Managing key accounts

Your business strategy to increase sales will have to include effective account management. This will require your organization to go much further than merely identifying key accounts—and will entail a deeper understanding of the needs of your customers. If executed properly, it could provide stability and continuity in your revenue stream. Those who do it well will differentiate themselves from competition and enjoy sustained profitable growth.

We asked Jeff Chua, an entrepreneur who is also a consultant for sales management programs, for tips on how to get started on one’s key account management strategy.

The first step is of course to identify which accounts are key accounts. Your organization needs an explicit, strict definition for key accounts. The more detailed and specific the criteria, the better. These customers are going to receive a great deal of your company’s time, energy, and resources, so you want to make sure they’re the right ones.

Find the right key account manager. Recognize that selling and account management require different mindsets, skills and objectives. For the key account manager to be successful, he/she must be critical to the customer’s operations. He/she must have an in-depth understanding of his/her account’s strategy, market position, finances, products, and organization structure. He will use this knowledge to make business cases or account plans proposing customized blend of products and services tailored to the needs of the customers.

The key account manager should have the ability to seek win-win opportunities with the customer’s business. To do this, he must develop value-based account plans by taking on a consultative selling approach in searching for opportunities that will add value to the customers by helping them save money, make money and manage risk. The key account manager must also be able to follow through, execute, analyze the outcomes, and apply lessons learned to future strategies.

Chua will facilitate a workshop titled “Strategic Key Account Management: Planning and implementing dynamic account strategies” on April 25, 2019, at the Inquirer Academy. The course is beneficial to sales managers, account executives, and professional medical representatives.

There will be a course to help new sales professionals titled “Effective Selling: Elevating your sales game with tools and techniques to close a sale,” which will be on March 15, 2019.

The Inquirer Academy is at 4168 Don Chino Roces Ave. corner Ponte St., Makati City. For more information about the workshop or if you would like to add your input on the article, you may email [email protected], call (632) 834-1557 or 771-2715 and look for Jerald Miguel or Karl Paz, or visit the website at www.inquireracademy.com.