationships with clients at all levels. Multi-level relationships position suppliers for strategic account retention when key executives change.
• Strategic Account Management is based on delivering exceptional client value that earns strategic supplier status. This reduces competition significantly.
• Strategic Account Management is an initiative used to focus each employee on the company's most important customers for long-term growth and profitability.
• Strategic Account Management is a leading strategy being used by most large organizations such as Motorola, Intel, Proctor & Gamble, GE, Microsoft, most Canadian banks and several pharmaceutical suppliers. It has proven exceptionally profitable for smaller organizations working with large organizations.

• Strategic accounts are non-balance sheet assets that require ongoing investment and management attention.
• Strategic accounts are the important clients that drive your business to achieve its long-term strategic and financial goals.
• Strategic accounts work jointly with suppliers to ensure each organization's long-term destiny and success.
• A proven definition: Strategic accounts are the few accounts in your business which would be painful to lose or which can, properly managed, improve your situation dramatically.
• As a general rule, strategic accounts are the 5% of your accounts that provide about 50% of your revenue. Focusing on these accounts synchronizes your business with the market.
• The best way to identify strategic accounts is to profile the ideal customer in terms of long-term profitability and strategic impact and rate your leading accounts against this profile.

• Strategic accounts leverage your efforts. They generally account for a large percentage of total revenue but require only slightly more resources than smaller accounts. They are also often the easiest accounts to do business with because of their sound management practices and business processes.
• Most often strategic accounts are leaders in their respective markets and are excellent learning partners for supplier organizations to improve their knowledge and skills.
• Most clients who have implemented strategic account management report growing strategic accounts 10 to 20% in the first twelve months following implementation.

• Sales organizations cannot afford to put the same amount of resources into building relationships with small accounts as they do with strategic accounts. Companies need to adopt methods for managing smaller accounts that are effective in terms of customer retention yet resource efficient.
• New capabilities, software, management techniques and tools available through the Internet address many of these issues.
• A leading graphics supplier client refocused its sales force on strategic accounts and set up a telephone sales team to work with over 500 small accounts. Sales to small accounts, 40% of total revenue, increased 30% in the following twelve months.

• Senior general management, sales, and marketing managers need to lead strategic account management by example to make it successful.
• All functional managers leading many or most employees involved in the entire sales process need to be involved, ranging from R&D through Credit, Production / Manufacturing, Shipping, Billing and more.
• Getting closer to customers should be a priority in most companies. Increased alignment is a best practice that results in strengthening both client and employee engagement.
• The most practical way for functional employees to become involved is through self-directed work teams. Ideally, the teams need to report to each senior executive charged with overall company responsibility for various strategic accounts.
• Special recognition for individuals and teams is a best practice in strategic account management.
• To ensure a strong focus on strategic account management, a major international chemical company made successfully executing strategic account management 25% of the senior executive bonus.

• The most important issue is insufficient resources. Companies need a rigorous process for selecting the number of strategic accounts to work with. The priority is a limited number of accounts that can be completely supported.
• Organizations are like people and tend to be inherently selfish. Business functions have their own agendas and often fail to cooperate on external customer issues. Multi-functional teams are the most practical approach to bridging these gaps.
• The front line people are often not well educated in strategic thinking and team leadership. Education to bridge these knowledge and skill gaps is essential.
• Relationship contacts are often too narrow and trust is not well developed. These issues need to be addressed through detailed relationship mapping and joint work projects to earn trust. Effective leadership is essential for success on this issue.
• Each client, who has created strategic account teams, has improved cross-functional communication and customer response significantly. A excellent example is a division of one of the leading automotive manufacturers.

• Fit between the strategic account and the supplier's needs and capabilities
• The ability of the supplier to out-serve the strategic account, compared to major competitors
• The health of the strategic account's industry
• Changes coming in the account's industry that require changes at the supplier
• The strategic and financial health of the account
• A deep understanding of what the supplier can learn from the strategic account
• The current and future growth opportunities of strong strategic account relationships.
• Several clients have identified significant client requirements which were not being addressed. For example a major office supplies distributor identified over $10 million in new business with one of Canada's leading banks.

• Top management focus is the number one best practice that ensures strategic account management success. This means participating on the multi-functional strategic account teams and leading by example.
• Asset protection practices and measurements which focus on resource allocation and highlight profits and the return on investment are essential. Strategic accounts, while non-balance sheet assets, are often more valuable strategically than the largest balance sheet item. Developing these measurements involves sound brain storming by people with deep experience in operations management.
• Long-term strategic thinking and a vision that maximizes returns. This means Account Plans developed by Account Teams and a schedule of plan reviews and up-dates. Third party assessments and meeting facilitation are also useful in maintaining a healthy external focus.
• A major transportation company is using the Balanced Scorecard to measure strategic account management success.

Updated October 2006