Building and using the key account matrix: selection, categorisation and management

CPD certified!

Successful completion of this topic track will earn you 7 CPD points. See more information below.

Commonly companies have used past sales as the only criterion when selecting their key customers. But this approach overlooks significant factors that should be taken into account. Suppliers should be looking for information and characteristics that indicate where the best return on investment will be gained in the future. Choosing the right portfolio of key accounts is critical. If even some of them are not right, it will be difficult to demonstrate the long-term success of KAM and the consequences for the whole programme can be huge – poor selection can bring down the whole initiative!

Understanding how and why key accounts have been selected is important however you are involved, whether running the selection process, contributing to assessment and understanding of the customer, or working with the key accounts identified. It can make a real difference to whether you and others endorse and align with the selection or deny and subvert it!

Key accounts are all different and further categorising them is invaluable in determining the right approach for each, and ensuring that everyone in the organisation is aligned in its treatment of the customer. If you suspect that your company has not made the optimum selection and categorisation of its key accounts, you can introduce them to this process!

The objectives of this track through relevant items in AKAM’s Member Resources are to:

Demonstrate the critical importance of selecting the right key accounts
Appreciate why differentiation restricts the number of key accounts
Understand the consequences of poor selection and how to avoid it
Learn and trial a process of selecting key accounts that includes their view of your organisation.
Accept and understand the value of constructing the key account portfolio as a matrix.
Discover matrix-driven key account management strategies

The materials will take about 7 hours to complete, including trialling the process through the spreadsheets. Completing the track is worth 7 CPD points. (To produce a selection endorsed by the company will take more time and more people, but you will have the necessary structure to apply.)

Each element within this learning track is followed by a short, simple quiz, designed to establish that you have covered all the material. They are linked to the system which allocates your CPD points. Upon successful completion, you shall receive a certificate via email that you can use to evidence your continuous professional development.

You can access all the material without completing the quizzes, but you won’t gain CPD points if you don’t complete them.

You need to score at least 60% on each. If you fall short, but want to gain the CPD points, don’t worry, you can easily go through the material again and retake the quiz.

Building and using the key account matrix

The essence of KAM: differentiation and key account selection

Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
Links to objective a & b

Segmenting key accounts

Paper, the Programme Directors Forum discusses the situation and practicalities or segmentation
Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
Links to objective a, b & c

KAM-wrecking key customer picks

Bulletin article by Dr Diana Woodburn highlighting the dangers of poor selection and its many sources
Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
Links to objective c

Insights on tools and methods for selecting the right key customers

Presentation by Professor Marco Sisti of SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan on data and process for selection
Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes
Links to objective d & e