What is effective account management?

• Check in with sales to get a better understanding of the customer’s needs.
• Work with operations to ensure those needs are being met.
• Coordinate with customer support to resolve any issues.
• Improving the customer experience leads to more revenue because happy customers are more likely to be loyal, increasing customer retention and lifetime value.

• Understanding the key account's business and industry
• Regularly reviewing accounts to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities that align with customers’ goals. 
• Developing and executing account plans to maximize growth and increase revenue. 
• Maintaining high-customer satisfaction levels
• Identifying additional opportunities 
• Anticipating future needs

  Outstanding account managers are intentional. This is all driven from a place of clarity defined by a strategy that is aligned to get results that matter. Their plans integrate the goals and expectations of their clients, superiors and business while focusing on their own. They understand the daily implications and actions of their strategy and are locked in daily to achieve it while still be agile to unforeseen circumstances. They always have a contingency. 

Outstanding account managers recognize to get to truth with their customers they must arrive with no agenda. They look through the eyes of their customers to see their fears, desires and goals. Once they do they get closer to what I call the 'truth zone'. The place where the customer feels safe. Safe enough to tell them what matters most and also who the account manager and their company need to be in order to become who they need now and tomorrow. Account managers who are truth finders do this from a place of security, opportunity and can quickly become trusted adviser. 

 The value you deliver must have an intended result. The type of value you deliver matters. Exceptional account managers know this and look for opportunities where the value they deliver moves a sale, a relationship or solution forward. Adding value and creating value for your customers is fundamentally different because they produce different customer responses. Great account managers recognize this and make those adjustments. 

Check out our Sales & Marketing page for more info.

 There is a lot to be said about communication. Outstanding account managers have an ability to observe the behaviours of their customers, see situations through the eyes of others and adjust the way they communicate to meet their goals. Their communication is subtle and confident never overbearing and reflects the words and opinions of others so those around them feel heard.  

 Exceptional account managers recognize that trust is on a continuum. Its not a place you arrive at but there are moments and metrics in the customer relationship that tell them their relationships are moving in the right direction. They show up practicing being present because they realize that trust is first built on seeking to understand then to be understood. They under promise and over deliver and are values driven. The serve first and take fear off the table through empathy. They know that without trust the other pieces fall down. 

 Outstanding account managers above everything produce results. They never make excuses when things don't go their way. They show up collaboratively looking for solutions and lead from a win win win philosophy so their company, their clients and they win in the process. They know that success can't be accomplished by accident. They make every effort to evaluate where they are, improve and discover repeatable success in the skills and experiences they have. They're constantly learning and win consistently more than the average. 

 Transition from a transactional approach to a solution provider by: 

1. Developing a mindset of making the customer successful by building a deep understanding of their needs, goals, KPIs, and metrics for success, and
2. Creating pull via customizing the product and/or services to the end consumer. 
3. Software as a service is also a great solution provider.

 Understand account economics by performing an enterprise needs assessment, including:

• Drivers of profitability
• Customer total cost of ownership (TCO).
• 100 percent share of wallet breakdown.
• Key decision-maker(s) and influencer analyses (from the top-down). 

 Conduct regular account reviews based on short-term performance and long-term health of accounts, ensuring each is receiving “best practice” treatment as well as optimum time of coverage based on account size, economic potential, market shifts, and account complexity. 

Also see our Data Science page.

 Seize “moments of truth” with each key account to build stronger relationships by:

1. Understanding the varying inflection points a customer may experience.
2. Offering customized support and solutions.
3. Offering predictive analytical insights that will drive a solution versus transactional only approach. 

 Codify experiences and lessons learned by creating and institutionalizing enterprise wide memory, including a win-loss and robust loss bid analysis. Ensure appropriate dissemination of learnings and insights to both the key account functional leaders and broader organization. Remember, "price not competitive" is never an adequate answer. 

 Reallocate inside and outside sales to better align with the changing needs of digitally savvy customers, who have a preference for speed, convenience, and on the spot support. Bolster sales ops, ensuring they account for 50-60 percent of the total sales team, allowing for greater customer insights, optimized sales toolkits, and improved personalization.

 Create cross-functional key account teams for driving the most holistic, personalized support. This includes functions not typically associated with account coverage. Finally, create an enterprise scorecard (KPI’s) to drive key account enterprise alignment.

 Improve negotiation and decision-making capabilities. Gaps in key account negotiations and thus poor decision-making can be highly erosive as the pressure to succumb to large account demands can equate to significant money left on the table. The same level of analytical rigor, due diligence, operations, and strategy should also be used across account negotiations. 

 Improve employee engagement as customer engagement is highly correlated to employee engagement. Simply, the key to loyal, engaged customers is first to create loyal, engaged employees that are then inspired to drive service excellence and "wow" experiences for customers.

 Personalize your account management experiences and segment at a level of one as accounts expect personalized, predictive solutions that help them solve their most pressing problems. Simply, the strategic focus should never be at a broad or even segmented level but rather at an individual program level to maximize NPV.