Does Key Account Planning really move the needle?
According to a CSO Insights study, companies that engage in effective ongoing key account planning have win rates nearly double that of companies without a formal process.
Moreover, companies that use a solution designed specifically for account planning have an 11-point advantage over those using manual efforts and a 9-point advantage over those using homegrown or CRM applications.
What would a 9 to 11-point increase to your key account growth mean for your organization? How much revenue could you be missing out on this year without that advantage?
The Strategic Cost of Key Accounts
Customers expect value co-creation. Therefore, vendors need to operate from inside their customers’ strategic ecosystems. They need to be a true partner rather than a ‘nice-to-have.’ To create value more efficiently, involve multiple functions. Establish accountability and clearly defined deliverables for all players in the key account planning stage to drive results against your customers’ strategic initiatives.
Ask yourself:
If you had a meeting with a CEO at your most important key account an hour from now, could you walk in and have a strategic conversation about their business and your organization’s long-term value to them?
The Business Cost of Key Accounts
Key accounts are often untapped reservoirs of potential business. The larger, more global, and more diversified they are, the more value-add opportunities your KAM team can uncover. You deliver more value and grow wallet share. It’s a win-win.
An enablement platform purpose-built to manage these large enterprise relationships and empower key account planning will allow you to uncover these missed opportunities almost immediately.
Ask yourself:
How many deals are slipping through the cracks because current systems cannot connect the dots between decision-makers, buying units, functions, and geographies?
The Operational Cost of Key Accounts
Managing and growing key account relationships is a resource-intensive process. Align large teams to a few common strategic goals. Customer engagement happens at multiple levels and contexts. Leveraging people across functions, verticals, geographies, and levels to accelerate the buyers’ journey is crucial.
Ask yourself:
Are highly paid key account managers spending their time on strategic activities or operational tasks like creating reports, collating data, tracking down people, and version control?
Are key account planning and strategy meetings more like clarification sessions?
Is leadership hands-on or only “monitoring” the situation?
Are you over-dependent on a few individuals who own all the account intelligence and relationships?
Driving Key Account Growth with a KAM Enablement Platform
Keep reading and learn how to mitigate these risks and capitalize on the revenue being left on the table by leveraging a specialized KAM enablement solution for key account planning.
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