Not Just a Sales Thing Strategic Account Management is an

organizational change, not a sales technique. The initiative must be owned, driven, and

overseen from the top. It’s not just what you sell, it’s how you sell, which has two

major components:

Long-term relationships are based on the fulfillment of the commitments made during the purchase decision. The power shifts from the buyer to the seller after a deal is closed. Customers expect to receive the promised value, yet few salespeople follow up to validate the promised value was delivered

What value your customer perceives you are bringing to the table—your relationship.

How you engage and work with your clients—your process.

Don’t Be aCommitment Phobe

%

Seize every opportunity to assure customers they have made the right decision:

BIGBuyer’s RemorseCan Cost You

Remind them of the objective.

Remind the customer in every meeting after the sale what

you are working to accomplish.

Don’t pause to take a breath

Set up a meeting the next day with the customer to discuss

schedules and details.

Stay close to the project

Remain visible to the customer even though other members of the

organization may be responsible for delivering the solution.

The Case for Managing Your (Strategic Account) Relationships

Key Account Management can:Lift project revenue by 5–10%

Increase margins by 3–5% Lower costs by 10–20%

Only 41 percent of salespeople say

they always review the results of

their solution with strategic

accounts.

THE

PLATFORM

RESULTSREADYTM

Sources:Tom Chamberlain, “Adding Value After the Sale,” https://www.mhiresearchinstitute.com/blog/april-2015/adding-value-after-the-sale

Jim Tierney, “Key Account Management Strategies Guide 2B/Client Relationships,”http://loyalty360.org/resources/article/key-account-management-strategies-guide-b2b-client-relationships Lynette Ryals, “How to Succeed at Key Account Management,” Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/07/how-to-succeed-at-key-account

CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study, “2014 Key Trends Analysis.”2015 MHI Sales Best Practices Study

https://www.mhiglobal.com/resultsready

Keep the Customer Happy,Keep the Customer.

Keep the Customer Happy,Keep the Customer.

© 2015 MHI Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

While most companies view their current customers as an asset that needs to be protected and developed, less than a third of firms have a formal account management process in place. The biggest “grow more” challenge is penetrating other business units within existing customer accounts.

Keep and Grow.Repeat.

“Every company, no matter how small, has customers that it would be a major ‘ouch’ to lose.”

Robert B. Miller, Miller Heiman co-founder