2 Key Account Manager Tools
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 10:04 am
In fact, there are many more such tools; we will highlight two main ones, without which it will not be possible to build effective work with key clients.
Purchasing center
The average manager is quite familiar with the term "Purchasing Center". Usually it is understood as a certain set of people both inside and outside the client company, on whom the decision to purchase the necessary product depends.
Purchasing center
At the same time, if we are advantages of using our skype database talking about key clients, then in relation to them the purchasing center is presented in a slightly different form. As is known, when using this tool in practice, there is a need to process large volumes of information about the personnel of all counterparties, which leads to a high workload for the manager.
However, if you study information only about key clients, the work becomes much easier. Below is the first line of a standard table describing a purchasing center.
Full name Job title The best contact in our company and its availability Attitude towards us Degree of influence Role Action plan
The table contains data on all employees included in the key client purchasing center. The main task is to determine the list of roles that will need to be assigned to each member of this group. Since there are many options for such a classification, here we will present one of them, which indicates in which direction subsequent actions will be carried out:
Role Role Description Direction of work
Decision maker (DM) The person making the decision on the merits of the case Obtaining permission to communicate within the organization. Providing prepared solutions
Informant Informed, liaison employee of the client company Obtaining information about a company and the composition of its purchasing center
Conductor Brings our idea to the top Training to sell our product. Motivation for action
Activists Those who work (or will work) with our product. People who are affected by the decision made Working with needs. Demonstrating benefits. Competitive positioning.
It should be noted that when compiling the description, emphasis was placed on the relationship with the participants of the purchasing center in the future. This is quite logical, because a characteristic feature of key customer marketing is the emphasis on planning, while in other cases more attention is paid to theoretical aspects.
Forward planning
As a rule, designing for clients is carried out only for the nearest terms (month, quarter, year). The disadvantage of this approach: it cannot be used to implement large-scale plans and establish productive cooperation with the company. In other words, the main counterparties need long-term planning.
In order for work with a key client to bring in a stable income, you need to be able to choose the right moment, that is, be ready to go beyond the current period. There is a possibility that even in a year there will be no significant shifts. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a long-term plan that will allow us to assess the opportunities that cooperation with the client opens up.
Real experience of using KAM of long-term design has confirmed its high economic efficiency. The best result is achieved if the specialist is engaged in drawing up such a plan together with the head of the department for work with key clients. In addition, with the help of long-term design it is possible to justify programs for each individual period.
Finally, a long-term plan can detail what actions will be required to achieve the objectives and what resources will need to be allocated to achieve them.
Forward planning
Purchasing center
The average manager is quite familiar with the term "Purchasing Center". Usually it is understood as a certain set of people both inside and outside the client company, on whom the decision to purchase the necessary product depends.
Purchasing center
At the same time, if we are advantages of using our skype database talking about key clients, then in relation to them the purchasing center is presented in a slightly different form. As is known, when using this tool in practice, there is a need to process large volumes of information about the personnel of all counterparties, which leads to a high workload for the manager.
However, if you study information only about key clients, the work becomes much easier. Below is the first line of a standard table describing a purchasing center.
Full name Job title The best contact in our company and its availability Attitude towards us Degree of influence Role Action plan
The table contains data on all employees included in the key client purchasing center. The main task is to determine the list of roles that will need to be assigned to each member of this group. Since there are many options for such a classification, here we will present one of them, which indicates in which direction subsequent actions will be carried out:
Role Role Description Direction of work
Decision maker (DM) The person making the decision on the merits of the case Obtaining permission to communicate within the organization. Providing prepared solutions
Informant Informed, liaison employee of the client company Obtaining information about a company and the composition of its purchasing center
Conductor Brings our idea to the top Training to sell our product. Motivation for action
Activists Those who work (or will work) with our product. People who are affected by the decision made Working with needs. Demonstrating benefits. Competitive positioning.
It should be noted that when compiling the description, emphasis was placed on the relationship with the participants of the purchasing center in the future. This is quite logical, because a characteristic feature of key customer marketing is the emphasis on planning, while in other cases more attention is paid to theoretical aspects.
Forward planning
As a rule, designing for clients is carried out only for the nearest terms (month, quarter, year). The disadvantage of this approach: it cannot be used to implement large-scale plans and establish productive cooperation with the company. In other words, the main counterparties need long-term planning.
In order for work with a key client to bring in a stable income, you need to be able to choose the right moment, that is, be ready to go beyond the current period. There is a possibility that even in a year there will be no significant shifts. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a long-term plan that will allow us to assess the opportunities that cooperation with the client opens up.
Real experience of using KAM of long-term design has confirmed its high economic efficiency. The best result is achieved if the specialist is engaged in drawing up such a plan together with the head of the department for work with key clients. In addition, with the help of long-term design it is possible to justify programs for each individual period.
Finally, a long-term plan can detail what actions will be required to achieve the objectives and what resources will need to be allocated to achieve them.
Forward planning