Building Relationships: An Essential For Great Account Planning
Kapta - Your Customer Engagement Roadmap
  • Product
    • Key Account Management Software
    • Services
    • Integration
    • Security
    • Who We Help
    • Pricing
  • Our KAM Process
    • Know your Customer
    • Build Strategic Plans
    • Measure Outcomes
  • Resources
    • Understanding KAM
      • What is Key Account Management?
      • The CEO Guide to Key Account Management
      • 5 Common Pain Points of Key Account Management
    • Ebooks
      • The Big Book of KAM
      • KAM To-Go
      • Creating Kick-Ass Account Plans
      • Conducting Kick-Ass QBRs
      • Whitepaper: The Foundation of Key Account Management
    • Videos
      • The 7 Sins of KAM
      • How to Build a Kick-Ass Account Plan
      • How to Run a Kick-Ass QBR
    • Blog
  • KAMCon
  • KAMGenius
  • Request a Demo
  • Account Log In
  • Menu
Mapping Key Account Relationships

Building Relationships: An Essential For Great Account Planning

April 25, 2016/in Key Account Management /by Alex Raymond

When it comes to key account management (KAM), good account planning includes proper systems to promote communication, goal setting, and relationship management. Key accounts make up a bulk of many business’s revenue and work orders, which is why a good KAM team invests the time necessary for great account planning and relationship building.

In order to really increase customer lifetime value (CLV) and keep your key accounts with you for the long term, key account managers need to make building and nurturing relationships the primary focus of their account planning strategy.

Streamline Communication

In order to begin looking at your key account relationships, you need to streamline communication. Chief among relationship ruiners, communication difficulties often arise between key account managers and the executives in charge of those accounts through confusion, misplaced (or lack of) communication, and multiple points of contact. A modern CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system with a focus on key account communication will help streamline communication between key account managers and their contacts.

Be Relationship-Focused

A crucial fact of KAM is that losing any one of your key accounts can significantly affect your company’s profit margins. Because of the high consequence of losing these accounts, great account managers understand that their focus should be on the relationship between their key accounts and their company. Rather than focusing on the close or on contractual issues, they focus on customer service, maintaining high quality work orders, and meeting the customer’s needs.

Build Trust

Issues in the business relationship are important, but need to be addressed in a system of trust and open communication. From the SOPs you implement for key account management to the CRM and account management software you use, great communication builds trust. With trust comes the opportunity to deal with potential problems as they arise and work on growing their business with yours. Rather than taking a reactive approach and constantly having to put out fires, focus on building systems of trust that are supported by great customer service and proactive strategies. Only once you’ve established a foundation of honest communication and trust should you focus on the breadwinning issues like closing better sales, getting great referrals to more key accounts, and contractual haggling.

Long-Term Strategic Planning

Great key account management requires strategic account planning. Strategic planning takes part in the larger business plan of the organization, but focuses on how each account can continue to be an integral part of the business into the future. Strategic account planning asks questions about what the shared values are between the organization and its key accounts, seeks to create better service, and takes a proactive approach to goal setting and troubleshooting. This process produces long-term goals and milestones that all parties embrace because they had a part in setting them.

Manage Details

Finally, with a business relationship built on trust and issues addressed strategically and proactively, be sure you are also managing the finer details. Good key account managers utilize the best of modern business management systems and communication/account software to carefully ensure that each detail of the strategic plan matches communicated expectations.

Details that often derail even the best laid plans include who is the final decision maker on key accounts, how to communicate to them, or who are their gatekeepers. Whether it is looking at who needs communication, what needs said, or how the businesses are going to move forward in the future, the key account manager tracks and acts on the details. This will help create more trust, further your relationship, and clear the way for additional business with the key account in the future.

With proper operations policies and account management software, key account managers work with both their parent organization and their customers to create a collaborative process of planning built on trust. The operational and technological awareness of relationships drives positive growth in the key accounts that a company cannot do without.

 

 

Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
CEO at Kapta
Alex Raymond is the CEO of Kapta.
Tags: contact mapping, CRM, KAM, key accounts, political maps, relationship mapping
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Google+
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://kapta.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mapping-KAM-Relationships.jpeg 3152 4887 Alex Raymond https://kapta.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/logo340x156-300x138.png Alex Raymond2016-04-25 06:51:192018-12-18 18:17:45Building Relationships: An Essential For Great Account Planning
You might also like
Ed Powers Customer Success Keys to Account Management with Ed Powers
Key Account Management software 10 Ideas to Drive More Sales from your Key Accounts
CRM key account management What Is the Difference Between Key Account Management and CRM?
Key Account Managers from Ad Agency 4 Important Differences Between Key Accounts and Sales
sell more to existing customers 6 Ways to Get More Revenue from Your Key Accounts
key account management problem solving Nurturing and Problem-Solving Your Key Accounts

Categories

  • Account Management
  • Account Planning
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Success
  • Infographic
  • KAMCon
  • Kapta Product
  • Key Account Management
  • News
  • Quarterly Business Reviews
  • Strategic Account Management
  • Voice of Customer

Tags

ABM Account-based Customer Success account-based marketing account management account management process account management skills account management software account manager skills account planning account plans change management coaching continuous relationship management CRM CSO Insights customer engagement customer goals customer outcomes customer relationships customer success HBR KAM KAMCon KAM process KAM skills KAM software key account management Key Account Management Best Practice key account management skills Key Account Management Tools Key Account Managers key accounts proactive account management QBR QBRs Quarterly Business Reviews recession relationship mapping Strategic Account Management Strategic Account Managers strategic planning SWOT upsell VOC Voice of Customer

Contact Us

Kapta, Inc.
885 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302

+1 303 495 6201
[email protected]

Kapta on LinkedIn     Follow Kapta  on Twitter

Product

Account Management Software
Client Management Software
Account Planning Software
Voice of Customer Software
CRM for Strategic Accounts

Resources

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Data Processing Addendum
Security Statement
Privacy Shield

How to Map Relationships for Key Account Success KAM relationship mapping Account Based Customer Success The Rise of Account-Based Customer Success
Scroll to top