Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Other Added - In Summary - What Is Major Account Management All About?
1. Optimizing processes Documenting and standardizing processes to minimize exceptions and improve efficiency. Staff should always be knowledgeable on these processes.2. Control environment A key finance function objective is protecting assets. Ensuring critical controls, policies and procedures are in place is crucial, while at the same time not creating bottlenecks in the organization.3. Optimizing available technology Ensuring processes are appropriately enabled by technology and new functionality is constantly incorporated into existing processes in a controlled manner. Staff must be knowledgeable on the technology.4. Performance management Another key objective of the finance function is creating value. This is possible through appropriate reporting, information visibility and performance measurement systems for the organization.5. Compliance Robust compliance as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. Identify all compliance and timing, assign responsibilities and providers and monitor.6. Retaining staff Recruiting and training staff
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success
Many companies that are looking to create financial stability find that they can create a fundraising foundation to help further their cause. There are several things to consider when putting together a foundation. This article will look at some of the key components to consider before you start.Train the Fund Raising Foundation Board to Function EfficientlyThe first thing you must consider when forming a fundraising foundation is the training involved within your board. Each person will have a specific responsibility, but even more important is their understating of the process. You may even consider hiring a fundraising company to help you get started in this area. If the company knows your specific needs they can assist you in weeding through all the details to get your board educated correctly.Time to Organize Your Fund Raising Foundation CommitteesOnce you have your board members comfortable with the process and proceedings that will follow. You need to get your fund raising foundation committees in order. It is best to have a theme or mission statement that all committee members will follow and adhere to.Recruit and Train Your Fund Rais
We must recognise that we are in Major Account Management for the long term. It takes time to manage a major account and we will only receive a payback on our investment in time if we can have a long term result. In some of the organisations we have worked with this produces a tension because the whole culture is about creating a short term sales result in which product and profit are the main drivers and measures of success. We should not underestimate what a challenge Major Account Management can be to the corporate culture. It emphasises relationship more than product, profit more than volume, and team more than individual, long term more than short term. At the same time the practical short term realities of business life need to be recognised.
One of the best ways of managing this tension is to have someone who acts as a mentor, conscience or guide to the account manager and account team. They are not involved in the day to day management of the account but are invited in to look at and comment on major proposals and presentations. Their main role is to be involved in reviewing the long term plan every few months to ensure that the relationship is as productive as possible and is reflecting the values of the organisation as a whole.
The role of the major account manager is to be responsible for the overall relationship. They influence all those involved in the account to ensure a co-ordinated, synchronised approach. The major account manager is responsible for drafting the account plan, gaining the agreement and commitment of the team and then monitoring implementation
Major Account Management Involves Relationships Not Just a Mechanical Approach:
Under this heading we should discuss three main aspects of major account management.
• The importance of relationships in Major Account Management.
• The complexity of relationships in Major Account Management.
• Mapping relationships in Major Account Management.
Importance:
In Major Account Management it is essential that we manage people as well as processes. Of course we must get the product pricing right. We need to be excellent at administration. Our customer service and product range need to be strong. But “people buy from people” and “we are in a people business”. To manage the complex range of relationships within a major account is difficult and demanding but our ability to manage relationships will define whether or not we sustain success.
Complexity:
In a reactive sale there is only one relationship - that between the seller and the buyer. In major accounts the situation is much more complex. There are often contacts going on at many levels and many locations. In one major account, we have identified 1000 relationships between the account team of ten people and individuals representing the client. But it is not just a problem of numbers, it is often a problem of politics. Some contacts do not want us to talk to people in other departments or at different levels. It can also be that the complexity is caused by product range. The users of one product rarely speak to the specifies for another product. In any complex relationship some people will like us more than others. This is to say nothing of inter-departmental tensions. All these things make major account relationships complex and we need to recognise their complexity.
Mapping:
If relationships are important and if relationships are complex then it is essential that we find a way of mapping, analysing, planning and monitoring those relationships. Over recent years we have found that an approach based on the game of chess allows a very practical way of identifying the key issues.
If we can answer these questions confidently and communicate our thinking across the account team simply and clearly then we will be half-way to success. This approach has given people across a broad spectrum of organisations a common language and way of working
It Can Only Be Done With Selected Customers:
The final word from this definition is selected. Choosing the right key accounts is of critical importance for three main reasons:
• We do not have the resources to treat every customer as a key account.
• Not every customer wants to be treated as a key account.
• Selection allows us to prioritise our activities in line with our overall business objectives.
Many organisations grade their major accounts simply by the size of sales for the year but the organisations we see that are really moving forward in Major Account Management take a number of other factors into account. They also make sure that everybody knows who the major accounts are and why they are major accounts. It is important to be rigorous with the selection criteria you use! You will also need to apply some form of weighting to reflect your priorities. The fact that a major account does not meet all your criteria will not disqualify it from being a major account. It will just need to score higher in other areas to qualify.
On the basis of this scoring, organisations can grade their accounts. They might be Premier, 1st and 2nd Division like a football league, or Gold, Silver and Bronze like Olympic medals or First Class, Club Class, Economy and Standby like an airline. The analogy of an airline is a good one because on one flight you can have people on Standby being entirely happy with the service they are getting, even though they know there are people getting “better” service in Club Class. Grading your accounts is not a matter of giving some customers better or worse service. It is a matter of giving all your customers appropriate service. When we select our major accounts and consistently deliver what we promise, we are managing our accounts professionally and effectively.
In Summary - Success Factors In Key Account Management:
• Successful Development Of The Role:
o Effective working relationships with other members of the team.
o A continuing drive to improve account team productivity.
o Management commitment to the account team’s role with opportunities for career progression.
o Re-enforcement of the role through authorised career structures, job descriptions and core training programmes.
• The Key Skills:
o Understanding the financial and legal requirements of the account.
o Understanding of the company’s business objectives.
o Understanding of the company’s commercial policies.
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success f
First, a definition of Ethics: principles of human duty, rules of conduct and the duty of being honorable . Simply put: Being ethical is doing the right thing.Much is said about Ethics and we all agree we have them. But just what is “them?” Lets tackle the business ethics first for it is simple and straight forward. The problem comes when you are asked by your supervisor to do something that you are not sure if it is the right thing to do.There are two parts to the business ethical question:What to do when you are asked to do something, would your action be ethical? When you personally have to make decisions: How do you make them ethically?Following OrdersThis part is simple. You must understand your loyalties:Be loyal to yourself. Next, be loyal to the company And finally, be loyal to your supervisor. Remember the sequence: Yourself, the company and then your supervisor.Texas Instruments has a simple three-step rule to follow if you question the ethical merits of a directive:If you know it is wrong, simply don’t do it. If you are not sure, ask. Keep asking until you get an answer.What if y
Major Account Management Involves Relationships Not Just a Mechanical Approach:
Under this heading we should discuss three main aspects of major account management.
• The importance of relationships in Major Account Management.
• The complexity of relationships in Major Account Management.
• Mapping relationships in Major Account Management.
Importance:
In Major Account Management it is essential that we manage people as well as processes. Of course we must get the product pricing right. We need to be excellent at administration. Our customer service and product range need to be strong. But “people buy from people” and “we are in a people business”. To manage the complex range of relationships within a major account is difficult and demanding but our ability to manage relationships will define whether or not we sustain success.
Complexity:
In a reactive sale there is only one relationship - that between the seller and the buyer. In major accounts the situation is much more complex. There are often contacts going on at many levels and many locations. In one major account, we have identified 1000 relationships between the account team of ten people and individuals representing the client. But it is not just a problem of numbers, it is often a problem of politics. Some contacts do not want us to talk to people in other departments or at different levels. It can also be that the complexity is caused by product range. The users of one product rarely speak to the specifies for another product. In any complex relationship some people will like us more than others. This is to say nothing of inter-departmental tensions. All these things make major account relationships complex and we need to recognise their complexity.
Mapping:
If relationships are important and if relationships are complex then it is essential that we find a way of mapping, analysing, planning and monitoring those relationships. Over recent years we have found that an approach based on the game of chess allows a very practical way of identifying the key issues.
If we can answer these questions confidently and communicate our thinking across the account team simply and clearly then we will be half-way to success. This approach has given people across a broad spectrum of organisations a common language and way of working
It Can Only Be Done With Selected Customers:
The final word from this definition is selected. Choosing the right key accounts is of critical importance for three main reasons:
• We do not have the resources to treat every customer as a key account.
• Not every customer wants to be treated as a key account.
• Selection allows us to prioritise our activities in line with our overall business objectives.
Many organisations grade their major accounts simply by the size of sales for the year but the organisations we see that are really moving forward in Major Account Management take a number of other factors into account. They also make sure that everybody knows who the major accounts are and why they are major accounts. It is important to be rigorous with the selection criteria you use! You will also need to apply some form of weighting to reflect your priorities. The fact that a major account does not meet all your criteria will not disqualify it from being a major account. It will just need to score higher in other areas to qualify.
On the basis of this scoring, organisations can grade their accounts. They might be Premier, 1st and 2nd Division like a football league, or Gold, Silver and Bronze like Olympic medals or First Class, Club Class, Economy and Standby like an airline. The analogy of an airline is a good one because on one flight you can have people on Standby being entirely happy with the service they are getting, even though they know there are people getting “better” service in Club Class. Grading your accounts is not a matter of giving some customers better or worse service. It is a matter of giving all your customers appropriate service. When we select our major accounts and consistently deliver what we promise, we are managing our accounts professionally and effectively.
In Summary - Success Factors In Key Account Management:
• Successful Development Of The Role:
o Effective working relationships with other members of the team.
o A continuing drive to improve account team productivity.
o Management commitment to the account team’s role with opportunities for career progression.
o Re-enforcement of the role through authorised career structures, job descriptions and core training programmes.
• The Key Skills:
o Understanding the financial and legal requirements of the account.
o Understanding of the company’s business objectives.
o Understanding of the company’s commercial policies.
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success
It’s just as easy to succeed as to fail in direct mail, so here are a few simple guidelines of what not to do. You’ll probably still find lots of other mistakes to make on your own — but at least you won’t have to make these:1. Not knowing your audience - every ad should be to a specific targeted group that you research until you know it intimately. Aim for your readers' personal hot spots, in a writing style and level they're comfortable with. Learn how they feel and act, and what they like and dislike. Then, craft your style and content specifically to your readership.2. Mailing to the wrong list - this is probably the most common, and most fatal, error made in mailings. Spend as much time on researching your list as you do on the creative aspects of writing and layout and on the research about your products, pricing, and offer. Unless the people on your mailing list want or need your product or service, they'll be tough to convince, and probably impossible to sell. If you can't afford to lose the money, make sure you find the time for this.3. Lack of clear objectives - nothing blurs good writing like not having a specific goal. Make sure you know where you
Mapping:
If relationships are important and if relationships are complex then it is essential that we find a way of mapping, analysing, planning and monitoring those relationships. Over recent years we have found that an approach based on the game of chess allows a very practical way of identifying the key issues.
If we can answer these questions confidently and communicate our thinking across the account team simply and clearly then we will be half-way to success. This approach has given people across a broad spectrum of organisations a common language and way of working
It Can Only Be Done With Selected Customers:
The final word from this definition is selected. Choosing the right key accounts is of critical importance for three main reasons:
• We do not have the resources to treat every customer as a key account.
• Not every customer wants to be treated as a key account.
• Selection allows us to prioritise our activities in line with our overall business objectives.
Many organisations grade their major accounts simply by the size of sales for the year but the organisations we see that are really moving forward in Major Account Management take a number of other factors into account. They also make sure that everybody knows who the major accounts are and why they are major accounts. It is important to be rigorous with the selection criteria you use! You will also need to apply some form of weighting to reflect your priorities. The fact that a major account does not meet all your criteria will not disqualify it from being a major account. It will just need to score higher in other areas to qualify.
On the basis of this scoring, organisations can grade their accounts. They might be Premier, 1st and 2nd Division like a football league, or Gold, Silver and Bronze like Olympic medals or First Class, Club Class, Economy and Standby like an airline. The analogy of an airline is a good one because on one flight you can have people on Standby being entirely happy with the service they are getting, even though they know there are people getting “better” service in Club Class. Grading your accounts is not a matter of giving some customers better or worse service. It is a matter of giving all your customers appropriate service. When we select our major accounts and consistently deliver what we promise, we are managing our accounts professionally and effectively.
In Summary - Success Factors In Key Account Management:
• Successful Development Of The Role:
o Effective working relationships with other members of the team.
o A continuing drive to improve account team productivity.
o Management commitment to the account team’s role with opportunities for career progression.
o Re-enforcement of the role through authorised career structures, job descriptions and core training programmes.
• The Key Skills:
o Understanding the financial and legal requirements of the account.
o Understanding of the company’s business objectives.
o Understanding of the company’s commercial policies.
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success
Many Americans love their country and they love the cities they live in. Occasionally our citizens find things that disturb them in their local area and they wish to take action. Sometimes they find that they butt heads against the establishment and therefore they wish to run for local political office.Sometimes those that are within the establishment wish to change policy and they too will run for office. Incumbents like to stay in power and they will also run for office. With all these people running for office it can get quite competitive.This means that political campaigns need to think ahead and try to find alternative forms of advertising besides signs on the corner, bumper stickers, cable TV ads, radio and door-to-door precinct walking. May I suggest more direct mail marketing? Sure, most politicians running for local office will send out postcards, surveys and brochures telling us how great they are and what they are going to do for us once we elect them.What about using a direct-mail marketing coupon booklet? These booklets do not cost for a much to advertise in and many people read them. Since the cost is so low it makes sense to get in as man
On the basis of this scoring, organisations can grade their accounts. They might be Premier, 1st and 2nd Division like a football league, or Gold, Silver and Bronze like Olympic medals or First Class, Club Class, Economy and Standby like an airline. The analogy of an airline is a good one because on one flight you can have people on Standby being entirely happy with the service they are getting, even though they know there are people getting “better” service in Club Class. Grading your accounts is not a matter of giving some customers better or worse service. It is a matter of giving all your customers appropriate service. When we select our major accounts and consistently deliver what we promise, we are managing our accounts professionally and effectively.
In Summary - Success Factors In Key Account Management:
• Successful Development Of The Role:
o Effective working relationships with other members of the team.
o A continuing drive to improve account team productivity.
o Management commitment to the account team’s role with opportunities for career progression.
o Re-enforcement of the role through authorised career structures, job descriptions and core training programmes.
• The Key Skills:
o Understanding the financial and legal requirements of the account.
o Understanding of the company’s business objectives.
o Understanding of the company’s commercial policies.
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success
From pens, to mugs, to wooden nickels, promotions can be found on almost anything. In today's age of technology, businesses have to figure out how to make their brand stand out. Instead of trying to outsmart the competition, just keep it simple.The most effective ideas will always be those that are easy to understand. If the message isn't clear, the promotion won't work. It's easy to stick a company name or logo on anything but is it effective? The message has to agree with the promotion. For example, H&R Block has been known to use business cards that resemble a credit card. Their message is that if people use H&R Block, they will get money back. By appearing as a credit card, consumers will view using H&R Block as an investment that will all but guarantee getting money back for their taxes. The business card is still a business card, but the message is clear and simple.That's not to say having common practice promotions such as company pens is bad. It's a very important marketing tool that is constantly switching hands. If you look on any account executives desk in America there will probably be a large amount of pens from an array of vendors. It's an
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.
• The Core Skills:
o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.
The Secondary Skills:
E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.
Success Factors In Key Account Development:
• The Stages Of A Long Term Process
o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.
• Objectives For An Account Team
o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success factors for exploiting it.
o Ensure that the company’s solutions are technically solid and based on a proper understanding of the current requirements and re-inforce the customer’s perception of the benefits of the company’s market focus.
o Ensure that the company’s total resource is delivered in a way that satisfies customer requirements and supports the objectives of the account plan.
Conclusion:
An effective Major Account Management strategy depends on selecting your major accounts intelligently, creating a strong, consistent, flexible way of working with both major accounts and other customers and then implementing the plan in a disciplined, effective, efficient manner.
One of the successes of the Major Account Management programme has been the creation of common models and language that facilitate discussion and planning across units and departments. It has also stimulated a commitment for our clients to plan long term for key relationships. Major Account Management has many implications for individuals, departments and the business as a whole. It will always be demanding, but done right it will be highly rewarding
Copyright © 2006 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.otheradded.com/article/38482/otheradded-In-Summary--What-Is-Major-Account-Management-All-About.html">In Summary - What Is Major Account Management All About?</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.otheradded.com/article/38482/otheradded-In-Summary--What-Is-Major-Account-Management-All-About.html]In Summary - What Is Major Account Management All About?[/url]
Related Articles:
Are You Measuring Something Meaningful?
Contest Management and Mailings Database Management: A Marketing Plan For Winners
Downline Builders - Are They Worth It?
Bookmark it:
|