2. Overview
Objectives
Definition
Basic Elements of Key Account
Management
Nature of the Job
Nature of the Selling task
Skills and Competences
Level of Qualification
Conclusion
References
Summary of Article
Article Review
3. Objectives
Define key terms
Identify elements of KAM
To explain and increase awareness of
what key account is
Identify the skills required for Key
account management
Make aware the nature of the job of key
account manager
Distinguish between key account
management and sales engineers
4. Definitions
What is a Key Account?
◦ “A customer in a business to business market
identified by a selling company as being of
strategic importance” (Millman&Wilson, 1995)
Any customer that is considered prestige
or have a high sales potential
The 20% of a firms customers that provide
80% profits
5. Definitions cont.
What is Key Account management?
◦ The management approach adopted by
selling companies aimed at building a
portfolio of loyal key accounts by offering
them, on a continuing basis, a
product/service package tailored to their
individual needs. (McDonald et al.,2000)
Key account management is about
managing the future (Cheverton,
2001)
8. Basic elements of KAM
Identify key accounts
Analyze key accounts
Selecting suitable relationship
strategies for them
Continuously develop operational level
capabilities to enhance the
relationship
9. Nature of the Job
They are tasked with making the clients
happy by providing good quality service
◦ Eg. For a company providing services like
telephones, communications or even supplies
all their printing requirements and needs. The
key account manager has to ensure that his
company provides up to scratch and functional
hardware
Become PR agents to gather information
Become a “Charmer”
◦ Charm your way through your contacts so that
you don‟t get easily dislodged by your
10. Nature of the Job cont.
Be very close to contact persons and
decision makers of the accounts you
are assigned.
◦ Knowing their birthdays and anniversaries
if possible, and recognizing those dates.
11. Nature of the Selling Task
Key accounts must be treated better
than the average
Skew allocations of resources more to
key accounts
Have to ensure quality and individual
service every time
Need to be successful at their task or
else lose a portion of profits
12. Skills and Competences of
KAM
Strong communications skills
Excellent selling skills
Ability to motivate and lead
Good negotiation and customer service
skills
Analytical skills
Intrapreneurial ability
Good presentation skills
Good understanding of the industry
Good organization skills (Royds, Muchira)
13. Level of Qualification
• Associate's degree or a bachelor's degree
Business Administration or Bachelor of Arts
• Sometimes have a Master's of Business
Administration
• Most employers prefer candidates with
three to five years experience in a business-
related position.
14. Conclusion
A key account manager handles the
most important accounts in an
organization. These are considered
important because of their profitability
and strategic significance. You have to
possess several skills and
competences to perform the job of a
key account manager and have a
certain level of qualification to hold the
position.
15. References
Cheverton, P.(2001) Strategic Customer
Alliances. London: Pitman.
McDonald et al. (2000) Key Customers. How to
Manage them properly. Oxford
Millman, T. & Wilson, K.(1995) From Key
Account Selling to Key Account
Management. Journal of Marketing Practice
Royds, T. (2007) Key Account Management: The
role of the Sales Manager
Muchira, M.( n.d) Job Description for Key Account
Manager retrived from
http://www.ehow.com/about_6576220_job-
description-key-account- manager.
Fulcher, L.(2010) Why Key Account Management
and Recession were made for each other
16. Article Summary : Why key account
management and Recession were made for each
other
According to Laura Fulcher a key account is not just the biggest
account but should also be the one with the most potential. She stated
it was obvious that it was harder to find a customer than to keep one,
and what is much less understood is the difference between active
customer account management and just „looking after your customer‟.
One of the first myths when talking about key account management is
the Hunter/Farmer paradigm which means that getting new business
focused around new customers and all that is required for the existing
ones is effective farming. She highlighted that a tool used to expose
this approach is wallet share analysis which is how we establish the
difference between what customers spend with us as opposed to the
completion and in getting sales people to think this way converts from
the need for farming to hunting within the account.
Evidence according to the writer shows that as times get difficult
buyers become more hesitant, that is staying with what they know
which makes it harder to gain new business. However if sales people
have a key account approach to their most prestige customers the
potential for increased sales is considerable. The word potential is
important in that a large, low potential account requires very different
17. Article Review
The article:
◦ Defined who a key account is
◦ Identified the need for a key account
approach in sales
◦ Briefly identified the relationship between
economy and buying behavior
◦ Concisely explained the concept of
potential as it relates to a sales account
The article confirmed prior definitions
of key account and its importance to
sales people/businesses and has
further cemented this to knowledge
