Every company needs a team of professionals that are capable of managing accounts, including leading negotiations, sharing feedback on client experiences, and providing customer service support. By using this tactic, organizations can achieve success by increasing revenue and strengthening customer loyalty.
Sales account managers may not be the most well-known sales professionals out there, but they hold a very important and valuable position in sales organizations.
Sales account management is responsible for maintaining strong client relationships and providing sales guidance to clients.
They also serve as liaisons between sales teams and marketing departments, ensuring that all aspects of the business work together smoothly.
In this post we will explore what account management is, how it differs from sales, and why it is such an important role in any organization's success."
Sales account management is the process of building and maintaining effective, profitable client relationships.
It involves creating a strategy for each individual client, working with them to identify their needs and goals, and then developing a plan to help them reach those objectives.
Account managers are essential to any business' success, as they provide clients with sales guidance and support while also serving as liaisons between sales teams and marketing departments.
The sales process is the same regardless of whether you are working with small- or large-sized companies, which means that sales managers have to be flexible professionals who can think on their feet when things don't go according to plan.
Sales account management requires a different set of skills, including the ability to build rapport quickly, influence others in leadership positions, and negotiate contracts.
Sales account managers play an important role throughout the sales cycle, but their most valuable contributions are often made when they work with clients during the final stages of sales negotiations.
They have a deep understanding of all aspects of your company's business model that can be extremely useful in sales negotiations.
Sales account managers are the driving force behind every deal, but they need to make sure that sales teams have everything they need in order to close sales quickly and efficiently.
They facilitate sales processes by managing client relationships with sales reps throughout the entire sales cycle while also helping them identify their clients' needs and guiding them toward an optimal solution.
Account managers ensure that sales teams have a clear understanding of clients' business strategies and objectives, which makes them an invaluable resource for sales reps.
They also provide sales support by sharing market trends with their team members so they can stay ahead of the competition at all times. These six account management & strategy best practices turn valued clients into key strategic accounts.
1.Know When to Designate a Client as a Strategic Account-
sales account managers must be able to tell the difference between long-term and short-term sales.
Identify clients who bring in a considerable amount of money for your firm and ask yourself, "How much would we worry about replacing the revenue gap if we lost this account?" If the response is "quite a bit," the client is most likely a key account.
Those you consider early adopters or firms that prefer to experiment and try new ideas could also be labelled as strategic accounts.
Don't limit your account management strategy to "big logos" like Fortune 500 corporations or a hot new startup.
Working with these corporations may appear to boost your credibility and generate awareness, but keep in mind that many of these companies are tough to work with and cost-conscious.
Despite the fact that they may help you enhance your profile and improve your marketing, it may be too tough to make these accounts lucrative enough to justify the resources required to create a truly strategic account.
2. Select Your Strategic Account Manager (SAM) Carefully
Attempting to persuade a farmer to go hunting is pointless. Some people are more suited to new business growth than others. However, the inverse is also true.
You don't want an account manager who is so aggressive in his or her approach that he or she bothers the client or promotes new ideas that aren't in the client's best interests. The ideal SAM will be a problem solver who is sensitive to the needs of the client.
He or she must be eager and capable of becoming an expert in the strategic account's industry and connecting the client's needs to your company's potential to assist.
SAMs place a high priority on educating customers about insights that are relevant to their businesses.
In addition, the strategic account manager must have credibility and the capacity to mobilise internal resources as needed.
Although extensive technical knowledge isn't required, an account manager's ability to call in the right people at the right time is crucial to grabbing chances that can help the strategic account grow.
The most effective strategic account managers can relate to the demands of a diverse group of people in the account and develop consensus among them. These are not the same habits as those of a hunter, who typically have the idea of "eating what you kill."
3. Know the Players inside the Strategic Account
Nothing puts a strategic account at greater danger than having only one point of contact responsible for all of the account's relationships.
Creating an account strategy will assist you in identifying all of the key individuals who have an impact on the need for or preference for your product.
LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for facilitating this activity. You will have insight into these contacts and the ability to connect with them if you are linked to your SAM and your SAM is linked to contacts in the account.
People frequently update their LinkedIn profiles when they move employment. If you're on their network, you and your SAM can take proactive measures to deal with the matter.
Tip: Early identification of potential purchasers and strong influencers is critical.
Establishing executive sponsorship programmes in which your senior executives form peer-to-peer relationships with executives in your strategic accounts is one approach to accomplish this.
This muscle aids in the strengthening of the relationship, the speeding up of decision-making, and the protection of the relationship against changes in executive leadership or corporate strategy.
4.Build Dependency
You want to become a part of your strategic account's organization's fibre - in other words, you want them to rely on you.
Operational dependence can be developed through channel partnerships; technological dependence can be built through systems integration; business dependence can be built through specific terms and financing; and contractual dependence can be built through multi-year contracts or automatic renewals.
Clients may not always be completely satisfied, or they may recruit new key account staff with fresh prejudices and preferences.
It will be tough for them to cut ties without giving you a chance to put things right if they rely on you for their business.
5.Provide Insight to Create Value for the Client’s Business
This is where you need to go outside the box and hunt for fresh win-win prospects in your client's business.
The ideal way to develop strategic accounts is for the strategic account manager to adopt a consultative selling approach and look for ways to give value to clients by assisting them in saving money, making money, or managing risk.
Respond to a Request for Proposal: In this case, the request for proposal comes straight from the client. The strategic accounts management team must already be set up to respond fast in order to take advantage of this type of opportunity.
Shape an Opportunity: This opportunity arises when a solution is on or near the client's radar, but executive leadership has not had time to establish an effort around it.
For instance, suppose a client company discovers it is entering a new market and needs to hire 100 salespeople in ten different nations.
This could be an opportunity to collaborate with the customer and provide them with a variety of alternatives to help them with their efforts.
Create a Situation: The client firm loves a partner that can bring them ideas, help them understand their difficulties, and create solutions that will help them achieve their goals when the account is too busy or swamped by challenges to devote adequate attention to innovation and strategic planning.
Sellers that effectively manage major accounts shape and create opportunities within their accounts, benefiting from reduced price sensitivity, less competition, and the development of deeper and higher-level connections within the account.
Tip: Strategic account managers must be well-versed in business. Although these abilities may be learned, many of them require specialised training and coaching to become completely authentic, confident, and effective in the role.
Strategic account management is a critical role that demands rigour and focus. Consider it as if you were running a business within a business. Account planning is critical for identifying the resources you'll need to meet your growth goals.
Furthermore, it is a collaborative process that requires the client's participation in it to be valid. Account plans are frequently more dream than reality, since many firms go through an annual account planning exercise only to forget to put the plan into action.
As a sales manager, you rely on revenue from strategic clients to meet your objectives. This means you'll need valid account plans for your SAMs, and you'll need to hold people accountable for following through on their account strategy.
To track progress, identify the objectives, goals, and key performance indicators, just like you would with your sales pipeline.
Ensure that your SAMs have all they need to achieve their objectives and that they are able to guide their strategic account teams to success.
Tip: A strategic account strategy isn't complete until your client has seen it and agreed to it. To guarantee that the strategy is valid and executable, you should involve the customer in the process.
It's all too easy to become sidetracked from the essentials of account management plan execution.
While there are a plethora of initiatives centred on people, process, and technology that can assist you in achieving your objectives, few will have the same impact as identifying essential clients as strategic accounts and effectively managing them.
Ask yourself how much potential exists within your strategic accounts and what you need to do to maintain and grow these assets before you begin on your next strategic project or brainstorming session.
In the end, strategic account programmes will deliver constant, dependable revenue, allowing you to maintain your company's long-term growth and success.
There are a variety of industry tips and methods that account managers and executives can use. Account management professionals can improve their efficacy and efficiency by following these recommendations:
Make communication a top priority.
Communication is the bedrock of any lasting relationship. This entails being open and truthful with clients in account management. Most clients want to know that they're making a good decision before making a large financial commitment or investment.
Account managers and executives should be able to address problems through open and honest dialogue.
They should also be willing to listen to their customers and take their suggestions seriously. Clients who believe their thoughts have been heard are more likely to trust the judgement of an account manager.
Get to know the business.
Being an authority on the firm you work for is an important part of being a successful account management professional.
This entails knowing the company's history, comprehending its protocols, and being ready to respond promptly and accurately to any questions regarding the company.
Account managers can gain a client's trust by demonstrating their skills and experience.
Account managers and executives should thoroughly research their companies and prepare themselves for anticipated customer enquiries in order to obtain the information they require.
Keep yourself updated.
Account managers and executives that excel at their jobs are always learning new things. Every account management team must have a thorough awareness of industry trends and norms.
A thorough understanding of the company's competitors and their business models is also advantageous.
If important industry news breaks or a competitor introduces a new product, the account management staff should always be ready to answer clients' queries or resolve their concerns.
Regularly checking in with clients and being informed about their activities and wants is also part of an account manager's or executive's job description.
If a client is dissatisfied with their service or is considering switching to a competitor, the account management staff should be informed of the situation and ready to address it.
Be focused on your objectives.
A team of account managers should always be working toward strategic objectives. These include the company's goals, team goals, and personal goals. Account management experts are frequently assessed quantitatively as well as qualitatively.
The number of clients an account manager is able to contact each week is quite important. However, the quality of such talks is far more important.
The account management staff should continually strive to improve the quality of their service as well as the amount of their output.
Defend the client's best interests
Establishing trust with the client should always be one of the account management professional's aims. This entails thinking about the client's best interests at all times during the partnership.
Within the organisation, the account manager is the customer's champion. It is their obligation to make sure the rest of the company is aware of the client's needs.
During any problems between a client and the company, the account management staff should act as mediators. Maintaining trusted relationships with clients should always be the goal.
