People Strategies: Account managers key to satisfying biggest customers

If your company is like most, 20 percent of your customers generate 80 percent of the revenue. Scary, isn't it?

Key account managers care for strategically important customers. They are the gatekeepers to revenue stability and long-term profitability. They turn company assets into customer benefits in order to increase company assets.

If competent key account managers have competitive organizations behind them, they can break the 20/80 rule.

Key account managers

There are two distinct roles for key account managers: that of a business consultant providing advantage to the customer, and that of a strategist advancing his or her own business through wise opportunity management. Four individual capabilities are used to carry out these roles.

Balancing purpose and objective Revenue quotas and profit goals are objectives necessary to stay in business. Purpose reflects the nature of results to be achieved. Clients react differently to suppliers who are more interested in profit attainment than harnessing their resources for the customer's benefit.

Your key account managers know their objectives, do they know their purpose? Do they feel personal passion about what they do?

Planning for performance Key account managers, at minimum, should be obligated to document customer information, short- and long-term opportunities, resource requirements and relationship goals.

How disciplined are your key account managers in using basic business practices to plan for performance? Have you provided the tools they need to manage vast amounts of information?

Creating productive working relationships Key account managers usually do not have position power inside or outside of an organization. They need to be adept at establishing credibility quickly and engaging people in actionable dialogue.

When was the last time your top customer representatives were refreshed on interpersonal skills? How well are they coached to practice and improve their skills?

Facilitating meaningful change Key account managers can be change agents for their customers and their own organizations. Gaining support from organizations and individuals to choose to change, means making decisions easy and required actions obvious.

How capable are your key account managers of creating a business case for change? Does your company listen to them and act on their requests?

A competitive organization

The most capable key account managers will struggle, and even fail, without organizational support, and in particular, competitive resources in the areas of sales management, marketing, technical and customer service.

Holistic support Holistic organizational support is when an entire organization enables key account managers in their efforts to represent the company. Equate lack of organizational support to profit risk for the true picture of its impact on a company.

Can everyone in your company name your top customers? Do they know which customers' relationships are building to that level?

Sales management Sales managers and the sales team create the foundation from which key account managers work. Without guidance and camaraderie, they can feel lost and lonely, and they will be less effective. Sales managers who leave their key accounts and key account managers alone are incompetent. Those who over-manage hurt people in a different way, but are just as incompetent.

How well do your sales managers hold the balance between their own success and what is important to the sales team and key account managers' success?

Marketing With tangible evidence of organizational differentiation, a key account manager can further his or her company's positioning exponentially.

Does your company have a marketing strategy that works? Are your marketing tools current, relevant and do they distinguish your company competitively?

Technical Inferiority in technical expertise is accepted in trade only, usually price breaks.

How thoroughly do your technical people or subject matter experts understand their obligation to key account managers? Do they work together well or are resources managed as if they are in a separate company?

Customer service Attitudes toward customers cannot be faked. They show in response time, policies and the degree to which customer service is in the mainstream of a supplier organization. Poor or sluggish customer service chips away at every sales effort regardless of how significant.

Are your service representatives capable of supporting sophisticated customers? Do they have the right attitude and professionalism? Have efforts been made to improve their skills and help them understand their power?

Executive leadership is ultimately responsible for the competency of key account managers and the organization that supports them.