Key accounts management
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Key Account Management is a strategic planning approach that goes beyond traditional selling to tackle today's customer issues. It reaches inside both seller and buyer organisations, so KAM is undoubtedly more complex and more difficult than simple sales activity. But the stakes are high, and powerful customers expect no less from their suppliers now.
Key account management revolves around how businesses can maximize their profitability from their clients which give them or have the potential of giving them maximum revenues. It involves a whole lot of relationship management and account planning.
A good key account manager would know the colour of his client's handkerchief before he enters the room. Account planning would primarily involve the following
- Understanding the history of the account
- Tracking the growth of the account
- Identifying the right people
- Being informed about the competitors to the account
- Planning out for future interactions
Knowing the right people is key to growing an account. Understanding who the gatekeepers are and who the decision makers are. Interacting with the gatekeepers will not get you anywhere. It would also involve knowing the budget approval limits for a particular client. This would result in the "share of mind" getting converted to the "share of wallet."
