Key account management (or KAM) prevents this by ensuring your most valuable current customers are happy.
In this article, you'll learn what key account management is, how to identify your most valuable customers, and how to build stronger, more profitable business relationships .
What is key account management ?
Key account management describes the tools, sales processes , and strategic decisions you can use to retain and maximize the value of your key customers.
All good key account management strategies seek to create and maintain partnerships that help all parties involved sustain or increase their business objectives .
A real experience of key account management : Sanofi UK
In 2018, pharmaceutical company Sanofi UK worked with overseas chinese in uk data consultants from Rubica to change the way it meets the needs of its key customers.
With a better understanding of key accounts and their importance, the company was able to reorder its priorities, engage with key customers, and ultimately change its service for the better.
Sanofi's national sales manager described the impact of this measure:
You can visibly see, hear and feel the results for our key accounts as a result of having built strategic account plans from scratch and having effectively addressed the issue in a cross-functional manner. The most significant result has been the increase in the adoption of our solutions by clients.
Sanofi saw customer satisfaction and annual revenues grow by £6m. More than half (62%) of its customers said they felt a positive difference in the company’s interaction with them compared to 2017.
How to identify a key account
A key account is by definition on your company's list of best customers.
These strategic accounts typically demonstrate their importance in the following ways:
They represent a significant portion of your sales goals (for example, if you have five customers and 50% of your revenue comes from just one, that's a key account)
They refer prospects to your business with their sales leadership, increasing your potential opportunities
They give credibility to your brand (for example, they have a high profile in market dynamics)
You can use other metrics to identify key accounts. A customer with a long-standing relationship from the start of your business, for example, should have extra weight in your portfolio and could be considered a strategic account.
Sometimes key accounts are simply special clients who are easier to work with because they require fewer resources.
Whatever the reason, key accounts are those you want or need to retain more of, hence the need for a key account management plan .
