What value does your product or service create for your customers? By value, we mean financial value. So, what financial value does your product create for your customers? Sometimes, when we ask our clients what financial value they create for their customers, clients get frustrated.
Read MoreA key to long term success is how well an organisation transforms to manage strategic accounts differently. Recently, we worked with a CEO of a large global client who decided the way of the future was managing their most important accounts in a structured way. Our recommended approach, which was not accepted, was completing a structural internal audit to see how they currently managed strategic accounts and then interviewing a few of their top accounts.
Read MoreValue with your strategic accounts means focusing on the concept of joint value creation between a strategic supplier and a key account. The joint value creation process often impacts both growth and strategic relationships.
Read MoreEverything written about managing major accounts strategically has one theme: it’s not a marketing or sales campaign, it’s a leadership initiative driven by the C-Suite.
The overarching key to long-term success is how well the organisation changes to manage strategic accounts differently.
Read MoreThis week I needed a refill for a rollerball pen and a replacement light bulb. Two trivial tasks, or so I thought. First, armed with my dead light, I visited my local hardware store. “I want a 50W halogen Philips light like this please”.
The helpful assistant took me to the shelf, and we could only find 35W bulbs, “sorry we are out of stock”.
Read MoreIn these challenging times, if you are looking for ideas to improve your business, then best companies focus on their greatest asset — their most strategically important accounts.
Read MoreOften when I speak about the power of growth through a company’s major accounts, managers ask what is the secret or short cut to success? My answer disappoints, there is no short cut.
Read MoreWe’ve worked with global companies embedding account management frameworks and these companies continue to be successful. What drives that success?
Read MoreYou live in changing times, and your decisions with your strategic accounts need to be faster, smarter and relevant to key decision makers.
Read MoreIn July, CEO Sigma Healthcare Mark Hooper announced losing a contract worth $1.7 Billion and in the next financial year earnings would half to $50 Million. Sigma distribute products to 400 stores for My Chemist and Chemist Warehouse and could not negotiate a new contract with their biggest customer.
What does this mean for Sigma?
Read MoreCustomers you can't afford to lose are those customers who supply a good portion of your revenue or profit. Or they can be customers who are growing faster than the rest of the marketplace. The thought of losing one of these customers scares you so much that you might feel tightness in your stomach.
Read MoreWith the SAMA annual conference in Florida fast approaching this is a good time to share an insight from our book Managing B2B customers you can’t afford to lose about managing rewards and insights within strategic account management (SAM).
Read MoreWith the MTAA Value Summit quickly approaching and World Book Day next week, I thought I would share an extract from my successful book with Gary Peacock: Managing B2B customers you can’t afford to lose. This extract concentrates on creating value through joint partnerships.
Read MoreCompanies are spending more time on how to compete in competitive markets using value. Four factors give best companies a competitive edge that drives growth:
In an earlier blog, we explained the first two factors that drive growth. In this blog, we will expand on factors 3 and 4.
Read MoreBy Stephen Kozicki & Gary Peacock
Over the past three years, the world has changed dramatically, and forever from digital disruption, Brexit and Trump. Your industry and your top clients are feeling the stress as their markets change, fast. These fast changes mean that your business needs to be more agile in response to the market. For companies unprepared for these changes this means lower revenue and lower profits.
Our blogs are usually short and punchy to grab your attention. This blog is a little longer than usual because delivering growth is just too important and too urgent to reduce the ideas down to a page, so we have split it into two parts.
Competition is increasing along with pressure on price, which can lead to a race to become the lowest price. However, discounting prices further to keep customers only prevents you from being competitive in the future because you have lower margins to invest.
With companies having fewer but larger customers it means that the top 10-20 customers for a company typically represent 60-80% of revenue and profit. Losing one of these customers can have dramatic impacts on a company - adding still further pressure to discount prices.
Read MoreLet's deal with the 'why' first. Everyone is talking about the era of big data. The account plan is about insights, not data, and it is about how to manage a top account in a very competitive marketplace. A key to the account plan is to use it as a living document to drive value with key stakeholders and not just ticking a box for the 'call' ratios on this account.
Read MoreIt is surprisingly difficult to predict how your account team will adapt to a more strategic way of managing their accounts, and the more influential role they will play in the company. Until your SAM program is underway, you won't know who will make the transition.
Read MoreImagine you have a meeting with seven senior managers. The task of the meeting is to choose four customers to manage differently for the next 24 months. How long will it take to decide which four customers? Are you talking hours, or maybe days?
Read MoreMany companies work in silos, geographically or by business units. Implementing a company-wide initiative like Strategic Account Management (SAM) poses many challenges, particularly around the main resource - staff.
So, for leaders of companies with these siloed structures getting the whole company aligned around strategic customers, and committing time, money and people can be a major challenge.
Read More
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