Key Account Management Skills & Strategies

Rationale

This course is designed to transform participants into business advisors and high-yielding and profit-generating relationship managers whom clients rely on and companies value. The course shows participants how to build long-term, value-based relationships with large accounts, penetrate them for additional business, and maximize the revenue they generate while reducing the time and costs in managing them. The course also provides a strong focus on quantitative approaches to account qualification and account planning best practices.

Course Methodology

The course includes self-assessment tools, planning and analytical templates, and psychometric self-assessment instruments to measure personal abilities to accommodate different personality styles. Group exercises and case studies will also be integral parts of the training methodology used.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Define the functions of key accounts and their importance for the commercial organization
• Identify and prioritize key accounts to measure their profitability and qualify their strategic importance for their company
• Classify the different levels of customer relationships to enhance the way they interface with customers
• Develop customer-focused plans and strategies needed in the development of key accounts
• Build core key account competencies to meet the ever-changing challenges in the market

Target Audience

In addition to key account managers and sales managers, this course is targeted at cross-functional personnel who seek to understand modern customer management practices to improve cross-functional support and develop personal careers in key account management.

Target Competencies

• Account planning
• Sales forecasting
• Networking skills
• Cost to serve computations
• Account classification models
• Presentation skills
• Time management
• Relationship management

Course Outline

Module 1

Ø Key Account Management (KAM) defined

o The changing nature of sales force activity

o Definition of key account management

o Criteria for qualifying Key Accounts (KA)

o Strategic accounts versus key accounts

o Objectives of KAM

o Managing customer profitability and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Definition and goals of CRM
• The value of loyalty
• Acquisition costs and lifetime value (LTV)

Module 2

Ø Account analysis: defining and selecting KA

o KAM: best-practice actions

o Account analysis insights

o Account analysis methods

• The single factor models
• The portfolio models
• The decision models

o Important ‘KPIs’ for KA qualification

• Computing the cost per call
• Break-even sales volume
• Result based simulation

Module 3

Ø Key account relational development model

o Business partnership defined

o The partnership skillset

o The KA relational development model

• Pre-relationship stage
• Early relationship stage
• Mid-relationship stage
• Partnership relationship stage
• Synergetic relationship stage

o Reasons for divesting partnerships

o The KA quiz