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Key account managers have to navigate their own organisation and their key account’s. Having an awareness of how organisations manage themselves and people within them can make the process a whole lot easier. Company cultures differ, so interpreting and anticipating their impact can help to find alignment. The ways that organisations operate can seem very…
Key account managers are responsible for the financial success of the business with key customers. But do you know how your decisions impact that profitability? Or how to make a business case for investment with future returns? You need at least to interpret the financial drivers on both sides, appreciate financial health and strategies from…
Since the pandemic supply chain security is front of mind in every customer. But do you know how supply chains work? Can you discuss and understand the risks and opportunities in supply chain developments? Indeed, supply chain issues can derail some of the most exciting initiatives key account managers might propose. So a basic understanding…
Leadership training is commonly offered to first-line internal managers, but rarely to key account managers. That is ironic, given that the KAM job demands leadership as an obligation, not an option. In fact, it may be one of the toughest leadership-without-authority jobs in the organisation, so appreciating and applying some of the theory and principles now…
Many key account managers have a background in sales, but training may be quite some time ago – maybe even never! It’s worth (re)visiting some higher-level fundamentals and reviewing what aspects of selling are still relevant to KAM in today’s environment. What kinds of approaches to selling exist, how do they differ, which should you…
You may have plenty of experience as a key account manager, but maybe you haven’t had the relevant training/education that underpins the role. But KAM has a substantial body of research and theory, about what it is (and is not); relationships between complex suppliers and complex customers; how KAM works and a particular focus on…
It’s hard to keep your eyes on the customer when you’re going through a Merger or Acquisition, when you’re not even sure if your job is safe. But it’s not much better if you emerge from the situation to discover but your customer has felt overlooked and unimportant and consequently defected to the competition. In…
Richard Ilsley and Olivier Riviere, highly experienced trainers themselves, discuss how and why training often doesn’t work. In part it may be because what it is supposed to deliver hasn’t been defined, no objectives have been set. But should those objectives be hardwired to the commercial targets of the organisation, or should they represent intermediate…
Armelle Dupont (Group Customer Experience Manager, Vetropack) explains very clearly the considerable depth and range of responsibilities expected of her company’s key account managers – and selling doesn’t get a mention! John Bailey (Director Of International Key Accounts & OEMs, Hiab) agrees. Both companies specifically match each key account manager with the customer they will…
AKAM would be the first to say that KAM is not a cure-all, and Olivier Rivière picks out two organisational capabilities that must underpin any KAM initiative: Complex Sales and Account Management. Companies often don’t recognise that deficiencies in these areas are contributing to their underperforming KAM programme. Complex Sales focuses on generating and closing…
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