1. SEMINAR 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO KAM

2. PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES 1. To understand the Key Account Concept
2. To learn a process for analysing key accounts
3. To develop an Action Plan for your immediate product objective within your key account
4. To become aware of the systemic implications of implementing an effective KAM programme
5. To generate some specific ideas that you can immediately apply to the management of your key accounts.

3. IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN KAM
Position and strategy - where am I now, and how do I move to a better position?
Strategic, Long-term focus v Tactical short-term focus
Win-win
KAM is an integrating function not an isolated one. It is cross-functional, not departmental
Which accounts are key accounts, and what is it?

4. DEFINITION  
Key Account Management is the process through which you build long-term, win-win relationships with those accounts that either currently or in the future offer you the opportunity to achieve high-value commercial results.

5. ACTIVITIES Product Management and broader marketing mix management
Customer Relationship Management
Personal selling
Supply-chain management
Detailed account information collection / analysis
Cross-functional team management
Cultural and structural developments in the organisation.

6. What are the elements of excellence?
A STUDY OF EXCELLENCE
What are the elements of excellence?
1. Know what results you want
2. Engage in continuous planning to achieve those results
3. Implement strategies and use feedback to improve steps 1 and 2
The wonderful thing is that excellence can be modeled.

7. Highly successful people know why they are successful
Highly successful people know why they are successful. They have a system, and it is flexible and adaptable to change. It is not luck. As Gary Player says,
The harder I practice, the luckier I get.
And, the harder you practice this system, the luckier you will get!!

8. SOME UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS
KAM says that individual orders are not enough. True account success means;
Repeat business
Solid referrals
Long-term relationships
At the heart of KAM is process or methodology. Necessary to navigate organisational complexity.

9. THE COMPLEX SALE
A sale in which a number of people must give their approval or input before the buying decision can be made.

10. ELEMENTS OF A COMPLEX SALE
Account has multiple options
Seller has multiple options
In both organisations multiple levels of responsibility
The account’s decision making process is complex
These conditions demand an overall strategy towards the account.

11. 3 MAXIMS OF KAM
1. Whatever got you where you are today is no longer enough to keep you there
2. In a complex sale, a tactical plan is only as good as the strategy that led up to it
3. You can only succeed in sales today if you know what you are doing and why.

12. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE
If you don’t change you die.
Success is about change. But change is a tough subject for us. We don’t like it , and usually only do it when we have to.
Tiger Woods and Gillette are different. They follow the excellence strategy of continuous development of their position.

13. THE SECRET OF PERMANENT YOUTH

14. KAM STRATEGY: FOCUS ON THE ACCOUNT
Differentiate between short and long-term objectives
Don’t sacrifice the account for a short-term objective
In key accounts, long-term is king
Focus on the account, not on yourselves and your functions.

15. BALANCING SHORT AND LONG-TERM
Long-term relationships are about trust and credibility
You earn these each and every time you produce win-results for your account and its representatives
Long-term success is a function of many successive short-term transactions
Our process builds long-term relationships, one objective at a time.

16. OUR KAM PROCESS
1. Identify your current position with the account, with particular reference to your current single objective
2. Improve this position through analysing the following key elements;
The Buying Influences
Strengths and weaknesses
Win-results for the buying influences
Competition
3. Prepare an action plan to improve position and implement it
4. Begin the process again in the light of feedback.

17. STARTING POINT - CURRENT POSITION
Strategic analysis of accounts begins with fixing your current position;
Within the account as a whole, and
For your current product/sales objective
You are then able to take systematic corrective action to improve your position
KAM is about consistently taking action that moves you closer to producing win-results for your accounts. Improving your position means building credibility.

18. UNDERSTANDING CURRENT POSITION
Who are all the key players in the account
How do they feel about you
How do they feel about your proposals
What questions do they want answered
What constitutes a win-result for them
How do they see your proposals with respect to their other options?
We will answer these questions in our workshops.

19. How Do You Feel Now?

20. Don’t Be Too Confident!

21. SEMINAR 2 BUYING INFLUENCES

22. BUYING INFLUENCES
You are conducting complex sales which require the input or approval of several people.
Who are these people, and what role do they play in the decision to buy your products?
Do you have a strategic process to identify them?

23. BUYING INFLUENCES Look for roles first, then people.
There are 4 roles, each has a different influence on decision
Economic Buying Influence
User Buying Influence
Technical Buying Influence
Confidant
One role may be occupied by more than one person, and one person may occupy more than one role.

24. USING BUYING INFLUENCES TO IMPROVE YOUR POSITION
1. Understand the 4 Buying Influence Roles
2. Identify all the key players in each of these roles
3. Ensure that all players are covered. You must fully understand and deal with their attitudes to your proposal
Knowing this information objective by objective can help you see the big account picture, and balance the short and long-term.

25. ECONOMIC BUYING INFLUENCE
Role: To give final approval to buy
Focus: Bottom line and impact on organisation
Asks: “What return will we get on this investment, and how will it impact the organisation?”
Only one for any given objective, but maybe a board
Controls expenditure, authority to release funds
Discretionary use of resources
Veto power.

26. LOCATING THE EBI
Usually located higher up the organisation, but by no means always the CEO or general manager.
The person can change from objective to objective. Hence the value of account wide understanding . It helps to consider;
1. The monetary value of the sale
2. Business conditions
3. Experience with you and your company
4. Experience with your product
5. Potential organisational impact.

27. USER BUYING INFLUENCES
Role: To make judgments about impact on job performance
Focus: The job to be done
Asks: “How will it work for me in my job?”
Often several people in this role
They use or supervise the use of your product
Personal and subjective since User will live with your solution
Direct link between the user’s success and the success of your product
Not securing their support can be dangerous.

28. TECHNICAL BUYING INFLUENCES
Role: To screen out
Focus: Match to specifications in their area of expertise
Asks: “Does this meet the specifications?”
Often several or many people in this role
They judge measurable, quantifiable aspects of your proposal
Can’t give final approval, but can say no based on technicalities.

29. CONFIDANTS Role: To act as guide for a given objective
Focus: Your success with this proposal
Asks: “How can we ensure that this success happens?”
Develop at least one for each objective. They can be found in the account, in your organisation or outside both
They can provide and interpret information about:
1. Validity of the product/sales objective
2. Other buying influences
3. Other elements of your strategic analysis.

30. DEGREE OF INFLUENCE AND RECEPTIVITY
You need to position yourself with all the buying influences, but not all are equally important
You need to assess degree of influence
The receptivity of the buying influences to your proposal is also important to gauge
People only buy when they perceive a discrepancy between reality and their desired results.

31. EARLY WARNING AND PREEMPTIVE ACTION
SEMINAR 3
EARLY WARNING AND PREEMPTIVE ACTION

32. EARLY WARNING AND PREEMPTIVE ACTION
Discovering weaknesses in your position while you are still able to correct them is a central goal of KAM
This approach to ‘mistakes’ often clashes with organisational culture which encourages covering up weak positions and denial. Beware
Where do you have a weak position, and how can you use your strengths to improve your position?

33. WHAT IS A WEAK POSITION?
1. Missing information about any of the key elements
2. Uncertainty about any relevant information
3. Uncontacted buying influences
4. New members to the account in a buying influence role
5. Reorganisation.

34. ELIMINATING WEAK POSITIONS THROUGH STRENGTHS
Any identified weak position should be eliminated by leveraging a strength. What are strengths?
Areas of differentiation that matter to the customer for this objective, that are not found in the competition
Strengths must improve your position for this objective. Anything that increases your understanding can be a strategic strength, provided its an area of differentiation
The strength must matter to the customer for this particular objective.

35. KAM AND THE WIN-WIN PARADIGM
SEMINAR 4
KAM AND THE WIN-WIN PARADIGM

36. KAM AND THE WIN-WIN PARADIGM
Relationships with your key accounts should be based on win-win
All of the other alternatives eventually end in lose-lose
A win-win relationship is one in which the self-interest of both parties is served. Anything less constitutes a non win-win, and threatens your relationship with the account
Look at all of your buying influences and ask yourself;
“Are you honestly trying to serve their self-interest? Do you really want them to win? Do they know you want them to win?”

37. WIN-RESULTS
A Result is a measurable impact that a product has on one or more of your customer’s professional processes
A Win is the fulfillment of a subjective, personal promise made to oneself, to serve your own special interest in some special way
Wins are always different for different people

38. A win-result is an objective professional result that gives one or more of your buying influences a subjective, personal win
Results come first, but are not enough
Accounts get results, but only people win.

39. CHARACTERISTICS OF RESULTS
Positively and measurably affect your customer’s professional processes
Either it improves current process or fixes something that has gone wrong
It is tangible, measurable and quantifiable
It can affect more than one person in the account.

40. ECONOMIC USER
Low cost of ownership
Good budget fit
ROI
Financial responsibility
İncreased productivity
Profitability
Smooth out cash flow
flexibility
Reliability
İncreased efficiency
Upgrade skills
Fulfill performance
Best problem solution
Do job better / faster/ easier
Versatility
Super-service
Easy to learn and use
TECHNICAL CONFIDANT (WINS)
Specs Best and product meets them
Delivery timely
Best technical solution
Discounts/low bids/price
reliability
Recognition
Visibility
Get strokes
Make contribution
Be seen as a problem solver

41. CHARACTERISTICS OF WINS
A fulfillment of a conscious or unconscious promise to oneself. This changes from person to person and over time for one person
Wins are intangible, not measurable or quantifiable. They are more difficult to identify
They are even more important in an environment where financial rewards are limited
Wins are personal. Results can be shared, wins can’t. The same result can give different wins for different people
It is not enough to deliver results alone. You must also deliver a win for each of the buying influences.

42. SEMINAR 5 WHAT ABOUT THE COMPETITION?

43. WHAT ABOUT THE COMPETITION?
The only competitive strategy that can bring you success is a strategy in which you keep firmly focused on the account, objective by objective
Respect, but don’t obsess about the competition
Consider the advantages to the account of an alternative supplier, but don’t neglect your strengths
Proactive rather than reactive
Enable the customer to perceive that you have made a significant contribution to their business
The value that you add should be something that can not be obtained elsewhere.

44. ACTION PLAN
You have completed all of the workshops on all of the key elements for your single sales objective
You have been able to revise your position in the light of your analysis
Now is the time to make your Action Plan
What do you need to do to improve your position?
What strengths can you leverage to eliminate a weak position?
Keep the list quite short. Positions can change in a blink, and you then have to change your strategy.

45. SYSTEMIC IMPLICATIONS OF KAM
Implementing a KAM strategy will have an impact on the wider organisational system
Structure. Eliminating barriers and organisational boundaries
Culture. Changing the behaviour of org. members, encouraging new attitudes
Systems and procedures. Particularly relating to performance review criteria, rewards and training
The skill set of the account team
Failure to deal with systemic implications severely lessens the impact of a KAM strategy.

46. CONCLUSIONS
1. Success needs goals, strategy and feedback. In other words, a system
2. KAM is a system to enable you to build profitable, long-term relationships with your important customers
3. KAM has a long-term focus, based on win-win
4. You serve the long-term interests of an account objective by objective. This allows you to see the short-term in the light of the long-term

47. 5. To serve accounts, we need to have extensive, reliable information about them
6. We looked at what information was necessary by analysing a single product/sales objective that you are currently working on
7. The results of this analysis allow you to take the necessary action to improve your position
8. Finally, we discussed the vital systemic issues relating to implementing a KAM strategy.