How to build Executive Buy-In for your KAM Software Initiative

Let’s face it–no one woke up this morning wanting to buy more software. But if there’s a significant benefit, you can build a convincing case for your proposed change. And, as it is with any initiative, you need to present your initiative from the standpoint of the person(s) you are persuading.

You know your CRM isn’t enough to support the development and implementation of strategic account growth plans. It is useful when it comes to tracking contacts and past account history, but your CRM offers little help tracking all the intricate long-term elements of key account plans easily and effectively.

To hit your goals and excel as a KAM, you need specialized software that provides you with a roadmap for success. Like Kapta. Dedicated KAM software prompts and reinforces behaviors that build strategic relationships with customers, helping you deliver on their growth goals. Doing so allows you to achieve Trusted Advisor status and your own growth follows.

Get support from execs and budget holders

Initiating an organizational change like this requires a compelling argument. Otherwise you may not be granted the funding or essential support to make it a reality. So, here are some key points you should include in your appeal to your organization’s C-Suite and budget holders:

Link to your biggest company goals

The executives of your company have forward progress in mind. They want a solid plan to reach lofty goals and bring in better profit margins without having to reach out to new clients continually. To retain your key accounts, you must become more important to them by providing greater value.

Having the tools to be a more effective Key Account Management team means gaining a competitive advantage by creating strategic partnerships between your company and theirs. This goes beyond retaining key accounts by generating more opportunities for your company to grow those accounts through close partnerships and trust-building. This results in maximizing the value realized from those clients in terms of increased revenues, higher margins, and lower customer churn. Plus, it boosts profits by reducing new business acquisition costs.

Provide visibility on health of customers

The ability to analyze your entire portfolio of key accounts enables you to easily identify those at greatest risk by leveraging insights to adjust strategic account plans and retain these clients before they churn. A KAM-specific solution provides this level of customer health visibility to team members company-wide so everyone is on the same page and able to reinforce current account plans.

Build a common framework that the KAM team can adopt

Account plans are useless if they are aren’t kept up to date, shared with the entire team, and properly implemented. KAM software like Kapta not only facilitates the creation of effective strategic account plans it:

• Keeps big picture objectives highly visible to all contributors
• Breaks big goals into manageable milestones, tactics, and tasks
• Automatically tracks KPIs and milestones to gauge your progress
• Sends notifications to keep you on schedule with customer check-ins and updates.

Adhere to a process: Our KAM Process

Kapta’s KAM Process^TM is a proven approach to transforming customer relationships through Key Account Management:

• Know more, so you can plan better, by leveraging included Dynamic Org Charts, Voice of Customer tools and SWOT Analyses.
• Act strategically and effectively to drive meaningful change by developing account plans based on insights identified during the Know stage.
• Measure that change across multiple endpoints to quantify results, KPIs, account health, and internal growth so you always know where you stand.

This cyclical process builds client engagement, reduces risk, standardizes processes, and drives continuous growth.

Integrate with existing tools like CRM, chat, documents – so there’s no duplicate work

Instead of using multiple software tools for various purposes, Kapta streamlines everything Key Account Managers need in one convenient interface. It is designed specifically for KAMs–helping them capture key client information, create action plans, and track real-time results. Kapta integrates seamlessly with CRM, Slack, and other platforms, synching information so double entry is needed. This means less busy work and more time for Key Account Managers to focus on clients.

Show that you can de-risk the implementation

There are many potential pitfalls that can quickly derail your implementation. Keeping the following in mind before and during implementation will increase its success and help you avoid issues.

1. Communicate – Change can be difficult, so communicate expectations early and often. When employees know what to expect and understand what is happening throughout the change process, they are more comfortable. Start by sharing the reasons for the change and tell your team how they will benefit from it. Then set regular meetings to keep everyone up to date.
   Take it slow and then accelerate – Don’t try to do too much at once. Allow team members to become comfortable with the new system by mastering one step at a time. The more familiar they become with the system and the more benefits they will realize, and the more momentum they’ll build toward mastering the entire KAM process.
2. Feedback – It’s critical to get feedback from team members throughout the change process to ensure issues are caught early and addressed. Otherwise they can become a stumbling block to continued progress.
3. Coaching – After your team has learned to use the entire system, it’s time to coach them, reinforcing desired changes and correcting errors until the new process becomes second nature.
4. Continuous optimization – Once implementation is complete, you aren’t done. Now it’s time to continue gathering feedback, making adjustments, and coaching to ensure your team continually improves.

Conclusion

If you want your Key Account Management team to succeed while increasing revenues, driving higher margins, and reducing customer churn, you need a solution designed specifically for KAMs.

To learn more about Kapta, schedule a demo today.