STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT: HOW TO MANAGE LARGE AND IMPORTANT CUSTOMERS' ACCOUNTS

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STRATEGIC ACCOUNT
MANAGEMENT
APRIL 2009

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SalesPromotion
• Business promotion is to run a
successful business as practicing scales is
to playing piano well.
• Each company should keep its growth
phase
wisely.

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What is strategic account
management?
• Strategic Account Management is a
systematic process for managing key
interactions and relationship with critical
accounts.

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Who are strategic customers?
• These customers generate 80% of the
revenue/ profit.
• We call such customers co-destiny
accounts.

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STRATEGY
• Keeping Canadian Strategic Accounts
• Keeping BUT ALSO EXPANDING US
Strategic ACCOUNTS:.

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Recently, Frequency and Monetary
(RFM) Analysis
The customers who have purchased
recently, have made more purchase and
have made larger purchases are more
likely to respond to our offering than other
customers who have purchased less often
and in smaller amounts.

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Implementing SAM in Bethel
International
• Establish an “account management program”.
• Bethel must maintain it’s financial performance
while reinvesting the way it serves its most
critical customers.
• The entire company (order, customer service,
shipping, accounting, inventory departments)
needs to understand how critical these strategic
customers are and start to own them.

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Planning Details
• Planning Horizon: 1 to 3 years
• Sales Promotion :
– creative discount, financing, delivery, service
options
• Primary account responsible: Account
Manager
• Number of Accounts per Manager: 1 to 5

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ACCOUNT B ACCOUNT C
ACCOUNT A
ACCOUNTMANAGER

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Skills of Account Manager
 Sales or general manager skills
 Strategic thinking about long term relationship
 Excels in ability to influence
 Deep understanding of customer’s
 business and its suppliers’ business
 Needs and their psychology
Planning special sales program, Monitoring these accounts and
Giving feedback regularly to President of company

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Duties of SAM(1)
• Strategic Account Managers (SAM) are
hunters but within their assigned account,
continually working to increase account
shares.
• They also must manage those account
relationships, and be accountable for
ongoing and long-term financial growth.

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Duties of SAM
(2)Understanding Customers
• The customer’s Organization
• The customer‘s customers
• The customer’s competitors
• The customer’s partners
• Bethel’s competitors’ for this account
• Customers’ preference for purchasing

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Primary Concern of SAM
• Profitability
• Short and Long term Revenue
• Resolve accounts’ business challenges
• Increase share of customer purchase
• Creative discount, financing, delivery and
service options

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Effective Time
• Once Strategic account management
begins, it usually takes 3 to 12 months to
understand the targeted customers’
business challenges well enough to co-
create value and sell strategic solutions.
• Monitoring plan and feed backing is a
continuous process

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CONCLUSION
• PLANNING FOR SA IS VITAL FOR
EVERY COMPANY GROWTH.
• FINDING NEW SA IN USA SHOULD BE
THE NO.1 PRIORITY AT THIS TIME.
• EVERY EMPLOYEE SHOULD HANDLE
3 TO 5 SA.
• Level of available inventory and inventory
turning should match with customers'
needs.

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CONCLUSION(2)
• Use every outgoing piece of paper , and
every electronic document as business
promotion.
• Finding ways to exceed the customers’
expectation.
• Deliver on your customer service
promises.

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Q & A
• Questions?