Effective Key Accounts Management

In almost every line of business a few customers make up a large portion of the company’s sales. They are the so-called key accounts because of their importance to your company. Focusing your effort on these clients is essential if you are to maintain their loyalty. Make no mistake, they are well aware of their special status. They are used to being treated better than the usual customer and if they do not receive privileges commensurate to their stature then they are likely to find another vendor who would oblige them.

Key accounts management is not as simple as just offering discounts to your big buyers. Competing on price alone may be too expensive and insufficient. Nowadays competition is forcing companies to be continuously on the lookout for ways to reduce their costs and one of the easiest ways is to look for better suppliers. To retain such crucial clients involves a lot of strategies and a deeper understanding of your accounts’ needs from your part. Here are some tips on how to effectively manage your key accounts:

STUDY YOUR KEY ACCOUNTS. Who are really your company’s key accounts? Why do you say that they are so? Is it because of the frequency of their transaction with you? Or the bulk orders? Your first goal in a successful key accounts management is to narrow down your leads until you are able to identify who your key accounts are. Why not consider everyone as such and satisfy all of them? This is because it would inevitably exhaust your company, your people, and your money if you intend to expend the same budget and effort for everyone who avails of your products/services. Only those clients whose volume is big enough to justify the added resources should be considered. After being able to identify who they are among others, your next goal is to study them and understand who they are, what they do, what they want, and how your company must act in order to satisfy what both of you want from each other.

KNOW HOW OTHER VENDORS TREAT THEM. It is critical to conduct research to know what they are currently getting from other vendors. Just a few of things that are useful to learn are: How big are the discounts they are getting? What are the terms being offered? How much they are capable of purchasing? How stringent are their quality standards? Be aware too that not all key accounts are desirable. Some drive prices so low that the account is no longer profitable or only barely so. It may also be that the company may be a poor credit risk. These are just some of the negative factors to consider. There is a wide variety of information that you should be aware of to better guide you on how to handle a key account.

DEFINE YOUR ROLE. You have to know what your company is capable of, and what your company claims to be able to do. If you say that your company is customer-oriented, you have to show your identified key accounts such value. Managing your key accounts entails creating a long lasting relationship, and not just selling big. Instead of centering on how much your company must gain in a transaction, focus on the value you provide and add for your key accounts. This may mean being able to deliver days before due date and supplying defect-free products, among many other premium services.

CREATE ADDED VALUE. Managing key accounts also does not stop after the sale. Creating value means providing support to your clients. This means understanding how they were able to use your previous supply, getting their feedback, and setting new goals for your company in order to add more value the next time they would want to transact with you. Perhaps you would want to have a key accounts manager who would be dedicated in overseeing your company’s transactions and behavior towards key accounts. Maybe you would need to reorganize your marketing structure in order to satisfy existing accounts, and at the same time, attract new clients who can eventually be categorized as key accounts. The main point that drives key accounts management is being able to create a long-term partnership between your client and your company.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-4, Sunday, November 15, 2015. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.