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Steps To Ensure Your Key Account Management Strategy Is Successful

Introduction

Account management is built up of six basic and golden activities. As a matter of fact, it has to do with nurturing clients’ relationships, imparting knowledge, transparency and communication, learning continuously, accountability and doing what is best and what is right for their clients.

These six activities are the basics of Account management and are also very essential for all businesses that want to thrive and grow. Building and maintaining good relationships with your clients is a good tactic for keeping them in business with them. Ensuring that you understand your clients enough to offer them what is best for them is what account management is all about. It also involves keeping note of all the conversations they had with you and satisfying their needs based on the conversation you have with them.

It is very important that you have some account management strategies that your company will work with. I’m this article, we will discuss what account management is all about, account management strategies, steps to Ensure that your key account management strategy is successful, roles of Account management and the skills of account management. At the end of this article, you’ll see why you need to keep a good hold of account management in your company.

Table of Contents

What is Account Management?

This activity is a post sales role that works and focuses on nurturing clients relationships. There are two main objectives that account management upholds and these are retaining clients’ business as well as growing available opportunities. They are as a matter of fact, so much interested in learning about their clients and knowing what goals they have. They also help their clients to achieve their goals as well.

The saying goes that good business is built on good relationships. Account management involves building and maintaining good client relationships. This means that account management is purely relational. It builds on understanding their clients needs, answering their questions and providing solutions to their problems.

Their aim is also to work towards building partnerships with clients and nurture long term growth. Their roles are simply all about communication and relationships. In other words, account is the bedrock of building and maintaining relationships with clients for the relative growth of your business.

Account Management Strategies

Account Management Strategies

Most times we think the sales are done when we successfully land business deals and sales with our clients. May I tell you that the work is just starting after then. It is essential that we make ways to keep relationships with out valuable clients. In this section, we will be discussing some account management strategies that will be very useful for your business. They  are as follows:

Know When to Designate A Client as a Strategic Account

There are lots of clients. A whole lot of them. However, only a few clients contribute immensely to the growth of your company. It is important that you identify these clients and try to study the  amount of money you would lose if you were to lose that kind of client.

If the answer is a lot, then you need to designate them as key accounts to your company. The customers you would hate to lose and the ones you brag often about are the ones that need your special attention. This is because they are the bedrock of your business and without them, your business will crumble.

Strategically Choose An Account Manager

Account management need someone with vast knowledge of account management and  its skills. It cannot just be handled by a layman. It should be handled by people who have the knowledge. You do not want want to choose a farmer to hunt, do you?

So as it is, your ideal account manager should be someone who cab profer solutions to your clients needs and not aggressively do what is not in the best interest of your clients.

It is the work of your account manager to educate your clients and give them clear insights to your business. He or She needs to also have the right aptitude to call in the right people at the right time.

Know The Players Inside The Strategic Account

It is very important to identify potential buyers and strong influencers of your business early. These are the  key players of your strategic account. In order to achieve this, you need to establish an executive sponsorship program whereby your senior executives will build peer to peer relationships with your strategic account executives. This will help you to build a more fortified relationship with them. It will also enhance decision making in relation to your key account clients.

Build Dependency

You want your key clients to be dependent on you in ways whereby they need your services. It is no news that clients sometimes can never be 100% satisfied and when they do not have a solid relationship built with you already, they go ahead to look for your competing businesses who seem to offer more than you can offer them.

However, when your clients are to a very large extent dependent on you, they won’t be able to sever ties with you. One thing they will put into consideration is how much relationship you’ve built together and how well you understand their needs.

Provide Insight to Create Value for the Client’s Business

There are several ways to provide insights to create value for the client’s business. One of such ways is responding on time to opportunities coming from clients. In acting upon this kind of opportunity, the account management team must be able to respond on time. Another way is sharing opportunities. There are certain opportunities you need to share with your client’s business as a way of partnering with them. Your clients would also value you a lot when you open up opportunities for them by giving them new ideas, helping them understand their challenges as well as offering solutions for them.

Validate the Plan

Strategic Account Management is as good as running another business within your own business. It is very important that you carry your client along and never consider an account plan final unless you have let your client in on all the plans. As a matter of fact, ensure that your client is involved in the process to achieve a valid and actionable plan.

Roles of Account Management

The roles and responsibilities of account management or managers are as follows:

Build Strong and Lasting Relationship With Clients

The bedrock of a good and growing business is good relationships. It is the role of the account management to build and maintain long lasting relationships with clients. Holding these types of relationships with clients enables the growth and expansion of business in all ramifications.

Prepare Reports on Account Status

Account managers are professionally skilled to be able to prepare reports on account status. It is one of their major roles.

Preparing an account status for account management

Communication

It is also the work of the account management to communicate with clients in order to understand their needs. An understanding of the needs of your clients will enable you offer the appropriate solutions to any of their needs and requests. They are also in charge of explaining product value.

Collaboration With Internal Departments

Satisfying and fulfilling the needs of your clients is the main reason why you are in business. As a matter of fact, it is therefore the role or duties of your account manager to collaborate with internal departments in order to facilitate clients’ needs fulfilment.

Building Clients’ Trust

Trust is a very important element in business. When you relate with your clients with respect as well as build their trust in your business, you’re opening more doors for yourself. It is the work of the account management team to relate with your clients with respect and build their trust in your business.

Increasing in Knowledge

Another role of the account management team is to maintain an updated knowledge of the company’s products and services. This will enable them to give an accurate account of what the company is all about to clients.

Account Management Skills

In account management, there are certain skills your account manager must possess. They will always come in handy in the course of managing your account.

Below are some the skills required for account management:

Listening

This skill is the most underrated in account management and it is a very essential skill for account managers. It is very important that account managers take their time to listen very attentively. This is in order to grasp a good understanding of whatever situation they have before them. It is then that they will be able to start looking for appropriate solutions.

Time Management

It is also very important for account managers to have very strong time management skills. They should make it a habit to build on their time management skills by reading as much as they can on time management.

Relationship or Trust Building

This is the basis of the work of the account management team. As a matter of fact, every account manager must possess the relationship or trust building skills. They must be able to establish their concerns for their clients by relating with the to understand their needs and offer them solutions.

Organizational or Multitasking Abilities

This is a very much needed skill for account managers. They must be able to multitask as that would require them to participate in so many other activities once at a time. An account manager has to be  disciplined, focused and know how to manage time well.

Understanding Your Clients Business and Needs

For account managers to be able to provide the right solutions to problems, they must understand the business of their clients and needs.

This enables you as the account manager to execute programs that are in sync with your clients objectives and yours.

Adaptability

It is very important that account managers know how to be flexible and at the same time remain focused. You need to be able to adapt to whatever situation may come your way. It is above all, the most important skill for an account manager.

Empathy

At times, endeavour to put yourself in your customers shoes and feel what they often feel as well. As such, you will have a better understanding of what they need to be going through. Being able to build good relationships with them involves walking some miles in your clients’ shoes first.

Asking Good Questions

It is very important that you know how to ask the right questions. If you do not know how to ask the right questions, you won’t be able to get the needed understanding to offer the right solutions. Your credibility comes from the questions you ask and not from the information you give.

Passion

Account managers need to be very passionate about  their products. When they are passionate about it, they  will be able to transfer that same passion to your clients. In other words, account management involves having the ability to transfer your passion to your clients.

Conclusion

With the right attitude and skills, the main purpose of account management will be achieved. It is essential that account managers also add up formal training and knowledge to their abilities and skills. Account Management finds its basis and life in forming, building, maintaining and upholding good relationships with people. Treat your clients with respect and help them build as much trust in you and your brand as possible. Listen, pay attention and offer the right solutions to your clients’ needs and problems. Also, ensure to employ the best hands for your account management. Their aim should be nurturing relationships with clients as well as building partnerships. It also involves making sure those relationships and partnerships are long lasting. Professional hands have a lot to offer in ensuring that your account management is done well.