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In spite of its name – key account selection/categorisation matrix – the matrix has many more uses than choosing key accounts. It represents your organisation’s portfolio of key accounts, which should be managed, measured and assessed as a portfolio. The position of a customer in the matrix should be used to decide how much resource…
These two spreadsheets prefaced with instructions for use are designed to make the process of building the key account matrix easier for you. They make clear what data you need to collect and supply ready-made blank tables for inputting it. You really must give contributors scales to get some consistency across their ratings, so make…
Account segmentation is as fundamental to KAM as the differentiation that has to go with it. This report of the Programme Directors Forum complements the report on differentiation and digs into what segments are generally applied, and the well-established process for allocating customers to each. Segmentation is just the beginning: it leads to questions like…
Differentiation is a cornerstone of KAM, yet some companies seem to believe they are operating KAM without giving key accounts anything significantly different from other customers. Suppliers standardise to lower costs, gain efficiencies and avoid making mistakes, but this isn’t enough for key accounts to spend their valuable time with you. This report of AKAM’s…
In this podcast, John Bailey (Hiab), Armelle Dupont (Vetropack) and Diana Woodburn (AKAM) talk about how and why key accounts are chosen, and why some major accounts don’t make the cut. Key strategic accounts should be selected for their potential and willingness to partner, allied with their strategic fit with the supplier. But suppliers need…
Companies often make the mistake of applying the same compensation schemes to key account managers as they do to salespeople. Understandably, employees reckon that what they are incentivized for is what the organisation really wants from them. So if short term sales are incentivized, short term sales are the output – not KAM. In this…
Corruption is a hard word for some not unusual situations in KAM. But Professor Stephan Henneberg applies it to violations of the employer’s norms and interests, which many will have observed in KAM relationships. You will probably recognise many of the situations in Stephan’s hair-raising collection of quotes. Defining the limits in commercial relationships is…
Emotions are an integral part of the human experience and, as of now, humans are still involved on both sides of KAM relationships. Filoumena Zlatanou of Queen Mary university London presented her research with C level executives who see the impact of emotions in business, both positive and negative. It’s useful to acknowledge when emotions…
Dr Diana Woodburn highlighted the principal issue, i.e. that the role of the key account manager is broad, cross functional, complex and long term, whereas they are predominantly rewarded for sales – which is sharply focused, functionally narrow, relatively simple and short term. Hence often poorly matched to the customer’s needs and timelines. Dr Diana…
Companies are now recruiting key account managers for their emotional intelligence, maybe more than for their sales track record, because EQ is arguably more important in developing and managing the customer relationships essential to KAM. While EQ is innate in some people, it can also be improved. So Charlotte Bull explains the 4 pillars of…
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