High Impact Returns from Account Management

This trying economic time has separated those sales organizations that were "lucky" from those that were "good". Many "lucky" sales teams were primarily order takers and never developed / practiced pro-active selling fundamentals that carry organizations through difficult times. Those "lucky" sales organizations have crashed and burned, many taking their companies with them.

"Good" sales organizations take a pro-active approach to maximizing the opportunities in their target market and within their current customer base. The majority of companies would agree that taking care of their current customer base is a current top priority. With that said, most companies have implemented a formal strategic account management program, right?

Wrong.

Akina recently polled 30 plus business to business companies ranging in size from Global 100 to Series B emerging companies to learn more about their account management programs. Each was asked if focusing on their current customer base is a top priority. All answered - yes.

Each was then asked if they had a "formal" account management program. All responded, "uh….define formal."

We only found one company that had a "formal" account management program in place. Akina defines "formal" as:

• Highly visible program owned by a senior executive
• Defined process to select, set-up, and manage accounts
• Formal team structures, ownership, and compensation
• Regularly scheduled communications to strategize and track issues and results.

Why don't more companies commit to high impact account management programs?

Three reasons:

• Not sure WHY to do it
• Not sure WHAT to do
• Not sure HOW to do it correctly

The remainder of this white paper is dedicated to answering these three questions.

Read More: Why Account Management?

Other Whitepapers:

• Technology Sales People – The New Success Profile
• Diagnosing Your Revenue Generation Issues
• Building a Client Service - Minded Staff
• High Impact Returns from Strategic Account Management
• How to Steer Your Firm to Greater Revenues when you're not in the Driver's Seat
• Sales Tip – Building credibility through "Discovery" Letters
• Selling to Multiple Decision Stakeholders
• Firm Leadership's Role in Retaining and Growing Clients
• The Pursuit Drill ™: Improve Your Sales Team's Ability to Close Deals

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