Velocity Winter 2023

VOLUME 25

Issue 1 2023

Strategic Account Management

Solution-Driven, Not Sales-Driven

ST R AT EGI C

ACCO U N T

M A N AG E M E N T

A S S O C I AT I O N

Vol. 25 • Issue 1

2023

Cover image credit: Vastram / Shutterstock.com

Features 15 Five questions to improve a manufacturing SAM’s

35 What to do when an account is no longer

20 Account-based growth: unlocking sustainable

43 The SAM as a team builder: fostering alignment

27 How to drive results and make an impact: a

48 From difficult conversations to high-value

performance

value through extraordinary customer focus toolkit for strategic account managers

strategic

across boundaries dialogue

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®

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A PUBLICATION OF THE STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

Departments

Publisher: Denise Freier

|

Editor-in-chief: Harvey Dunham

Creative Director: Aimee Waddell

|

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Associate Editor: Nic Halverson

Advertising: Ashley Davis

Quick Takes .………………..………… 9

The Strategic Account Management Association is a global knowledge-sharing and networking organization devoted to developing, promoting, and advancing strategic customer-supplier value, collaboration, and learning.

Data Watch …………………………… 13

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission.

Copyright © 2023 by the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA). The SAMA® logo is a registered trademark of the Strategic Account Management Association.

Velocity ® is published three times a year. The annual subscription rate is $65.

Changes of address, suggested articles, and requests for extra copies of this publication should be directed to: SAMA, 4740 N. Cumberland Ave., #389, Chicago, IL 60656.

Tel: 312-251-3131 Fax: 312-251-3132 Internet: www.strategicaccounts.org For membership information or to join SAMA, contact Chris Jensen at 312-251-3131 x10 or jensen@strategicaccounts.org.

SAMA Corporate Members Abbott

Hyatt

ABM Industries Inc.

Hyland

Agilent

Hypertherm

Airbus Defence and Space

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.

Air Liquide Allergan Amgen Canada

John Deere Johnson & Johnson Lilly USA, LLC.

Arcadis

Lonza

Astellas

LP Building Solutions

Avient Corporation

Lubrizol

AVI-SPL

Medtronic

Axis Communications Inc.

Merck+

Bayer AG Bellevue University bioMérieux

Michelin Mölnlycke Health Care AB

Boehringer Ingelheim

New York Power Authority Inc.

Bracco Diagnostics

Nilfisk

Brenntag Specialties Inc

O-I

Buckman North America

Organon LLC

Bunge CAS CenterPoint Energy Ceva Santé Animale

Owens Corning Pfizer, Inc. Premier Inc. Rockwell Automation

Clarios

Schneider Electric

Cox Automotive

Sherwin-Williams

Danaher Companies

Siemens

DHL

Sonoco

Donaldson Company, Inc.

Suez

Ecolab Elanco Animal Health

Sunovion supplyFORCE The AAK Group

EMERSON Automation Solutions

The Qt Company

Endress + Hauser

UL Solutions

Expeditors

United Airlines

FCM

Vallourec

Formerra Freeman

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Genmab US, Inc.

Wajax Corporation

Greene, Tweed & Co.

Waters Corporation

Grifols Therapeutics Inc Henkel

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

Hilton Worldwide

WorkCare, Inc.

Honeywell

Zoetis

Hovione

Zurich Insurance Group

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SAMA Board of Directors Steve Andersen President and Founder PMI

Gerilyn Horan Vice President, Group Sales & Strategic Accounts Hilton

Dino Bertani Executive Director, International Strategic Account Management AbbVie

Denise Juliano Group Vice President, Life Sciences Premier Inc.

Anju Birdy Strategic Account Management Excellence, Vice President Schneider Electric Noel Capon R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing Columbia Business School Mauro Cerati Senior Vice President, Global Customers Bunge Dominique Côté Owner and Founder, COSAWI in/Sprl Ron Davis Executive Vice President, Head of Customer Management Zurich Insurance Group Jim Ford Chief Commercial Officer Solecta, Inc. Chairman of the SAMA Board Denise Freier President and CEO SAMA *John F. Gardner Retired - President, Global Strategic Accounts Emerson Automation Solutions *Rosemary Heneghan Retired - Director, International Sales & Operations, Worldwide IBM

Renae Leary Chief Commercial Officer – Americas Ansell Mike Moorman Managing Principal, Sales Solutions ZS Joseph Pinzon Regional Vice President, Corporate Key Accounts Konica Minolta Dr. Hajo Rapp SVP Strategic Account Management & Sales Excellence TÜV SÜD AG Kevin Reilly Global Sales Development Leader, 3M Healthcare Business Group 3M Company Tony Stanich VP Global Corporate Accounts - Food & Beverage for Water and Process Services Nalco, an Ecolab Company Jennifer Stanley Partner McKinsey & Company *Dr. Kaj Storbacka Retired - Hanken Foundation Professor Hanken School of Economics Geoff Williams Vice President, Global Accounts Danfoss *Distinguished Board Advisors (lifetime contributors; nonvoting members)

Special thanks to SAMA’s providers

Vol. 25

Issue 1 2023

Predictable, Repeatable & Sustainable Sales Success

Your sales team may be exceptional at selling legacy products, but are they adept at co-creating mutual value with your most important customers? Today’s industry leaders recognize that it takes agility to transition from a transactional, productfocused organization to a strategic, customer-focused organization, and this includes a mindset-shift and focus that goes beyond the traditional sales process.

To get there, you’ll need a contemporary approach to sales and account management that is customized to your business and a collaborative methodology that thoroughly assesses your customers’ needs and focuses your cross-functional account teams on the entire customer experience, not just the sale.

At PMI, our experienced consultants will help you better align your sales team to engage more strategically with your customers. Our proven approach to selling value equips salespeople and account managers to co-discover what matters most to their customers, articulate and co-create value that connects with customer objectives, and grow and evolve trust-based customer relationships for increased retention and loyalty.

Our Value-Focused Selling solution will ensure predictable, repeatable and sustainable success through the deployment and implementation of a sales performance solution that fits your business, exceeds your requirements, and helps you engage, win and grow with your customers.

Our approach equips your team to co-discover what matters most to their customers and co-create value to grow and evolve trust-based customer relationships for increased retention and loyalty.

Predictable

Repeatable

Sustainable

Read our latest use case and learn more about our approach to value co-creation at performancemethods.com.

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®

A PUBLICATION OF THE STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

Publisher: Denise Freier Editor-in-Chief: Harvey Dunham Associate Editor: Nic Halverson

SAMA 2023 EVENTS Academy Online - First Quarter 2023 January-April

Creative Director: Aimee Waddell Advertising: Ashley Davis

SAMA Staff Executive President & CEO: Denise Freier Finance/Operations/Meetings Director of Finance, Meetings and Operations: Fran Schwartz Senior Manager, Meetings and Events & Individual Member Liaison: Rhodonna Espinosa Finance & Operations Manager: Jaclyn Such Registration Manager: Shannon Feeney Business Development Managing Director, Strategy and Marketing: Harvey Dunham Director, Customer Solutions: Christopher Jensen Sr. Corporate Account Manager: Bobbie Zimny Corporate Account Manager: Michael Johnson Sr. Corporate Solutions Manager: Ed Zupanc Salesforce Analyst/Administrator: Erin Pallesen Business Leader – AMS: Stephanie Fahey Knowledge, Certification & Training Director, Knowledge, Certification & Training: Libby Souder Assistant Director of Certification & Training: Frankie Cusimano Assistant Director, Knowledge & Training: David Schweizer Knowledge and Training Manager: Brad Maloney Research General Manager, Research & Customer Experience: Joel Schaafsma Marketing & Communications Creative Director: Aimee Waddell Associate Editor: Nic Halverson Marketing Manager & Sponsorship: Ashley Davis

SAMA Executive Symposium February 16 ABM Academy: Next Generation ABM Customer-Led, Team-Enabled February 22-23 | Virtual Academy Online - APAC (CORE 0) March 20-23 Academy Online - Second Quarter 2023 April-June Boost KAM with Account-Based Marketing April 4-5 | Virtual SAMA 2023 Annual Conference May 23-25 | San Diego, CA Academy Online - APAC (CORE 3) June 13-15 SAMA Academy Chicago July 18-20 Academy Online - Third Quarter 2023 July-September SAMA Academy Online - APAC (CORE 4) September 19-20 SAMA Academy Europe October 24-26 Academy Online - Fourth Quarter 2023 October-December SAMA Academy Online - APAC (CORE 1) November 27-30

Join the conversation with SAMA on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-account-management-association.

Follow SAMA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/samatweet.

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For more information, visit https://strategicaccounts.org/en/events.

Vol. 25

Issue 1 2023

EDITOR’S CORNER become more “customer-centric across multiple processes

Nic Halverson Associate Editor Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) Philosopher Alan Watts — interpreter of Eastern wisdom for the Western world — wrote, “If a problem can be solved

and teams.”

Next, Tom Kurt, Strategic Account Manager at Sonoco, and Aaron Erbe, Director of Film Segment at Sonoco, “ignite the spark of momentum” by blending years of SAMA applied learnings to create a battle-tested SAM toolkit that drives results and makes an impact.

But no SAM can walk this path alone, right? Dr. Javier

at all, to understand it and to know what to do about it are the same thing.”1

Marcos, Professor of Strategic Sales Management and

In strategic account management, the same principle

the latest installment of his high-performing SAM series,

holds true. If you don’t understand and anticipate the problems your customers face, seeking a solution is like “trying to clear away darkness by thrusting it aside with your hands,” Watts writes.

As any enlightened SAM knows, to understand your customers’ problems takes a commitment to open communication, proactive account review, and buyer empathy, so you can respond to problems, rather than react to them.

In today’s hectic marketplace, it’s easy to succumb to putting out fires rather than finding the source of the flame. Which is why we’ve dedicated this issue of Velocity to providing a framework for a solutions-driven mindset, to maximize your vision and turn it into a clear path toward value co-creation.

Embarking upon this path always begins by listening and asking questions. But there’s an art to being on-target with

Negotiation at Cranfield School of Management, agrees. In Marcos attests that SAMs “are the orchestrators of multifaceted relationships” which “require the coordination and alignment of teams to create value and deliver complex solutions.”

Remember, no path is without obstacle. Conditions can change in an instant. Even the gentlest path can turn into rugged terrain. Same goes with the relationship between a SAM and their customers. Sometimes the ground underfoot can get a little rocky, and the relationship’s coveted balance can feel a bit unsteady. In these moments we pose the question, “What to Do When an Account is No Longer Strategic?”

Read on for the answers, as we revisit a 2005 Velocity article about firing an account and update it to better serve the modern landscape of strategic account management.

When a SAM’s customer relationship gets rocky, a difficult conversation awaits up ahead. But not to worry. Stand

tone and substance. “Problems that remain persistently

tall and go forth, as Jonathan Hughes, David Chapnick, and

insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way,” Watts observed.2

issue. As the Vantage Partners trio explain, “Rather than

Thanks to SAMA’s open exchange of best practices, we’ve landed on the right way to ask questions, which is exactly what you’ll find in our first feature, “Five Questions to Improve a Manufacturing SAM’s Performance,” by Kay Cruse, Vice President of Customer Experience at Strategex.

From there, the wisdom continues, and the questions evolve into actionable advice. In their article on accountbased growth, Bev Burgess and Tim Shercliff, cofounders of Inflexion Group, offer guidance on how companies can

Vol. 25

Issue 1 2023

Ben Siddall advise in their excellent piece to close out the adopt a defensive stance toward difficult conversations — where we seek simply to limit the damage — we need to learn to embrace the challenge and opportunity they offer.”

As you tread upon your own solutions-driven path, I hope the pages ahead serve as guideposts and trail markers to light the way.

n

1 Watts, A. (2021). The wisdom of insecurity: A message for an age of anxiety.

Rider Books.

2 Watts, A. W. (1989). The book: On the taboo against knowing who you are.

Vintage Books.

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QUICK TAKES

STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER TRAINING: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND AND ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS One of the most frequent conversations SAMA has with members of our community is about strategic account manager training. Oftentimes they are unsure about how to begin the process and what to consider when making training decisions. We always suggest starting with the end in mind by asking them three questions: 1. W hat do you want to achieve?

2. How quickly do you want to start?

3. W hat are the KPIs for measuring their progress toward achieving their goals?

The answers to these questions will become the reference when moving forward with training development.

• Does your organization know what good strategic account management looks like?

• Have you done a SAM competency assessment to establish a baseline of your SAMs’ strengths and weaknesses from an individual and organization level? If not, you might want to consider doing so.

• How will you measure the success of the training approach for the organization and the individual SAM? • W ill the SAM receive recognition at the end of their training such as a certificate of completion or SAM Certification? Note that “certificate” and “certification” are very different. A certificate is often given when someone has completed a training program. In SAMA’s

Once you have established your goals, timeline, and ways

opinion, SAM Certification means that not only did they

to measure success, there are additional strategic consid-

complete a training program, but they have been tested

erations.

for comprehension and application of the concepts taught

• How do you define strategic account management?

• Do you have a formal SAM program to support the SAMs? • W hy does your company want to train now?

• W ho do you want to train? Consider these options:

and validated by their manager.

Once companies have taken a strategic look at what they hope to accomplish, they will look for a training partner.

Many people tasked with this job are often unsure of what to look for in choosing a training partner.

º Newly appointed SAMs º E xperienced SAMs who need to refresh or to level up º Subject-matter experts who support the SAM team º High-potential salespeople or account managers for a future strategic account manager role º Newly appointed SAM leaders who manage, coach, and evaluate the SAMs, but have never been SAMs themselves º E xecutive sponsor • Do you want training for individuals where they are with other SAMs from other companies/industries, or do you want to bring the training to your company and have it customized? There are benefits to both options.

• Do you have SAM-specific competencies established?

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ELEVATE YOUR STRATEGIC MANAGERS FROM GOOD TO GREAT.

QUICK TAKES (continued)

SAMA recommends asking the following questions while vetting training partners: • W hat are the qualifications of the training organization?

• Do they offer SAM-specific training and, if so, for how long? Make sure you see evidence of this on their company website and in conversation. Many companies will say they do SAM training, but it isn’t really their specialty. This is particularly important when training on topics like account planning and

Use SAMA’s Individual Competency Assessment to: •U nderstand your SAMs’ current strengths and weaknesses •D iscover how your account managers compare to each other and/or to competitors • F ind SAMA resources and training tied to specific skills in need of improvement • F acilitate meaningful coaching

value co-creation.

• Do they have outside references to validate the success of their approach?

• W hat are the qualifications of the instructor(s) who will be doing the training? Have they actually done the work of a SAM or SAM leader?

• I f a certificate of completion or SAM Certification is desired, does the training organization offer them? Consider whether the training organization is an industry reference or affiliated with one, especially in the case of certification.

Training the people who manage your company’s most strategic customers can be complex and requires an investment in time and resources. Asking the right discovery questions can lead you down the right path to make sure the investment isn’t wasted with ineffective training. Having a well-defined training plan and using a qualified training partner will elevate your SAMs to greatness and ultimately lead to measurable business results.

Interested in knowing more about SAM training? Feel free to contact us. We have knowledgeable staff and a community of

SAMA’s SAM Competency Model

experts ready to help.

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Strategic Account Management Association, Tel: +1-312-251-3131, www.strategicaccounts.org

Want more information?

Contact 1 0 assessments@strategicaccounts.org.

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Vol. 25

Issue 1 2023

GET THE E-BOOK : Shortlink

DATA WATCH

Leaders Understand the DEI Imperative But Face Challenges By and large, leaders understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are essential to developing a best-in-class commercial organization. However, without the right programs in place to support leader goals, and without backing across levels of management, DEI efforts may not improve employee experience in a material and sustainable way.

EXECUTIVES FACE SEVERAL KEY CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING ROBUST DEI PROGRAMS: Inconsistent Priorities Although talent acquisition and retention is the primary catalyst for improving DEI programs, making DEI investments is one of the last levers pulled to gain advantage in the race for talent.

Source: Alexander Group and Chief Executive Group Joint Survey, 2022

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TRANSFORM your

relationships through

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FIVE QUESTIONS TO IMPROVE A MANUFACTURING SAM’S PERFORMANCE Applying customer studies, 80/20 analysis, and custom CX strategies.

By Kay Cruse VP of Customer Experience Strategex

Every strategic account manager (SAM) knows key strategic accounts can make or break a company’s business (not to mention the SAM’s own personal income). The SAM plays a pivotal role in the company’s success. SAMs must protect and defend critical revenue with critical customers.

I specialize in customer experience and voice-of-the-customer research for B2B companies. For more than 30 years, I’ve guided strategic account teams to develop programs that lead to loyalty and growth. The key to success? Asking top accounts the right questions.

Here are five questions that every SAM should ask at their next account meeting to strengthen and protect their critical relationships. To illustrate my point, I’ll bring in quotes from my clients’ top customers. Their answers to these five questions demonstrate why this work is so important.

QUESTION 1: What cadence would you like us to have for general account

activities versus our annual business reviews?

While critical, business reviews are only one aspect of key account management. Too often, our studies show that account managers don’t take the time to ask their customer what they really want when it comes to meetings.

For example, when we asked our client’s biggest customer this question we heard: “The units run smoothly without any issues, but I don’t hear anything from our key account manager. If they would be more active in their customer care and support, they could become our number one supplier.” This is a direct quote from a vice president of operations at a $16 million account.

Our client immediately (and easily) fixed this engagement issue. By simply understanding what a top account expected beyond annual reviews, this SAM team was awarded $6 million in additional sales in less than six months to become the account’s number one supplier.

QUESTION 2: We are working on new approaches to solve . Would you review some early concepts to see if we’re on the right track to help your business?

Strategic account managers shouldn’t

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focus on the status quo — as a rule, they must continuously

win/loss ratio at just this account. The client had to face the

improve their processes to further their company’s growth,

music: the number of lost opportunities at the key account

as well as their own personal growth and expertise. This is

was worth millions. He knew something needed to be done

particularly evident when it comes to innovation, and the

and lowering the price wasn’t in the cards. In this case,

best SAMs are always on the lookout for ways to contribute

the SAM’s top account decision-makers had emotionally

to a strategic account’s success.

and professionally moved on. It ultimately cost the SAM

A recent customer study forced one of our client’s account managers to focus on innovation. The “aha” moment came when she heard a quote from a vice president of engineering at a $25 million account. The VP said, “I have regular conversations with other suppliers about what they’re working on regarding innovation. That doesn’t happen with them.”

What did the SAM do? She listened and adapted to her client’s needs. First, she engaged with her own innovation team to gather early product concepts that might apply to the account. Then, she met with that very same top account to gain preliminary feedback. She was able to identify features that were most important for their next generation of equipment. Plus, her account agreed to sit down with her engineering team to outline a focused test to ultimately help with commercialization.

Their collaborative effort brought incremental improvements to the existing product, as well as an outlined approach for a new product that was fully developed in less than 12 months.

QUESTION 3: When it comes to our partnership, where are we stumbling? What should we be doing to help your company be more successful?

We helped one client perform a microanalysis of the overall health of their biggest customer. We started to track

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company its relationship and business with its number one key account. In less than a year, the account pulled $10 million in new business, and the following year, the account awarded its entire business — worth more than $35 million annually — to a competitor.

We performed a post-mortem review to assess the failure.

Our client’s key contact at the account (a VP of sales) stated, “I don’t really hear much on a normal basis. I have other suppliers that may give me a call and be more proactive.

We only hear from them when there’s a problem or potential problem.”

The SAM took the hit, but importantly, he used it to change how he interacted with every top account he was assigned. Additionally, his new selling efforts were directed to identify, find, and land an account with all the characteristics of the one lost. He not only found another top account after 10 months with the same profile as his lost account, but his newfound dedication to proactively engage with his accounts helped secure his existing sales revenue from the accounts in his original portfolio.

QUESTION 4: Can I come to the plant with our VP of operations to observe how our product integrates in your manufacturing process? We’d like to see if we can simplify how our product works in your production, as well as to see if there are

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other aspects we can contribute to enhance your throughput.

One of the hardest lessons SAMs must learn is that they shouldn’t be the only point of contact with a key account.

realize her key account cared about. A key stakeholder at a $60 million account told her, “You all have great programs for us as a company at the corporate level, but you’re terrible when it comes to local support.”

Customer experience is the job of everyone — not just the

By focusing more resources and realigning territory

SAM. Shipping, engineering, service, manufacturing, and

responsibilities, this SAM successfully grew the relationship

just about everyone at the SAM’s company should be com-

year over year by 20% annually. The key was rolling out a

mitted to delivering an exceptional CX to top accounts. In

vendor-managed inventory program at the local level — a

many cases, taking the time to bring another set of eyes into

very difficult but highly rewarding strategy.

the key account’s operations can open huge opportunities — often with a simple solution.

One study participant demonstrated this point nicely. We

SAM Golden Rule: Helping Your Company Understand How Key Accounts Define Success

interviewed senior influencers at a client’s top

These five questions have one thing in com-

accounts. A vice president of procurement at

mon: they are all proactive ways for SAMs

a $12 million account told us, “It’s so frus-

to engage at key accounts by changing

trating — my team opened the pallet to

the tone and conversation. In these

find it’s been packed with the smallest

cases, the SAM is proactively asking,

items on the bottom while the largest

observing, and exploring ways to make

were on top. Not to mention, the pallet

the strategic account more successful.

documentation was from the previ-

These questions are all solution-

ous order! It was totally incorrect.”

driven, not sales-driven. Strategic

The client realized that he needed

accounts expect more than a quality

his whole company to be more com-

product delivered on time and in full.

mitted to overserving this whale of an account. In this case, this SAM addressed the issue with his operations and customer service teams to identify ways to error proof his company’s process for this

In today’s world, disruption (from supply to pricing) has put pressure on every aspect of a key account’s relationship with its suppliers.

key account. The SAM recognized that his team’s last step

The best companies help their strategic account managers

(shipping) was his account’s first step (receiving) — and it

prioritize which accounts matter the most. By their nature,

was totally misaligned, but very correctable.

strategic accounts matter, but if a company is trying to

In as few as three months, the company’s shipping department had modified and perfected their method of packing and shipping pallets and documentation to be sure it was error proofed. The improved delivery process encouraged the SAM’s account to add additional stock-keeping units (SKUs) to its next order, resulting in a 10% increase in revenue month over month.

provide the same level of service and care to all accounts, the SAM program will fail.

Great SAM programs start first with data. Which customers are most critical? Use revenue data to identify the top accounts who are responsible for 50% (or more) of your company’s revenue. Then, determine which should have oversized resources — and a robust CX program. In many cases, that pool of your top 50% may only be three to five

QUESTION 5: If you could magically change one thing about our relationship, what would it be?

This is a simple question that always sheds light on opportunities for improvement.

accounts.

How to Identify Which Accounts Really Should Be in a SAM Program

According to one SAM, one of the biggest advantages she

We use Quartile Analysis to identify which custom-

had in asking this question was its ability to change the

ers should matter enough to warrant a truly robust SAM

conversation. She was able to identify areas that she didn’t

approach. Use past revenues as your data basis. We

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3. Should the top strategic account have a dedicated team of engineers to identify innovation, sustainability, or Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives that can be tested and commercialized with the account’s help?

4. Does this account warrant a manufacturing or fulfillment site that’s more strategically located?

5. Does this account need an operations liaison to monitor continuous improvement on a regularly scheduled basis?

Sometimes, there are strategic accounts that have not hit top-account status but will — perhaps they have all the characteristics of a strategic account and need to be nurtured. For these accounts, the only caution is to be sure they warrant the time and attention of your SAM program. And, most importantly, determine an ejection point: qualify and quantify a trigger point if they don’t live up to expectations.

The biggest responsibility of a SAM (aside from moving to a solutions-oriented approach) is to understand the best opportunities for profitable growth and retention of a key account in a three-tofive-year timeframe. The work starts by asking hard questions at the account and even harder questions among leadership. Can you fulfill the account’s needs, and will leadership provide the resources recommend looking at 12-18 months if the sales cycle is more annualized, or 3-5 years if the sales cycle focuses more on capital-expense purchases. Divide all customers’ revenue into equal quartiles of 25% each. Our analyses for compa-

you need to do so?

Of course, the real question is are you willing to hear the answers?

n

nies around the world consistently show that the top 25% of customers will be driving 89% of your revenue with the second 25% responsible for about 7%. That leaves the bot-

Kay Cruse is a seasoned veteran of customer research, strategic planning, and brand development. A proven leader with over 25

tom 50% of customers contributing less than 5% of revenue.

years of experience, she champions clients’ success by focusing

That top quartile should be a SAM’s priority.

on business strategy and maximizing their ROI. She specializes in

Once you know your true SAM-level accounts, make sure you have addressed the five foundational questions to

customer insights, prioritizing strategic opportunities and tactical implementation. Kay can be reached at kcruse@Strategex.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaycruse/.

ensure basic customer success. Next, you will be ready to assess several additional CX options to profitably grow your top strategic accounts. Collaborate with internal leadership and your top accounts to configure and customize their CX for maximum ROI. 1. Should the account have its own customer service team?

2. Should the account have a dedicated manufacturing cell?

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ACCOUNT-BASED GROWTH: UNLOCKING SUSTAINABLE VALUE THROUGH EXTRAORDINARY CUSTOMER FOCUS

When a business starts, it is based on a simple model. It solves a problem for a customer

By Bev Burgess

by providing a solution and is obsessed with delivering value to that customer. It’s likely that

Cofounder Inflexion Group

everyone on the team is very well attuned to every customer’s needs.

and

what they do, and/or develop new solutions for existing customers. However, even in those

Tim Shercliff

early days with only a few dozen customers, a fundamental principle starts to emerge: some

Cofounder Inflexion Group

probably reveal that around 80% of profitable revenue comes from just 20% of customers.

Over time, companies typically grow in two dimensions: find more customers who like

customers will be far more important than others. In fact, a pattern soon develops and will Once the pattern starts to emerge, it doesn’t seem to change much over time. In fact, it may become even more pronounced.

Fast forward a few years and guess what: the ratio applies equally in large companies!

They may boast billions in revenues and have thousands of customers, tens of thousands of employees, and a complex partner-and-supplier ecosystem. But the self-same 80/20 rule applies to these companies too. In fact, it is often even

Bev Burgess and Tim Shercliff

more skewed: sometimes 90% of profitable revenues come from just 10% of the

recently published a book on

customers.

account-based growth, bringing together their practical experience, original research, and 20 case studies and viewpoints from leading companies in the technology, professional services, and telecoms industries.

Here,

But that’s not all, because the 80/20 rule is fractal. This means that it’s a pattern that repeats itself, so within the first 80/20, there is another 80/20, leading to some remarkable findings.

We conducted research earlier in 2022, and we found that in B2B companies, on average, just 3.5% of customers accounted for 50% of their revenue (see Figure 1 on page 21).

they explain the con-

Some companies, recognizing the value of their largest custom-

cept, feature insights

ers, have taken account management to new levels, investing in

from Vodafone and

much more senior executives managing their most important cus-

Accenture, and intro-

tomer relationships.

duce a framework for

account-based

growth.

Sales, too, is going through its own revolution. Customer executives and increasingly sophisticated procurement functions expect their strategic suppliers to understand their business issues and be proactive in bringing them valuable insights and solutions that tackle these issues and challenges and achieve their business outcomes.

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Figure 1. Annual Revenue What % of your annual revenue comes from your top account program? (N=55)

My company does not track that information ©Inflexion 2022. All rights reserved.

In parallel, over the last 20 years, the idea that a company

challenge from a customer’s perspective. After all, custom-

should focus on its most important customers, treating them

ers see their strategic suppliers as key to their business, so

as a market in their own right and allocating marketing

they want them to perform well.

resources to build highly personalized marketing plans, has taken hold. Account-based marketing emerged in the 2010s and is now recognized as a key element of B2B marketing.

This is not just about marketing, however. It never was.

Below, Ninian Wilson, Group Procurement Director and CEO, Vodafone Procurement Company, shares his thoughts on what makes some strategic suppliers stand out from others.

It’s about how a company becomes customer-centric across multiple processes and teams. It’s about growth and, more specifically, how to grow profitably with this huge imbalance between customers large and small.

In enterprise software and now increasingly in other sectors, companies have built customer success teams to attempt to ensure that customers realize value and achieve their desired outcomes, becoming advocates within and beyond their own organizations.

As organizations establish long-term, company-to-company relationships, they build executive-to-executive relationships, both of which often last decades. The technologies and the ecosystems may change at an ever-increasing pace, but the relationships endure.

There is a lot to be gleaned by looking at how companies have approached the way they achieve sustainable,

What should companies expect from their strategic suppliers?

There are six key things: 1. The first is a dedicated account team. The supplier should invest sufficiently to make the strategic relationship work, and customers should reciprocate by ensuring access to the right executives.

2. Next, an unfair share of their research and development budget — if a customer is really strategic — should be translated into competitive advantage through access to innovation and assets.

3. Strategic customers need to be first to receive new products and services, and also be “first among equals” commercially.

profitable growth with their most important customers.

4. Strategic suppliers should be highly connected at all dif-

But, before we look at one such example, let’s examine the

ferent levels across the business, starting with CEO to

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The best strategic suppliers are those that stay the course, over the long term, even if the nature of the business changes and the level of the business f luctuates.

CEO, and right through the executive teams and functional leaders in both organizations.

5. Governance is very important, too. Governance reviews should start with current performance, and then move on to future innovation and opportunities.

6. It takes a seasoned, experienced executive to run this kind of strategic relationship. That person represents our voice into the supplier company. They need to be senior enough to be able to make things happen on our behalf.

A lack of connection internally across the supplier’s account team is one that comes to mind. A lack of professionalism can be an issue, for example, not sending meeting materials in advance of the meeting so that the customer has time to prepare.

Leaving issues unresolved is a real problem that can really damage the relationships. The supplier’s account executive must be able to escalate problems and get them sorted quickly: cut a deal, sort it out, and move on.

A lack of commerciality, and empathy as to what our

What are best practices for strategic suppliers today?

objectives are, is another issue. For example, as a customer,

In addition to the things we’ve already discussed, I would

we’ll have objectives to reduce costs over time, so we want

add executive sponsorship — someone from the supplier’s headquarters, allocated to you, as an account. That sponsor will come to the quarterly reviews and have full transparency as to how things are going in the relationship. If the account executive is not the right caliber, for example, both sides will see that. There’s nowhere to hide. And at Vodafone, we insist that the executive sponsor for our strategic suppliers is either the CEO or one of their direct reports.

The best strategic suppliers are those that stay the course, over the long term, even if the nature of the business changes and the level of the business fluctuates. It’s important to see these as long-term plays, sometimes lasting decades, such as the relationship between Ericsson and Vodafone, who sent

22

And, typically, what are some of the main faults?

our strategic suppliers to acknowledge this and bring us ideas on how this can be achieved rather than try to hold on to the current revenue from the contract.

And, finally, I would say that trying to cut procurement out of discussions is the wrong way to go. Strategic suppliers need to understand the role and positioning of procurement leaders in the wider business.

How important are shared values and a focus on broader social issues when selecting strategic suppliers today?

These are becoming more important for two reasons. The first is that there is a huge interest from customers in how we’re running our business today. The second is that access

and received the first-ever text message in 1992, and are still

to capital is being regulated by a company’s position on

technology partners, some 30 years later.

environment, sustainability, and governance (ESG) issues.

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This ESG focus is not going away. Customers are so much more aware of business practices, and it takes around 16 minutes for bad news to go viral, so there’s no time to respond after the event. You can’t change your agenda in 16 minutes.

For us at Vodafone, we have three main areas of focus: helping to digitize society, driving diversity and inclusion, and supporting the planet. I am the executive sponsor for the inclusion agenda, as we want to drive it through our whole supply chain.

And when supplier selection is based on weighted scores in a tender, with most decisions swung by just 3-4%, weightings around ESG can make the difference. For example, we might weight health and safety criteria at around 10%; diversity, equality, and inclusion at 5%; and care for the

Finally, what last piece of advice would you give suppliers trying to build long-term sustainable value with their customers?

Keep an eye on how the wider business environment is changing. For example, the whole area of supply chain risk is becoming more of a focus. We may even see companies verticalizing some of their supply chains, in a move back to the business models of 70 to 80 years ago, as we face increasing global uncertainty. How will that impact our relationships and ecosystems going forward?

Be humble. Even from a global, strategic supplier, I don’t want to see arrogance. If you’ve made a mistake, hold your hands up and learn from it; don’t pretend it didn’t happen.

Do your homework and find out what the key drivers are for the relationship as it evolves. ***

planet at another 5% across the whole tender. For suppliers who don’t take one of these seriously, it can mean losing the

It’s clear from Ninian’s perspectives about what he’s look-

opportunity, even if they have a good track record — they

ing for in a strategic supplier and how he differentiates

need to put in the effort.

How can companies encourage smaller suppliers, who may have innovative solutions but no prior track record or relationships?

This is the holy grail of procurement — getting access to innovative ideas and capabilities for the future, particularly from up-and-coming companies. It’s a key part of the procurement leader’s role.

We set up an incubator five years ago as a joint venture with the Luxembourg government, to help scale-up companies connect better across the business at Vodafone. We’ve set up a website (tomorrowstreet.co) as a resource to help them.

between those that work well with Vodafone and those that have room for improvement.

One of the best examples of a company that has excelled in the way it works with its most important companies, sustained over many years, is Accenture and its Diamond Client Program.

About Accenture Accenture is a global professional services company with revenues in 2022 of over $60 billion and more than 700,000 employees. These employees and an ecosystem of 185 partners deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving more than 7,000 clients in over 120 countries. Its focus is on embracing the power of change to create value and shared success for its clients, people,

We also run an annual two-day event called Arch Summit, as a “Dragons’ Den” style event.1 We have some

shareholders, partners, and wider communities.

of the actual dragons from the show come along, together

Enduring client relationships

with Vodafone executives, and there’s the chance to win a substantial investment or contract with Vodafone for the winners.

It can be difficult for these smaller suppliers to do business with large customers, so you must recognize this and try and make it easier. For example, we’ve moved to a two-page contract and 30-day payment terms for small suppliers.

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Accenture’s clients include more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Ninety-eight of its top 100 clients have been clients for over 10 years. In April 2022, it reported that 70% of its new bookings were sole-sourced; and in the two years since the pandemic was declared, it achieved a 50% increase over the prior two years in the number of clients with quarterly bookings over $100 million.

Accenture’s largest client relationships, which it refers to

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23

as “Diamond Clients,” comprise more than 50% of its total

view of value.’ It means going beyond financial measures

revenues. These numbers reflect the scale of Accenture’s

to include all dimensions of value that matter to the client.”

work with its top clients and their level of trust, which sets the company apart. Accenture clients have increasingly taken on bold transformation programs, often spanning multiple parts of the enterprise and in accelerated timeframes — an approach the company refers to as “compressed transformation.”

Creating value in all directions To look beyond financial metrics and deliver broader longterm value for clients, Accenture has set a goal of achieving “360˚ Value,” which it defines as delivering the financial business case and unique value a client may be seeking, along

Voice of the customer at the top of the company Recognizing the importance of its Diamond Client rela-

with striving to partner with clients for greater progress on inclusion and diversity, reskilling and upskilling their people, achieving their sustainability goals, and creating

tionships, Accenture has appointed a senior managing direc-

meaningful experiences for their customers and employees.

tor, Arjun Bedi, to lead this strategic portfolio of clients as

As Accenture’s website explains, “360° Value makes a

a member of the company’s Global Management Committee (GMC). In his role, Arjun leads an executive leadership team consisting of client account leaders representing the com-

positive impact for all stakeholders — clients, partners, shareholders, people, and communities. From the financial business case clients are looking to achieve, to the unique

pany’s three geographic regions — North America, Europe,

impact they may be looking to create, we are focused on

and Growth Markets — who together bring the voice of the

delivering 360° Value and helping our clients become the

customer to the very top of the company.

next and best versions of themselves.”

Arjun commented: “Trust is at the heart of developing

It continues, “We are now using our new 360° Value Meter

deep strategic relationships. We solve for our client’s interest

with 330 Accenture clients worldwide, and we are activat-

first, and also ensure it aligns with value for Accenture. This

ing the capability to monitor and measure the value we are

requires understanding the industry context and the strate-

creating together for them across Client, Talent, Inclusion &

gic objectives of the customer in order to provide a view of

Diversity, Experience, Sustainability and Financial dimen-

value across multiple dimensions to ensure a ‘360-degree

sions.”

Figure 2. A framework for account-based growth

Customer experience and outcomes

Account management and sales

Account-based marketing

Customer success

Executive sponsorship and engagement

Account-based engagement Account prioritization and resource allocation Integrated account business planning Data, technology and operations Leadership, culture and change Account-based alignment ©Inflexion 2022. All rights reserved.

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It is our belief that companies should take a more aligned

assess their own position against the key elements of

view of how they manage, sell to, market to, deliver services

account-based growth, clarifying the areas for improve-

to, and leverage their executive relationships for their customers, particularly the 3% or so that are driving half of their profitable revenue.

ment as they pursue an account-based growth strategy.

Adopting an account-based growth strategy is a decision

They need a holistic view as to how to allocate resources

which deserves company-wide engagement. Most compa-

and organize themselves more effectively to deliver profit-

nies, over the last several decades, have used segmentation

able, sustainable growth and outstanding value for the most

to make choices about where to compete and how to win.

important customers. Done effectively, the impact on longterm profitable growth is significant.

We have created the account-based growth framework to bring all these elements together (see Figure 2).

The account-based growth framework is examined further in our book “Account-Based Growth: Unlocking Sustainable

However, this segmentation has most often been focused on products, services, industry sectors, and geographies — not specifically in relation to customers. An account-based growth strategy demands a similar approach to segmentation, choosing which accounts will drive sustainable, profit-

Growth Through Extraordinary Customer Focus,” published

able revenue growth and defining what is the appropriate

by Kogan Page in November 2022. There is a chapter dedi-

level of investment and approach for each type of account,

cated to each element, featuring case studies and viewpoints

and then following through with company-wide execution.

from leading companies. In the final chapter, there is an assessment tool, which you can use to assess how your own company stacks up and where you need to improve.

The book is divided into four parts:

Good business strategy is always about making choices, and the opportunity to build strategy around accounts alongside choices around services, products, industries,

• Part One makes the case for account-based growth as a

and countries is no exception. Good business strategy is

key element of the company’s growth strategy. This section

also based on data and evidence of what works, appropri-

examines account-based growth in practice today, first

ately integrated across the company. We are beginning to

from a customer’s perspective, then drawing on the experience of Accenture and Infosys. It introduces the accountbased growth framework, combining the elements that

see a revolution in the way that companies think about their growth, focusing more on the accounts that will make the

need to be better aligned internally and the elements that

difference and placing their bets accordingly, often cutting

should be aligned for external engagement.

costs overall, while investing more in the most important

• Part Two discusses four essential elements that need to be aligned at a company level to implement an effective account-based growth strategy, looking at account

accounts they have today and those they aspire to acquire.

With the perfect storm of geopolitical uncertainty, eco-

prioritization and resource allocation; integrated account

nomic pressure, and the climate challenges facing all of us,

business plans; data, technology and operations; and lead-

now is the time to focus on those customers that matter most

ership, culture and change. Further insights come from

— to work with them to build sustainable long-term value for

Atos, Cirrus (now owned by Accenture), Fujitsu, Inverta, Kyndryl, Microsoft, SAP, and Telstra.

• Part Three examines each of the key customer-facing teams: account management and sales and account-based marketing and customer success. In addition, we look at how a company’s executives can sponsor and engage top customers more effectively, with further perspectives from Cranfield University, Deloitte, Micro Focus, Virgin Media O2, Red Hat, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. • Part Four contains a checklist to enable companies to

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your companies, your communities, and the planet.

n

1 “Dragons’ Den,” a reality television show where entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to venture capitalists, is the precursor to the U.S. version, “Shark Tank.”

Bev Burgess and Tim Shercliff are long-time collaborators and co-founders of Inflexion Group, a company focused on accountbased growth. Bev can be contacted at bev@inflexiongroup.com and Tim can be reached at tim@inflexiongroup.com. Learn more by visiting www.inflexiongroup.com.

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MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

AREYOU’RE LOOKING FOR NEGOTIATION IMPROVEMENT FOR YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGERS? THREE REASONS WHY WE MIGHT BE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU. Brian Dietmeyer Founder & CEO of Think! Inc.

#1 ENOUGH WITH FLUFF

We don’t use slightly customized generic methodology to teach your team general negotiation skills. Our work is 100% custom to you and focused on how to: • Negotiate your actual commercial terms • For your actual products and services • Against your actual competitors • Given actual verbatim tactics from your customers

#2 WE CALL B.S. Negotiation has long been thought of as unpredictable and hard to measure. Sadly, it’s how most legacy training companies define it and treat it. The result? Long lists of tactics and countermeasures that prepare your team for, well, “random.”

Our approach is different. Our research (yes, we have proof) shows that buyer tactics are 97% predictable and fall into two categories.

We’ll train your team to systematically plan their negotiation by answering just 3 questions.

Easy. Account managers can do it, managers can coach it.

#3 HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE Case in point: • Documented case studies that show 466% average ROI for our clients.

• Clients include Google, Microsoft, FedEx, across 47 countries over 17 years.

It’s all we do. And we’re pretty good at it.

If you like our approach, let’s jump on a call or drop me a note to discuss.

Thanks for reading,

Brian CALL ME AT: 3122.925.9326

|

EMAIL ME AT: BJD@THINK5600.COM

HOW TO DRIVE RESULTS AND MAKE AN IMPACT: A TOOLKIT FOR STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGERS

By Tom Kurt Strategic Account Manager, CSAM Sonoco

and Aaron Erbe Director Film Segment, CSAM Sonoco

Sonoco, the global leader in paper tube

strategic account management leader work-

and core manufacturing and sales, relies on

ing to both meet and exceed internal and

a proven strategic account manager tool-

external expectations? More than likely,

kit to protect our most important strategic

you’re looking to improve results amid all

accounts, grow the business, and manage

the complexity today’s business environment

profitability. Here, we’re speaking to the

has to offer. The strategic account manager,

strategic account manager trying to make a

who’s constantly on the move, traveling

difference and seeking a place to start, to

through airports, camped in the hotel lobby,

ignite the spark of momentum toward helping

or organizing the next video conference call,

their company succeed by using a process

is searching for a solution. Well, at Sonoco,

and tools they can trust to make an impact. In

we’ve walked the same airport terminals as

this article, strategic account managers will

you, and we promise our experience will help

learn concepts they can utilize with challeng-

you gain insight and give you a dependable

ing strategic accounts right now.

framework to deploy.

Our basis for the strategic account manager

The strategic account manager toolkit has

toolkit blends all we’ve learned at SAMA over

been assembled to assist all levels of the

the many years as a corporate member. We’ve

strategic account manager skillset and pro-

applied SAMA learnings to our business with

vides an immediate opportunity to make an

some creativity of our own. Sonoco has been

impact. Let’s start by looking at the strategy

a consistent annual conference attendee.

Sonoco believes is most important.

Each year, Sonoco sends strategic account managers to SAMA University. We’re proud of our certified strategic account managers and have several candidates pursuing their own certificates. Also, Sonoco has joined in support of our SAMA partners in the role of presenter at annual conferences.

We know the strategic account toolkit provides utility and can be deployed in varied markets, as Sonoco sells into more than a single customer set. Here, we’ll look at the strategic account situation and apply a battletested strategic account management tool.

Are you a strategic account manager or

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Broader and Deeper Strategic Approach — Best Practice Benchmarking Tool Sonoco leadership requires strategic account managers to sell broader and deeper within their strategic accounts. We want to professionally work at higher levels inside the account and outside of procurement — without risking established procurement relationships. We feel that, by developing more points of contact, Sonoco creates true value for the customer. The strategic account manager does not want to get stuck only talking the language of price in a tactical discussion. An

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27

available strategic account manager tool that we term “best practice benchmarking,” takes the approach of introducing our subject-matter experts to customer experts so they can learn from each other.

An example benchmark topic could be continuous improvement. Sonoco, founded in 1899, is a manufacturing company serving industrial and consumer markets. We’re

The idea is to exchange business learnings at a higher level

constantly making certain our operations run efficiently

with vice presidents or directors responsible for continuous

and safely. We sell paper tubes and cores to large industrial

improvement, sustainability, quality, manufacturing, health

clients making paper, film, metal, and textiles. Our custom-

and safety, or logistics. Before the meeting, the strategic

ers are challenged to meet productivity goals just like us.

account manager writes the agenda and afterward captures

In our experience, we find little resistance to a discussion

all discussion points and follow-up actions. Later, during

about how to improve manufacturing reliability, reduce

contract negotiation, the strategic account manager can list

waste, and/or increase productivity. Now it’s time for the

value created during the best practice sharing sessions.

strategic account manager to make connections with lead-

We know through experience that procurement is not

ers on both sides.

acting alone in selecting suppliers. Working internally, pro-

As the strategic account manager, work to link your leader

curement will most likely interview key stakeholders and ask

of continuous improvement to the customer’s leader in the

questions about Sonoco’s performance. The more positive

same area of responsibility. Wait, you might be thinking pro-

votes of support the Sonoco strategic account manager can

curement will become upset for working around them, and

develop will immediately create value and dilute the signifi-

this is intimidating! All you need is a little research and a

cance of the price discussion.

meeting invite. The Sonoco strategic account manager has

Now, to get started, when thinking about the best practice benchmarking as your tool, the strategic account manager utilizes the power of their own company. Sonoco’s strategic account managers have access to their own key leaders, who are willing to join discussions and even make initial contact

28

with their customer peer.

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reviewed the strategic account’s 10K and published objectives.

There, the strategic account manager identifies key customer objectives and begins to solve for how to connect the dots.

The strategic account manager can directly send an email to the customer leader of continuous improvement:

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Broader and deeper strategy places the strategic account

product. We recommend the prioritized value and quantifi-

manager into a leading position between their own company

cation list as a method to keep track. Add up and list all the

and the customer organization. By appealing to the higher

good your company does for the strategic account. Consider

cause of continuous improvement, the shared example offers

value at a higher level.

added benefit to corporate procurement. The customer procurement organization has their own supplier goals.

One could be the identification of suppliers with capabilities beyond basic product delivery. In our experience, we find procurement professionals typically provide support in benchmarking events. A productive best practice sharing session provides procurement an example of positive work and engagement coming from their top-level suppliers. However, a note of emphasis is needed. Don’t stop at one high-level benchmarking meeting. Work to engage the strategic account for consecutive meetings. Publishing clear goal-oriented meeting agendas and action follow-up notes.

Always set the next meeting time and date before the call ends. Enjoy the result and satisfaction from finding new ways make a strategic impact.

Be the Value Score Keeper — The Prioritized Value and Quantification List Tool

If you can, focus on differential value. We define differential value as the added value our company creates for strategic accounts made possible because of proven expertise. We’re not being overconfident or brash. We simply know how to develop a strategic account solution through our experience. We’ve made the investment in people, technology, and equipment. Your company likely does the same.

Just don’t lose the opportunity to track the positive impact your company makes on the strategic account. Differential value may not end up as a line-item charge at the bottom of the invoice — it should end up in the prioritized value and quantification list and be talked about during your strategic account business reviews. What does the list look like and how do you make one?

Here’s where you get ideas. SAMA’s many training sessions have emphasized the importance of researching goals of the strategic account. Following our SAMA training, we used our new skills to research web sites, read 10Ks, and interview

As strategic account manager, you need to be the value

the strategic account leaders and colleagues to better align

scorekeeper. The seat you possess, to observe and manage

Sonoco resources to meet their goals. Here is where value

the value game, is perfect. You see both sides of the buy-sell

creation starts. During our own journey we wanted to try to

game. We all know the strategic account expects perfec-

institutionalize our value collection. We’re not perfect but

tion and will keep asking for added services and high-level

getting better.

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SAMA introduced Sonoco to Valkre during our years as

Now the good news. There’s another tool to help the stra-

a corporate member. The Valkre tools and process allow us

tegic account manager keep score, and this comes through

to develop and present quantified value creation to strategic

leveraging the power of your entire team. The tool is the

accounts. While Valkre is useful and important to Sonoco,

large-deal team.

as we work to standardize and benchmark quantified value creation across our network, you — as the individual strategic account manager working to make an immediate impact — can start by making a list of important services, projects, and offerings for the strategic account. The key is to start documenting value facts right now in any available format.

Study your prioritized value project list. Set up an appointment with the procurement manager you sell to. Reaffirm you’re working in the right areas. Also, take the opportunity to engage in discussions about the actual value for each project. You will build alignment and make it difficult for your customer to discount if they are involved in the co-creation.

Adding up total value in dollars can create a challenge, yet don’t allow the challenge to stop you. Trying to assign a harddollar value creates considerable discussion and can create an opportunity to really understand how your procurement contact sees value. Once you communicate a dollar value or benefit, enjoy the dialogue! While the procurement leader may debate the ultimate value, you as strategic account manager are now talking value and co-creation, not price.

You’re making an impact.

Co-creation can happen at the procurement level or at various functional levels. No matter where in the organization a project is identified, you begin a dialogue and start to reach agreement on the value of the projects you are working on. The strategic account manager works as a quarterback for the account team, establishing business objectives, connecting dots between the organizations, and communicating at all levels to ensure alignment and progress throughout the relationship.

Where customers have multiple locations/lines manufacturing complementary or like items, this exercise opens the door to leverage efforts and savings as well as to standardize across your customer and your own manufacturing network.

The effort becomes a springboard for continuous improvement across the partnership. The strategic account manager acts as a resource for the procurement team to tie supplier capabilities to their own organizational priorities, bridge competing objectives, and increase their own value within their company. A funny thing happens when you are talking value and not stuck on price: your customer takes your calls and reaches out to you as a confidant and a problem solver.

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The Large-Deal Team — Value Waterfall Tool At Sonoco, preparing for large-deal renewal negotiation starts early. Here, we leverage the collective experience of key Sonoco colleagues to define value and develop negotiation strategy. Leaders from manufacturing, sales, finance, technology, and quality converge 120 days out from the negotiation, 90 days out, 60 days out, and finally 30 days out. Agenda-led meetings are used to level set our position and quantify value.

Work includes developing the value library, listing all the good we do, added services we offer, and advantages our products provide the customer. But it’s also an opportunity to identify where we may have fallen short as well. As a team, we work to protect Sonoco’s position at the most important customers. We like the phrase “protect the fort accounts.”

We want the strategic account to see the most value and all the resources Sonoco can offer, and the job of the large-deal team is to document Sonoco’s performance. In the end, the Sonoco strategic account manager has several information sources available to ultimately build a negotiation strategy to include several procurement options called multiple solution offers. SAMA introduced Sonoco to Think! Inc., a consulting firm whose training we use to develop negotiation blueprints and multiple solution offers.

To get started, as the strategic account manager, you can assemble your own internal team of account leaders. Make a list of everything your company does to meet and exceed customer expectations. Add up your annual revenue. From your list of added value, take your best effort to quantify customer benefit in dollars. We use the economic waterfall to visually display for the customer the benefit beyond price.

Working to clearly show the value your company creates for the strategic account is an essential element of what will eventually take place in the negotiation. Each value bucket shaded in green creates dialogue with the strategic account.

Visually, the green bars represent the value Sonoco creates.

As you present the waterfall, enjoy the strategic account dialogue, have fun with valuation, and demonstrate how indispensable your company is to the strategic account.

One of the key takeaways from our work in large-deal

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Economic Value Waterfall — Sonoco Value

efforts is that the kickoff of the team is not the beginning of

software represents financial investment. Still, a strategic

the value creation and quantification work. The negotiation

account manager can work on a more basic level with their

cannot be the first time your customer is seeing the value

pricing team to analyze price per unit and challenge the price

you are bringing to them. If so, the value becomes one-sided

data. Knowing where you make profit and where you don’t

and easy to discount. When the customer is involved in the

creates an opportunity to improve pricing, enhance profit-

quantification effort and has a steady diet of reviewing and

ability, and build better negotiation offers. This area of work is

prioritizing a project value list, it becomes much more dif-

a large part of what the strategic account manager at Sonoco

ficult to discount the value you are bringing during the

is asked to deliver.

negotiation. Even more important, procurement will buy into these efforts, and this should help to move the customer off a price-only evaluation of your proposal.

As described earlier in the section on the large-deal team, understanding what your company does for the strategic account is important as the strategic account manager com-

Value creation must be a fundamental element in how

pares price levels of similar strategic accounts. The strategic

you work throughout your normal business with strategic

account manager wants to be in the position to answer the

customers. Connecting business leaders at broader and

question, “Are we getting paid for the products and services

deeper touchpoints must happen long before your next con-

we provide?”

tract negotiation. By incorporating value creation into your periodic business review process, consistently identifying resources to drive business improvements, and elevating dialogue to touch on all critical business needs, the strategic account manager will already have increased the value of the relationship and the value waterfall becomes a tool to

Look at the size of the account and the price level in play.

The strategic account manager can easily spend time with the pricing analyst and create a baseline bubble chart looking at price and volume.

The bubble chart shows three types of accounts:

visually demonstrate what has already been accepted. The

A – Large green, strategic account: Full co-creation of

large-deal effort becomes a way to ensure organizational

value. Make certain that the SAM collects, quantifies, and

alignment and to identify critical gaps and touchpoints lead-

documents value and offers the best price for the customer.

ing into the negotiations.

B – Medium blue, developing account: Areas to develop value. The SAM offers increasing value and resources while

Price Optimization — Bubble Chart Tool Sonoco has devoted extensive focus toward price strategy.

assuring the price is appropriate for what you offer and deliver.

We utilize a database that improves our pricing consistency

C – Smaller gold, emerging account: Many areas to develop

within a market, increases visibility and decision-making

value. This size account will ask for all the SAM resources.

efficiency, creates price guardrails, and allows for bubble

Make 100% certain that the price level is higher. Note the

charting comparisons. Obviously, the price optimization

smaller gold bubbles below the market line that call for a

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31

the entire picture of the offer, the strategic

Strategic Account Value

team can break out individual elements to create negotiation trades. Using identified trades, the strategic account manager can

Price - (Y axis)

build multiple solutions that are acceptable to your organization and allow the customer to select the features that are most important to them. This, in essence, makes the customer tell what their priorities are and what they are willing to trade for price.

The biggest takeaway from price opti-

Volume - (X axis)

mization and the bubble chart tool is the ability to understand strategic account needs, quantify the value delivered, and

SAM’s attention to make upward adjustment by finding more

align our offer and pricing to meet the requirements of both

value in justifying a higher price.

the customer and Sonoco. It was not uncommon to buckle

Pretty quickly, the true picture will come into focus. On the x-axis, the larger the bubble, the larger the account. A smaller bubble means a smaller account. The y-axis reflects price level. From there, the strategic account manager needs to assess if price, volume, and value are in proper alignment. If not, your path is clear. Ask yourself, “Are we being compensated for value delivered?” The bubble chart tells

to procurement pressure and drop price to secure business.

The confidence created using price optimization tools combined with a strong, quantified value funnel and the focused effort from our large-deal teams have allowed the strategic account manager team at Sonoco to make better decisions and to show creativity in our offers as we keep and even grow pricing in a mature market.

the truth. If you’re not satisfied with your bubble chart tool results, begin working to better define value delivered to the strategic account. Write it down and describe the value.

Start with your words and then add data. As you prepare for negotiation, consider creating a multiple solution offer where you can build price levels based on added value.

As the strategic account manager, you need to relentlessly pursue and communicate with strategic account customer leaders. Make your work come alive. Here’s an example of a Sonoco strategic account manager tool, the executive update.

Price-optimization efforts serve multiple purposes for

As strategic account manager, become skilled at keeping the

the strategic account manager and create confidence when

momentum accelerating. Be brief. The best time to commu-

faced with pricing pressure. The result should be improved

nicate is when projects are stuck or there has been an upset.

trust and confidence for the strategic account manager, the strategic team, leadership, and the customer as they sell your proposal within their organization.

You might be thinking, “So what? That’s too simple. A short list really matters?” Fair enough. As strategic account manager, your ability to imagine and influence the strategic

Guardrail development incorporates segmenting custom-

account’s internal conversation about your company is a

ers by size and type of offering and evaluating pricing by

factor to consider with each move you make. Now, ponder

item compared to peer offers. This becomes powerful data

what the strategic account might be thinking as they read the

that the strategic account manager — and strategic account

well-worded and concise executive update:

team — can use when balancing priorities and making decisions on how to approach a negotiation.

32

Executive Update Tool

1. Specification review and refresh — Lisa Murphy, Senior Buyer: “Happy to see the first nine mill specifications

Understanding the true picture of market pricing gives the

complete and more specifications coming by end of

strategic account manger the ability to turn the conversation

week. I can now give operations a projected Sonoco

from a price comparison exercise to a negotiation where price

completion date. Happy to know before Monday’s meet-

becomes a piece of the overall value being offered. Based on

ing.”

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2. Continuous improvement benchmark sessions — Susan

you’re ready to fill in the words of the script — the story being

Jones, VP of Continuous Improvement: “Sonoco’s move

told about your company inside the strategic account’s con-

to standardize factory data collection and automation

ference room. You’ve supplied the strategic account with the

is just what we need to consider. I’d like to know more.”

tools to assess your company on the scale of excellence.

n

3.

E lectronic inventory management — Sean Johnson, Director of Sourcing: “I’ve got to help Sonoco quantify the saving. This will show upper management how well I’m working with a top supplier.”

4. Next benchmarking session on sustainability — Sara Poulin, VP of Sustainability: “Susan said the continuous improvement sessions with Sonoco are worth the time

Tom Kurt is a Strategic Account Manager, CSAM, at Sonoco. He can be reached via email at tom.kurt@sonoco.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-kurt-883081a/.

Aaron Erbe is Director of Film Segment, CSAM, at Sonoco. He can be reached via email at aaron.erbe@sonoco.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-erbe04a51049/.

and effort. Our team seems stuck on where to start. I’ll give it a try, accept the Sonoco invite, and have someone from my team join me.”

5.

Bennington mill value team follow-up — Lori Chester, SR VP of Sourcing: “Look at the supplier engagement here. This is exactly what I asked for at the annual supplier summit. My team is missing the Bennington opportunity — I’m calling Sean and Lisa to see what the hurdle is.”

As strategic account manager, you will know you are making progress by using the strategic account manager toolkit when a sense of ease appears with the strategic account.

Appointments are accepted more quickly. You’re asked for more information. Or a call will arrive asking if your company has ever tried a particular approach, process, or supplier. At this point,

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33

WHAT TO DO WHEN AN ACCOUNT IS NO LONGER STRATEGIC

By SAMA staff

Due to multiple price increases — stem-

Remember, strained relationships and

ming from global supply chain issues and

difficult conversations should be seen as

inflation — today’s business climate is rife

opportunities to realign and grow. After all,

with discord between customers and suppli-

big investments have been poured into the

ers. Very often this tension can lend itself to

account from just about every angle.

difficult conversations where a SAM must reexamine the relationship with their strategic account, and if all else fails, make the tough decision to part ways with a customer.

All these points and more came up in recent conversation, which caused us to revisit a Velocity article from 2005, “The Why and How of Firing an Account,” which

In most cases, firing a customer no longer

is as relevant today as it was then. However,

needs to be the brash, drastic measure that

in the interest of best practice, we’ve updat-

it once was, when strategic account manage-

ed the article to better serve today’s milieu

ment was a male-dominated sport, full of

of strategic account management. We begin

peaking emotions and cinematic coups de

by modifying the title question by asking,

grâce. But today’s SAM landscape is a softer, gentler beast, where — ideally — rational

“What to do when an account is no longer strategic?”

thought, facts, and data rule the roost, not emotions.

Firing?

If you’ve set up a proper SAM program,

If you have been in strategic account

you have put into place a very sophisticated

management for any length of time, you

account-selection process, full of criteria,

have probably had to fire an employee. The

benchmarks, review processes, and open

reasons for firing are diverse but usually

lines of communication, so that if and

revolve around a few basic themes:

when an account hits the skids, there will be mutual agreement — on both sides — that adjustments need to be made in the relationship. And if it is truly unfixable, both the SAM and the customer can agree

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Issue 1 2023

Financial: • Failure to meet mutually established performance goals

to more of a conscious uncoupling than a

• Failure to reach sales/profit levels

messy divorce.

• Misuse of company funds/property

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35

Performance: • Attendance • Quality/quantity of work produced As a safeguard, you try to reduce the probability of firing a future employee by using a careful hiring process. Your HR department works with you to define the minimum job-related skills required for the position, drafted in the job description. HR crafts ads to solicit appropriate candidates and then screens them by conducting background checks and fact-checking the resumes received. There may be a screening interview, a phone interview, and then face-toface interviews with several internal stakeholders. You go to great lengths to make sure the final candidate is the right fit for your company and your team. Hiring an employee is considered a critical function, and you spend the time and money needed to make sure you make the best hire possible.

or ask for and take a 2% discount for payment within 10 days, yet never meet the quick payment terms?

• Do they want a consolidated invoice, special packaging requirements, dedicated internal service representatives, or on-site representatives to help expedite orders?

• A re your sales flat (or declining) yet the account is enjoying increased savings?

• A re you giving more and more and getting less and less in return?

• A re you getting your investment’s worth back from the account? What is your ROI from the account?

• A re you participating in the account at a strategic level or at a tactical level, yet supplying strategic account benefits?

• Is this the account that always comes up in meetings with your management in a negative light?

If you answered yes to any of

How does this logic differ from

these questions, or if these ques-

how you think about your account

tions have you thinking of other

portfolio?

examples,

Probably quite a bit. If your company is like most, your

perhaps

you

account. But think this through.

account portfolio is, well, your

In essence, you have set up clear

account portfolio. These are your

criteria with your customer about

customers! They are the lifeblood

how the relationship is going to get

of your company. They pay the

managed, correct? If you agreed

bills. They are the reason for your

on those criteria and they’ve done

existence. Without your custom-

something wrong, have you given

ers, you wouldn’t exist, so you

them a chance to fix it?

need all the customers you can

Whenever SAMA advises on

get! Right? Maybe not.

how to put a strategic account program together, step number

Is it time to realign?

one is to get CEO support. Step

Think about a strategic account that generates substantial

two is to select the right “growth” customers who are at least

revenue for your company — the account’s revenue stream

leaning in a certain direction and willing to share data, give

may be the main reason they are on the strategic account

you access to other people within the company, and join in

list — and ask the following questions:

this dance of value co-creation. So, it isn’t a confrontational

• Is this really a good account?

• Is the revenue stream profitable or does it just produce substantial, low-margin, transactional sales?

• Does the account demand special treatment on its orders — perhaps getting a quantity price yet being allowed to have “split” orders that increase your shipping and handling costs?

• Do they demand extended payment terms like net 60 days

36

then

need to consider “realigning” the

Ve l o c i t y ®

relationship that’s just based on price and delivery. It’s more like “We really look at you as a trusted supplier and you look at us as a trusted customer and, in tandem, we’re heading in the same direction.”

We also recommend not only that you be careful in your account selection, but that you review that account every year.

Why? Because people change, companies change, companies are acquired, and companies are divested. What looked like a strategic relationship last year just may not be one this year.

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We also want to stress that it is OK to participate with an

The purpose of strategic account management is finding

account at a tactical level. Transactional sales can generate

ways to partner and finding the best fit to maximize value.

substantial revenue and profit, but you need to do so without

Challenging, threatening, or demeaning words and phrases

all the other strategic account benefits attached. In transac-

like “demotion” should be rarely used in strategic account

tional sales you remove all but the essentials — which allows

engagement because they’re detrimental to the relationship.

for the reduced pricing — and provide nothing else. If you are providing other add-on services, yet the account does not understand or accept your value statement, then it’s time to recalibrate how the account fits into your SAM program.

On any list of strategic accounts, there is likely at least one

Changes Of course, there are reasons an account exhibits non-strategic-account-level performance that extend beyond your control. This is more of a case of the account moving away from

large revenue account that is

you rather than the other way

not profitable. Sustaining

around, but still a potential

tegic account level will hurt your company and bleed off

Figure 1. Analysis of relative investment and relationship

mold? Do the analysis, check out the accounts, and review the true costs you are incurring to service an account at a strategic account level. You will probably be surprised in what you find.

Your Investment

of your accounts might fit this

reason for reexamining the relationship. Perhaps the account has a new leadership directive to cut 10% from

High

profits. Do you wonder which

LEVERAGE

expenditures during the next

PARTNER

fiscal year without regard to any existing agreements.

Perhaps it has decided to use

SHOP

reverse auctions to help drive

MANAGE

down costs. Whatever the

Low

such an account at the stra-

account’s reasons for changLow

High

Account’s Investment

A word on firing

ing, if it no longer accepts your value statement, you need to consider realignment — especially if it still expects

By now you may be thinking “firing an account is a pretty

all the other support programs you have provided in the past.

drastic measure,” and you’d be right. When you fire an

If the account no longer fits your strategic account profile, you

employee, you terminate the employee/employer relation-

need to address what’s changed in the relationship.

ship, but firing an account may not be as easy. And, lest we forget, firing an account means potentially losing millions of dollars — not chump change. Plus, firing an account — especially if you do so in a time of need — is most likely a one-way street. Oftentimes, there’s no way to do a U-turn.

That relationship is over. You can’t iron out that crumbled piece of paper. The account might forgive, but they’ll never forget.

together, then you are not in a strategic account relationship but are in some level of a transactional relationship. If this is the case, then you need to balance your value-added programs to the account’s support level. In general, this usually means you strip out any value-adds that the account does not accept and get into a pure transactional sales relation-

Yet, in some cases, there may still be a need to retain some level of a supplier-customer relationship (i.e., you are the only supplier of a specific product).

That’s why we prefer to use more proactive, positive phrasing — not just in terminology, but action. For example, saying “we’d like to realign our value proposition to align with the way that you want do business” to a customer on thin ice makes a big difference in how you come across.

Vol. 25

Refer to Figure 1 to help reevaluate your relationship.

If you and the account are not in the “Partner” quadrant

Issue 1 2023

ship. Remember, in a strategic account relationship both you and the account are committing to a substantial investment of resources — anything less devalues either your or the account’s value proposition and reduces the strategic account relationship to a tactical (transactional) one.

Setting the stage You and your HR department spend time and energy

Ve l o c i t y ®

37

establishing the ideal employee profile and match it as closely as possible with your candidates. You also screen resumes and conduct numerous interviews before you make the final selection/offer. You see hiring the right employee as a critical function and apply due diligence to the process.

Why should this be any different from your strategic

Politics? Really?

As you take steps toward realigning a specific strategic account, don’t lose sight of your peripheral vision. Be aware of all political implications that may arise from restructuring your relationship with the account in question.

Remember, in selecting a strategic account you — and

account selection?

Is this not a critical — perhaps even more critical — function? Selection of a

hopefully your account — are

Figure 2. Suggestions for selection criteria

wrong account can cause

• Revenue/profit growth potential

• C urrent account relationships (all levels)

more damage to your com-

• Reputation of account

pany than a bad hire since

• Centralized procurement function

• M eets your capabilities/product fit

most companies see the probthan they do (if they ever do)

• Multiple locations spanning multiple sales territories

with a bad strategic account

• Global potential

selection.

• Complex order-to-cash process

lems with a bad hire sooner

Ideally, you would have the luxury of doing all the planning and program development before you ever select a strategic account. If you are just starting your SAM

• H igh level of service or value-added needs • A ccount accepts your value proposition • Competitive presence at account

program, you might have this luxury. The reality is probably different: you already have an existing program that evolved over time, and you now need to revitalize it to meet your new reality. Just as with an employee, it is always better not to hire in the first place than to fire later, but whatever your situation, you need to evaluate your accounts.

• Financial strength • P ayment history with your company • Cultural match • E ase of integration (systems fit); ability to be flexible • O ffers you areas for expanded program development

ness differently, expending considerable resources in the process. Since resources are limited, giving more to a select few accounts naturally means giving less to other accounts. Some managers or sales representatives might see any move to realign an account as an attack on one of “their” accounts. After all, isn’t “their” account as worthy of this additional attention as any other account?

Since the managers and sales representatives understand the additional benefits afforded strategic accounts, they will lobby hard for their

account, apply internal pressure, call in favors, and do whatever they can to have “their” account selected. You might also see pressure applied from higher up in your organization. The account or your sales team might have “friends in high places,” or your manager may have a friend with the account. Whatever the case, anticipate additional

If you have not already done so, we (or SAMA) recommend

pressure to expand your account selection to include or

formalizing the guidelines for strategic account selection

retain some accounts that don’t meet the selection criteria.

(see Figure 2 for some criteria suggestions) and getting

Just remember to cross-reference your plan of action with

executive-level internal alignment and agreement on which

the executive sponsor, the CEO, or anyone else who has skin

prospective strategic accounts do and don’t meet the criteria

in the game. Run everything up the flagpole to ensure there

annually. In developing your criteria you need to determine

are no points of friction or blind spots.

what you want from your strategic accounts and apply a process similar to setting hiring guidelines. Work with all internal stakeholders, get feedback on what should be the

38

• I s ready for a strategic (vs. trans­actional) relationship

committing to doing busi-

There is also a potential image problem. Strategic accounts are usually among the larger accounts your company has and therefore have high visibility in your organization, your

selection guidelines, and then start to do the proper selec-

industry, and your community. It can be a blow to the

tion analysis. This is when your real work begins — you need

account’s image and your corporate image if you “fire” the

to rigorously apply the guidelines to your account portfolio.

account. After all, who wants to be the person to fire a large

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account? It will look good, however, if in realigning with a large account, you save your company from an increasingly unprofitable relationship.

Finally, you will probably get some pressure because you are potentially losing a substantial amount of revenue that seems critical to your company. But, again, if you do the analysis and see that the revenue is not profitable you should be able to prove your case, circumvent this objection, and move on with the hard decision.

Whatever the implications of your decision, if you have set the stage properly, developed the selection process guidelines, and applied them to all accounts, you should be able to weather the political storm. It is difficult to argue against facts and data, and if an account does not meet the guidelines, it does not meet the guidelines. Time to realign or cut bait.

But you might be thinking, “If I fire an account, they will go to my competition!”

Well…so what? You have lost an account that was bleeding off profits, demanding special treatment, and consuming your corporate assets. Why should you care if they go to your competition? Frankly, this could actually be a positive for you.

Having the conversation When you fire an employee, it should not be a surprise. In the time prior to the event, you should have communicated with the employee regarding performance, raised concerns over lack of profitable sales, and in general set the stage for the final conversation. This should be the same process when realigning with an account.

Open and direct communications with the account prior to the realignment conversation is a must. Having quarterly review meetings with strategic accounts — to discuss sales and sales trends and to look at what is working and what is not — is a helpful way to identify problem areas and

of not improving to acceptable levels — including a downgraded position in your SAM program and the added benefits it affords.

These meetings are also the time for you to gauge the account’s commitment to your SAM program. If they don’t appear to accept your concerns, don’t appear troubled by their lack of performance, or are not responsive to your improvement suggestions, you have a good indication they will not be a long-term strategic partner.

If they are participating in the substance of the meeting (as opposed to being passive listeners), appear to accept your concerns, and are actively responding to your suggestions

new opportunities. Such meetings are an excellent way to

for improvement, you have a good account and you should

develop even your top-performing strategic accounts.

work with them to improve their performance.

These quarterly meetings are also the prime time to set the

But what if the account is participating, yet still does

stage for a conversation on realignment. You should clearly

not meet your guidelines for a strategic account? This is

and pointedly review your strategic account guidelines in

the tough call. Admittedly, when an account is working to

the areas in which the account is lacking, describe accept-

improve, this is a difficult decision to make, and it will be a

able performance, and set plans to improve the account’s

difficult discussion to have with the account. But, again, if

performance to acceptable levels. Explain the consequences

you have developed the guidelines, aggressively and openly

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Ve l o c i t y ®

39

communicated these to the account, and set the stage prop-

the account some time to develop a response and avoids any

erly, then maybe a strategic account relationship isn’t what

“surprise” factor.

they really wanted.

Even though you have been holding frequent meetings

If that’s the case, it’s time to recalibrate and ask, “What

where you have been open with your concerns about the

do you want?” and specify “Here’s what we’re willing to

account’s performance and have set the stage for realign-

do.” With proper communication, the account, although

ment, do not take anything for granted. Rerun all your sales

it may not be especially happy with the decision, should

and performance data. You want to provide as updated an

accept the outcome as part of your program’s requirements,

analysis as possible. Also, gather as much data as pos-

upon which they ultimately agreed. This closes the loop and

sible to support your realignment decision. Because this is

makes it airtight.

not necessarily only a “numbers” decision, be prepared to

Remember that you are establishing (or revising) the future of your SAM program, and in order for it to work, you need to adhere to the account selection criteria you developed. If you make exceptions, you open yourself to criticism when you deny strategic account status to your boss’s wife’s cousin’s neighbor’s business.

provide other supporting reasons. It is also more effective if you bring additional copies of all your data and reports to the meeting so everyone will have a copy and not have to share.

At the meeting you should review your strategic account guidelines, paying particular attention to those areas not being met by your account. Use Figure 3 as an example

Figure 3. Performance meeting chart

checklist. Review each guideline individually, support your

Example Account Performance Meeting

performance rating with all relevant information, and identify problem areas. At the end, as you wrap up the data, you

Guideline

Account’s Performance

Positive growth of 10%

-5% growth 2022/2021

Sales > $1,000,000/year

$800,000 2022 sales

Sales rep access to account

Access badge rescinded

with you, but to us, it looks like you’ve pivoted and just

Product shows on site

Shows denied

want to have a transactional relationship with us. We

Expand to global sites

U.S.-based only

can do that. But that means we have to withdraw your

can say to the account: “Hey, this isn’t working. We still want to do business

SAM and your quarterly business reviews. We have two

So, what’s the “how”?

some other channel partner, or just via the internet. We’re

You have established your guidelines, you have evaluated

happy to keep your account open, but the SAM resources

your account selections, you have held frequent meetings

are going to be applied on another customer where they

with the account where you have detailed your performance

are more beneficial. We are happy to reorganize the way

concerns, and you have not seen any positive change from

we serve you that aligns with the way that you want to do

the account. What’s next?

business.”

If you haven’t done so already, you should meet with the

If you feel the account has made a valid offer to improve

account representative in person. Open, clear, and upfront

and has committed to meeting your guidelines, you can say,

communication is always the best path forward, but remem-

“Well, here is what we would need to work toward, for you to

ber it’s nothing personal. It’s just business. Still, you don’t

get back to the benefits of being a strategic account.” At this

want to burn any bridges, so leave the emotions out of it.

point you need to set goals for the account to reach in order

Remember, they are determining the path forward. They

to retain strategic account status. The goals need to meet

have the money, and they decide how they’re going to spend

your guidelines and carry an aggressive deadline.

it, but you have what they need.

40

or three other ways we can serve you, via a distributor or

During this path of realignment, you might want to work

Be prepared to offer an overview of your meeting agenda

with the account to see how you can help it. For example,

in advance, restating your concerns over performance. Refer

you may offer to have your reps go through the account’s

back to your strategic account guidelines, which you can

security vetting process, so they meet the same require-

cross-reference with factual performance data. This gives

ments as do any of the account’s employees. Whatever you

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Issue 1 2023

choose to do, make sure the account understands that if it does not adhere to the timeline, then you’ll have to part ways.

• L oss of other strategic account “perks” your company may provide • Removal of quarterly business reviews

During the realignment period, have more frequent meetings to track progress (monthly at least) and assess the account’s potential to regain its strategic account status. After a suc-

Remember, in a true strategic relationship, both you and the account are committing to do more for each other than any standard account. The outcome

cessful realignment period, maintain

After a successful

frequent meetings to track progress

realignment period, maintain

and make sure the account does not slip back to its “old ways.”

Of course, the alternative outcome is that the account agrees with your assessment, leading to a mutually

that both parties are looking for — and have agreed to — is mutual covalue creation. And if the value isn’t mutual, if the teeter-totter is out of

frequent meetings to track

balance one way or the other, then

progress and make sure the

you have to recenter it or reconfigure

account does not slip back

the relationship. That might mean

to its “old ways.”

account or no longer a customer at all.

agreeable removal from your SAM pro-

the account is no longer a strategic But tread carefully and wisely, and

gram — the key phrase being “mutually agreeable.” If you’ve done your due diligence, this part of the conversation is more of a handshake than a sucker punch.

don’t do it in a burst of emotion. Do your homework — internally and externally — and make a new agreement.

n

What this removal entails depends on your level of support to your strategic accounts, but it could involve: • Removal of any strategic account pricing or freight concessions • Removal from any strategic account internal support pro-

This article is adapted from a 2005 Velocity article, "The Why and How of Firing an Account," by Paul Brouillard, former Director of Global Strategic Accounts at Sigma-Aldrich. New insight and updates are provided by Harvey Dunham, SAMA's Managing Director of Strategy and Marketing.

gram (like a select customer service team) • Removal from any strategic account “first” programs (like preferred package shipping)

Vol. 25

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Ve l o c i t y ®

41

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Ve l o c i t y ®

Vol. 25

Issue 1 2023

ELEARNING.ORATIUM.COM/SAMA2022

The High-Performing SAM Series

THE SAM AS A TEAM BUILDER: FOSTERING ALIGNMENT ACROSS BOUNDARIES

By Javier Marcos, PhD Professor of Strategic Sales Management and Negotiation Cranfield School of Management (UK) and Director Key Account Management Forum

Strategic account managers are the orchestrators of multifaceted relationships across supplier and customer organizations.

The nature of teams in strategic account management Following a major redesign of DHL’s rela-

These relationships are typically multilevel

tionship with one of its strategic accounts

and multifunctional in nature, and thus

(SAs), Airbus, DHL received the “Best in

require the coordination and alignment of

Class Partner” award for their excellence

teams to create value and deliver complex

in being the aircraft manufacturer’s logis-

solutions to strategic accounts.

In this article — the second in the series focused on core dimensions of high-performing strategic account managers — I address how strategic account managers (SAMs) can best build account teams and align complex processes across the supplier and customer boundaries.

tics partner.1 When accepting the award, Marja-Liisa Turtiainen, Vice President of Engineering & Manufacturing, Aviation & Aerospace at DHL Customer Solutions and Innovation, said, “It’s an honor to be recognized as best performer. Only market-leading teamwork makes it possible to deliver these performance levels.”

Award-winning, high performance in multifaceted relationships can only be delivered by a strong account team that brings together commercial, technical, and relational capabilities in a customer-centric fashion.

Underpinning the award was DHL’s approach to optimizing logistics flows, increasing end-to-end supply chain visibility, reducing logistics spend, and, overall, achieving higher levels of operational excellence, transparency, communication, and innovation. None of these customer outcomes could be realized by high-performing individuals but required high-performing teams.

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43

Jon R. Katzenbach2 describes a high-performing team as a

Third, effective teams consist of a small number of people.

“small number of people with complementary skills who are

When executives ask me “What does small look like in SAM

equally committed and hold themselves mutually account-

teams?,” I often refer to the classic rule of the magical num-

able for a common purpose, goals and working approach.”

ber seven plus/minus two that cognitive psychologist George

Strategic account managers are at the heart of creating such

Miller created. He argued that the number of objects an aver-

teams in key customer relationships.

age human can hold in short-term memory is 7 ± 2. Ideally,

First, SAMs help distill non-trivial customer insights into common relationship goals with well-defined performance

measures. As I referred to in the previous article3 of this

a SAM team would comprise this number of members in order to ensure an appropriate span of control as well as coordination.

series, the SAM synthesizes key dimensions of the custom-

Fourth and final, complementary skills and multifunc-

er’s strategy and connects these to the suppliers’ approach

tional expertise need to be carefully assembled to provide a

to create value for the customer, and even beyond, for the

complete solution to the customer. The skills required tran-

customer’s consumer. One of the SAMs for Barry Callebaut,

scend any single individual’s area of knowledge, thus requir-

the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, assembled a key account team who, using consumer insights, new ingredients, and a streamlined supply chain operation, launched winning new products and campaigns with Mr. Cheney, the specialist American-style cookie manufacturer based in São Paulo.

Second, in order to build effective strategic customer teams, SAMs devote a significant amount of energy and time to bring about commitment and a sense of accountability in

ing the engagement of teams. For example, Onyx Insight, an award-winning global renewable technology business, brings together sensing, analytics, and engineering expertise to enhance the performance of wind turbines. The SAM for a key customer, such as General Electric, involves a small number of individuals with complementary skills and expertise to create an innovative solution for a key customer.

Why teams matter in strategic account management

their account teams. Very often, SAMs do not have formal

Traditionally, strategic account management has put

authority over the individuals that are part of the SA team.

emphasis on the performance of individual SAMs, and I

Thus, they have to engage informal influencing techniques;

argue that it is the ability to assemble a high-performing

they need to create impact without authority. Allan Cohen

team that increasingly complex customer relationships

and David Bradford advocate for the use of alliances, reci-

require. Teams are needed in strategic account relationships

procity, and exchange to help individuals meet their objec-

for at least three reasons: complexity, collaboration, and

tives within organizations.

continuity.

4

Complexity: It is largely accepted that customer relationships in business markets have become more nuanced and complex, and that buying organizations are expecting more from their suppliers, among others, in terms of performance, compliance, and adherence to ethical and sustainable practices. No single individual can develop the requisite variety to excel across all these functional domains. Thus, teams need to be created to address the complexity of customer requirements.

A study of large industrial firms5 in Europe compared the differences between supplier firms having a team and those not having a team for managing the key customers. The result of this research revealed higher keyaccount performance in the group adopting

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team-based, key-customer management than in the non-team group of companies. Moreover, this work showed that key-customer teams can enhance customer-knowledge acquisition and better enable the dissemination and utilization of knowledge.

Collaboration: SAM teams influence collaboration both directly and indirectly. Collaborative relationships benefit partners in at least two ways: first, an increased ability to share resources, expertise, and know-how, and, second, the partners’ enhanced level of commitment to the relationship.6

Major engineering and solutions companies, like Jacobs in the UK, provide rail infrastructure owners such as Network Rail with advanced solutions to help them plan, develop, finance, design, construct, maintain, and operate smarter transportation infrastructure. The ability to produce increasingly demanding outcomes for asset owners and train operators require a variety of perspectives and areas of expertise. This needs to be supported by the coordination of a cohesive team that can engage a wider group of stakeholders to deliver against the vision and priorities for national transport infrastructure.

excellence that can be adapted to the context of strategic account management: 1. Clear sense of direction and specific targets. SAMs will often face multiple demands. Having a clear road map for developing their relationships with their key accounts is essential. Account teams in suppliers like Unilever will craft their account strategy in a way that supports their key customers’ ambitions. For instance, on November 8, 2022, Carrefour presented their 2026 strategic plan,

Continuity: Best-practice companies in SAM, such as

stating as a key priority the requirement for the group’s

Siemens, recognize in their accounting policies for intan-

top 100 suppliers to adopt a 1.5°C trajectory by 2026.

gible assets the fact that customer relationships can span up

This provides clear guidance to work together toward the

to 30 years and beyond. It would be unrealistic to expect that

achievement of a specific environmental target: limiting

a key account manager would be looking after a customer for

the effects of climate change.

three decades. That is why maintaining the institutional know-how and expertise accumulated over such period of time needs a handover process supported by teams. Only SA teams can sustain the lifecycle of value creation throughout such protracted periods of time.

2. Appropriate talent. Orchestrating various areas of expertise and capabilities, aligning individuals with different backgrounds in the direction mentioned above, is essential. Typically, different functional experts from Carrefour’s logistics, finance, IT, and procurement departments will work with their counterparts who per-

Creating the conditions to enhance team effectiveness Unilever is a strategic supplier to the Frenchheadquartered retailer Carrefour. Product managers, supply chain executives, IT specialists, and finance experts, among others, come together, coordinated by an account director.

Each team member contributes to the design and execution of campaigns to help this retailer grow sales of Unilever’s

form those functions at Unilever.

3. Clear roles and responsibilities. In order to facilitate the performance of the SA team, individuals must have clarity in terms of the scope of the work they are expected to deliver. When clarity of expectations is balanced and blended with the needed flexibility to cater to the changes occurring in the environment, account teams perform at their best.

consumer products in food, home, and personal care catego-

4. Efficient procedures. Large organizations can become

ries. But how can an account director effectively orchestrate

bureaucratic, and the need for agility, and responsiveness

these disparate resources and areas of expertise? Gregory

to deliver against customer requirements suggests the

Huszczo provides a set of practices for achieving team

importance of reviewing the procedures that teams adopt

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45

to ensure they are externally focused, not just internally oriented.

1

5. Positive interpersonal relationships. Although conflict is ubiquitous and the ability to handle conflict is a key skill of SAMs, constructive personal relationships are often associated with higher levels of performance.

6. Active reinforcement. Systems that promote continuous learning, collegiality, and alignment are part of the ingredients of the recipe for high performance in teams.

Many key-account and internal-team relationships are sustained through solid social and personal bonds between the buyer and supplier

staff.6

Teams are live entities that go through different phases of development. This suggests that strategic account managers need to continuously review the membership, skill sets, and practices of their account teams.

Meredith Belbin, the creator of “team roles” theory, said that “Nobody is perfect — but a team can be.” I hope this article will help you, as a strategic account manager, to build perfect teams and, in doing so, to become a bit more “perfect.”

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https://www.dpdhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2016/airbushonors-dhl-best-performer-award.html

2

Katzenbach, J., & Douglas, K. (2015). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

3

Marcos, J. (2022). The SAM as a strategist: Defining the approach to transform your key customer’s business. Velocity, 24(3).

4

Cohen, A. R., & Bradford, D. L. (1989). Influence without authority: The use of alliances, reciprocity, and exchange to accomplish work.

Organizational Dynamics, 17(3), 5–17.

5

Salojärvi, H., & Saarenketo, S. (2013). The effect of teams on customer knowledge processing, esprit de corps and account performance in international key account management. European Journal of Marketing, 47(5/6), 987–1005.

6

Arnett, D. B., Macy, B. A., & Wilcox, J. B. (2005). The role of core selling teams in supplier-buyer relationships. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 25(1), 27–42.

7

Huszczo, G. (2010). Tools for Team Excellence: Getting Your Team into High Gear and Keeping It There. Davies-Black Publishing.

Javier Marcos PhD, is Professor of Strategic Sales Management and Negotiation at Cranfield School of Management (UK) and the Director of the Key Account Management Forum. Javier can be contacted at www.linkedin.com/in/javier-marcos-phd-438395/.

https://strategicaccounts.org/en/events/sama-2023-annual-conference 46

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Commercial Success.

Is it time to take a fresh look at how your pharmaceutical or medical device organization approaches its market?

Our consulting and SAM training are laser-focused on driving commercial success. From a fresh perspective.

“Vantage’s approach made me think, ‘Wow ... I’ve been struggling with this.

Now I see it completely differently. This is invaluable.’”

Sales Executive, Strategic Accounts Group, Medical Instrument Manufacturer

Let’s talk.

www.vantagepartners.com/SalesUniversity SAM@vantagepartners.com

From difficult conversations to high-value dialogue Triggers abound for difficult conversations with strategic customers. Here’s how to transform even the toughest ones into productive discussions.

By Jonathan Hughes

Even in the best of times, we sometimes

extension, damage or even destroy a valu-

need to engage in difficult conversations

able account relationship. Every difficult

Partner Vantage Partners

with important customers. Perhaps we did

conversation also represents an opportunity:

not meet their expectations. Maybe those

to increase understanding, generate new

expectations were unreasonable, and now

insights, catalyze innovation, enhance trust,

we’re over scope — way over scope. Perhaps

and deepen relationships. Rather than adopt

David Chapnick Partner Vantage Partners

and

someone on our team said or did something inappropriate. Or maybe someone at the customer behaved inappropriately toward

Ben Siddall

Partner Vantage Partners

someone on our team. We invested significant time and effort in a joint innovation initiative, and procurement is now refusing to honor the previously agreed-to gain-sharing arrangement, so now we need to have not one but several tough conversations to reach an acceptable outcome.

Turbulent times inevitably trigger more difficult conversations with customers.

Inflation creates pressure to increase prices, even as the risk of recession leads many customers to seek discounts. Ongoing supply chain disruptions lead to delayed deliveries.

Rising geopolitical tensions create uncertainty, which begets anxiety and the temptation to reduce risk by shifting it to business partners.

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a defensive stance toward difficult conversations — where we seek simply to limit the damage — we need to learn to embrace the challenge and opportunity they offer.

What Makes Difficult Conversations So Difficult?

Difficult conversations usually arise at the intersection of conflicting views about important matters coupled with strong feelings. Different perspectives on high-stakes issues typically lead to a heated argument, which can rapidly escalate into a “cycle of mutual dismissal.” Difficult conversations are characterized by debates about what or who is right or wrong, often followed by accusations, defensive responses, and counteraccusations.

Difficult conversations with customers

Whatever the circumstances, difficult

often involve counterparts who seem to be

conversations cannot be avoided — and they

acting unreasonably or unfairly. And maybe

usually get more difficult the longer you

they are. Nonetheless, it is critical to recog-

wait to have them. But they are risky. Unless

nize that they almost certainly do not see

skillfully managed, a difficult conversation

themselves that way. We are social creatures,

can damage personal relationships and, by

so while self-interest and some degree of

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selfishness are part of our nature, these less-thannoble impulses are kept in check by our desire to be seen by others as reasonable and fair dealing.

Human beings are complicated and there aren’t a lot of saints walking around among us. The rest of us act out of a complex set of motivations, including, but not limited to, narrow self-interest. Most of us care about receiving recognition, getting bonuses, receiving promotions. Incentives like these inevitably shape our own views and actions, just as they do for others, often to a degree that we fail to fully recognize or acknowledge.

The vast majority of people (and yes, this includes people in procurement!) want to act with integrity and do the right thing — even if we often disagree about what that is. Expecting selfless behavior from our customers (or customers expecting selfless behavior from us) is bound to leave us

many in the industry. She believes her data show that this

frustrated, taken advantage of, or both. (By the way, show

price increase is in line with marketplace trends, and that

us a company that consistently ignores self-interest while

her account will be able to pass the increase along to their

seeking to be a good partner to its strategic customers, and

customers.

we will show you a company that went out of business.) But human beings are also prone to binary thinking, and when confronted with different points of view, the natural and almost inevitable reaction is to conclude we are right, and the other side is wrong.

Unfortunately, when she met with Lee, her key account contact, they reacted badly. “Are you kidding? I’m sorry if you’re not going to make quota this year, but that’s not my problem. We can’t simply absorb your price increase, and if we try to pass it along to our customers, we are going to lose

People also tend to see themselves as acting reasonably, if

business. You’re trying to take the easy way out. What has

not always nobly. But we don’t always recognize that others

your company done to increase efficiency and control costs?

see themselves and their actions the same way. When we

That’s what I expect of a partner.”

don’t live up to our highest ideals, we often say to ourselves, “I was forced by circumstances (and particularly by the actions of others) to behave differently than I would have preferred.” But we don’t always cut others that kind of slack.

Instead, we attribute their behavior to flaws in their character that prevent them from being “a team player” — what psychologists refer to as the “fundamental attribution error.”

The Cycle of Dismissal

How does Rachel react? With an open mind, curious to hear more from Lee and learn from their different perspective? Or with frustration that the support she needs is not immediately forthcoming, and maybe with a bit of defensiveness?

“Look Lee, I’ve always had your back. You just haven’t spent all the time I have looking at this from all angles. My team’s market analysis is sound, I can assure you.” Perhaps Rachel also thinks to herself, “When you needed me to bail

Consider the following scenario:

you out of tough situations in the past, that is what I did. I

Rachel has spent weeks preparing for a conversation

certainly didn’t say it was your problem.”

about a significant price increase with her account. She’s

How does Lee react? Are they open to reconsidering their

gathered data that justify the price increase and has pre-

initial skepticism? Or do they conclude that Rachel is react-

pared carefully to explain why this increase is necessary

ing defensively, because she’s under heavy pressure from

due to significant cost increases from her company’s own

her bosses to ram through a price increase? Lee (sighing)

suppliers, as well as rising labor costs that are affecting

responds, “Look, Rachel. We’re on the same side here. I’m

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Slow Down

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2

Deescalate

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Clarify Purpose

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Explore

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Engage in Joint Problem-Solving

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just trying to make sure my company doesn’t agree to a price increase that drives our customers to our competitors.

In my view, this is a really terrible time to push a price increase. Honestly, I don’t want you and your company to damage the future you have with our company.”

Deal with Emotions — Before Trying to Resolve Business Issues Negative emotions (fear, anger, embarrassment, betrayal) are all but inevitable in challenging, high-stakes conversations. These feelings are at the heart of what makes difficult

Rachel and Lee have fallen into the “cycle of mutual dis-

conversations difficult. Dealing directly with emotions in

missal.” Each believes the other is wrong and, increasingly,

a skillful way is also the key to productive dialogue. Of

sees the other as acting in less than good faith. The more they

course, this is easier said than done — especially when many

respond to each other based on this perspective, the more

of us have been taught to keep emotions out of the work-

their actions reinforce their perceptions of one another. If

place. A simple acknowledgment that emotions are a normal,

they have a good relationship, they might nip this dynamic

inevitable part of all human interactions is a helpful start.

in the bud, or dial it back before things get toxic. They might

A recognition that feelings are not right or wrong, coupled

simply agree to disagree. Or they might reach some sort of

with a commitment not to judge or argue with the emotional

compromise — a smaller price increase, or an agreement to

reactions of others (or our own), is a good next step. We can

revisit pricing in the future. That’s the best case — but the

then begin to explore what is triggering negative emotions,

opportunity for learning and creative thinking is lost, as well as the opportunity to strengthen their relationship by lean-

process those emotions together, and jointly create a foundation for working through difficult business issues.

ing in to work through a tough situation together.

Leverage the Power of Empathy Making Difficult Conversations Less Difficult, and More Productive Difficult conversations, by their very nature, often catch us by surprise. Even when we initiate such conversations, it is often after a period of putting them off, such that bottled-up

50

Facing a difficult or even hostile customer counterpart?

One who just won’t listen to reason? While it is tempting to focus on helping them see the error of their ways, resist that temptation. Instead of a good “talking to,” give them a good “listening to.”

anxiety and frustration quickly leak out. Difficult conversa-

Good listening is not a passive activity; it requires active

tions also tend to trigger us emotionally and tempt us into

engagement. In particular, effective listening involves empa-

rapid (often counterproductive) reaction. A simple frame-

thy — a commitment to see the world the way someone else

work can help us become more deliberate, and more effec-

sees it, to understand their experience as they experience

tive, in how we engage in conversations that are difficult,

it, and to care. Empathy does not mean we need to agree

specifically because they are about important topics and

with the way a counterpart sees things, just that we care to

involve important relationships.

understand how and why they do.

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Empathy is not so much a skill as it is a choice. When we

deliberate purpose. Too many conversations begin badly

are being attacked or unfairly blamed, or when our legiti-

and end worse because they are the fruit of a poisoned tree

mate concerns are being ignored or brushed aside, empathy

— the result of a purpose, often unconscious, that is bound

is a hard choice to make. But it is in precisely such circumstances that empathy is most essential, and most powerful.

Those who do not feel heard cannot listen. Those who do not feel respected tend to lash out in disrespectful ways. If you decide to take the higher road in difficult circumstances simply because it is the high road, that’s wonderful. The

to lead to a bad outcome. Productive dialogue begins with a constructive purpose.

Harnessing Differences to Fuel Productive Conversations

rest of the time, consider doing so simply out of enlightened

Seemingly unreasonable counterparts have access to

self-interest. We can always hope a difficult counterpart will

information we don’t. They have different experiences and

see the error of their ways and change. But demonstrating

see things from different vantage points. Their objections,

empathy is a choice completely under our control. It will not always make a difficult conversation easy, but it will usually make it better — and it will never make things worse.

complaints, and criticism, no matter how unconstructively articulated, are precious assets. Even the most unreasonable grumbling and self-interested accusations usually contain nuggets of insight — about unmet needs, potential risks, possible alternatives, and new opportunities. Instead of digging in our heels, we need to dig into a learning conversation,

Negative Emotions

Demonstrating Empathy

to embrace dissent rather than overcome objections, and uncover such nuggets, no matter how deeply buried or welldisguised they might be.

ProblemSolving

We need to resist the temptation in difficult conversations to defend ourselves or persuade others to agree with us.

Instead, we need to first focus on understanding our counterpart’s point of view and empathizing with their perspective and experience — even if we do not agree. Then and only then have we earned the right to engage in a process of joint problem-solving and mutual persuasion.

Productive Purposes When we make the effort to see the situation as our coun-

Creative Joint Problem-Solving: Use Reframing Transforming a difficult conversation into productive dia-

terpart does, we begin to transcend our own partisan point

logue often requires reframing the issues being discussed.

of view and can see things from a broader, more objec-

Framing a negative or contentious issue in a new way often

tive perspective. This enables us to avoid reactions that are

reveals new insights and points the way to new solutions. On

likely to make a difficult situation worse and instead act with

the next page are six archetypal reframing moves.

Common but Unproductive Purposes

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But 4 And

2

Prediction 4 Possibility

3

Past 4 Future

4

Complaint 4 Request

5

Passive 4 Active

6

Control 4 Influence

From Mutual Dismissal to Productive Dialogue When Lee raises concerns about Rachel’s plan to increase prices, how can Rachel avoid falling into the cycle of mutual

has not made any attempts to control costs — Rachel considers how to express those feelings constructively, without being defensive, and without leveling counteraccusations.

dismissal? Rachel might still suspect that Lee is, in part,

“Look, Lee, we’re both in a tough spot here. I would hope

motivated by their own self-interest and their need to look

based on our history of working together that you would be

good to their boss. But she reminds herself that there’s noth-

confident I’m not simply trying to take the easy path to hit

ing wrong with that, and that Lee also genuinely cares about

my quota. But at least give me a chance to show you that

what’s good for their company, not just how a price increase

I’m committed to doing right by you and your company

reflects on them personally. Moreover, there might be some

while also meeting my obligations to mine. Tell me more

merit in Lee’s concerns. Finally, rather than trying to ignore

about what you’re seeing from your competitors and hear-

the hurt and anger she feels — at Lee’s accusations that she’s

ing from your customers, and what I might be missing. And

only motivated by hitting her quota and that her company

let’s also share what our respective companies have been

Explore Ask questions to understand their perspective

LISTEN — Attentively, and with an open and curious mind

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Difficult Conversation Mindset

Learning Conversation Mindset

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doing to try to rein in costs; maybe there are things we can

side-by-side conversation produces an entirely new plan to

each learn from each other.”

address rising costs — for example, through more transpar-

Rachel has focused Lee on their common ground — but without pretending there’s not disagreement. Because it is

ent joint demand forecasting, or joint innovation projects to improve supply chain efficiency.

a deeply engrained human instinct, Lee mirrors Rachel’s

Multiply this kind of curious, empathetic, and collabora-

behavior. Lee is frank about their concerns, but the edge is

tive dialogue across myriad difficult conversations involving

gone.

varied counterparts over time, and the result is a genuine

“If your analysis is right, Rachel — and I’m currently skeptical — some price increase might be warranted. I know you have data saying my company’s customers are anticipating price increases, and that these are in line with

partnership between customer and supplier — one where people and the companies they work for can learn from disagreement, reach better decisions, develop innovative solutions, and succeed together.

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our competitors’ increases. But what if you’re wrong? What if many of our customers react negatively? What if our most important customers react negatively? There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market right now.”

Rachel happily shares further information, and since she no longer perceives Lee as unreasonable, it seems natural to also ask them for other suggestions they might have.

Rather than spiraling into the cycle of mutual dismissal, Rachel has guided her conversation with Lee into a virtuous cycle where their differences become the fuel for creative thinking. Maybe this discussion produces a better plan for

Jonathan Hughes is a partner at Vantage Partners, where his practice focuses on business strategy and organizational transformation.

Jonathan can be contacted at jhughes@vantagepartners.com. David Chapnick is a partner and leader in Vantage Partners’ Sales and Account Management, Training Services, and Strategic Alliance practices. David can be contacted at dchapnick@vantagepartners. com. Ben Siddall is a partner at Vantage Partners, where he helps pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare organizations build and execute strategies to manage the evolving healthcare ecosystem.

Ben can be contacted at bsiddall@vantagepartners.com.

introducing price increases — differentiated by market segment or phased to reduce risk and enable experimentation and agile course corrections. Or perhaps Rachel concludes that her company’s price increase is too risky, and she needs to take Lee’s concerns back to her company’s management team for further discussion. Or, just maybe, a collaborative,

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CALL FOR VE LOC I TY ® SUBMISSIONS FOR 2023 AND BEYOND Why Submit an Article?

Velocity is the official publication of SAMA. It provides a forum for the exchange of information relating to the practice of strategic account management and is the vehicle that enables SAMA members to be the best community of practice.

Thousands of account professionals, SAM managers, and C-level executives at the world’s largest and most forward-thinking companies read Velocity to learn about best practices and next practices from professionals who are facing the same challenges they are.

By having an article published in Velocity, you’ll be recognized as having expertise on the topic, and you’ll elevate your visibility within the community and your own organization. Your organization will benefit by having its name brought to the attention of the wider community as a thought leader.

But you’re not a writer, you say? Not a problem. Your professional knowledge is more important than your writing skills.

The SAMA editorial staff can help with grammar, organization, and style. If you can write a business letter, you can author an article.

If your firm has a public relations, marketing, or communications department, they may be able to help you document your knowledge and experience. Do make sure, though, that you provide them with in-depth information and that you review their documentation of your knowledge and experience for accuracy and to ensure it meets the article requirements below.

Case Studies Case studies are particularly welcomed, answering the questions and following the format of: • what was the issue; • w hat were the steps taken to address the issue; • what resulted for the SAM, the SAM’s

organization, and that of the SAM’s clients?

Article Requirements Articles must be directly applicable to strategic account management (not just sales). It helps to keep in mind that SAMA’s audience consists of those who work in complex, highly matrixed organizations and focus on building strong and mutually beneficial relationships with a company’s most important customers and partners.

Articles must avoid directly promoting a product or service.

Velocity articles range between 2500 and 3500 words, covering three to five pages.

These ranges are approximate; somewhat over or under these word counts is fine if justified by the content.

Articles from consultants and academics are welcome, but bringing aboard a practitioner co-author will get you to the top of the pile. If that’s not possible, please consider adding concrete, real-life examples from your work with clients.

Graphics that aid in understanding an article are also welcomed. In addition, please consider contributing original research in graphic form to Velocity’s Data Watch column.

If you’ll be working with graphic designers or printers, have them contact halverson@ strategicacccounts.org for the more technical requirements for graphics.

Who We Want To Hear From ✓ SAMs and sales executives, managers, and account managers at all levels ✓ Procurement, strategic sourcing, and supplier relationship management executives ✓ Independent consultants and academics working with strategic account organizations. Articles co-authored by a consultant and a practitioner, or an academic and a practitioner, lend credibility to theory.

Key Subject Areas While authors may choose a topic most relevant to their own experience, some of the topics most relevant at this time are: • O rganizing and running the SAM program central office • G oing deep: uncovering strategic information from and about the customer • L everaging technology, data, and/or analytics to change the way you drive significant revenue with your customer, working internally and/or collaborating externally • Implementing innovation • Deploying disruption • Q uantifying and validating customer value in a case that resulted in a valuebased price solution or that prevented losing a deal and/or the customer

Elements of a Successful Submission An article doesn’t need to contain ALL of the following, but the more boxes it checks off, the higher priority it will be given. ✓ Practitioner author or co-author ✓ If written by a consultant or academic, must incorporate practitioner point of view ✓ Real, concrete business examples that exemplify the concepts discussed in the article ✓ Hard data ✓ Innovative concepts/“Next practices” ✓ Human element

How To Submit If you already have a white paper, case study, or article ready to go, send it to Velocity associate editor Nic Halverson at halverson@strategicaccounts.org. You will be notified that your article has been received and is under review. If you just have an idea for an article, send a brief description and any supporting materials to halverson@strategicaccounts.org.