The 4 Pillars of Key Account Management

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Neglect "non-key" customers. KAM requires reps to get selfish about how they spend their time. Nurturing a key account takes a lot of energy, and it's only natural that other customers won't get the same treatment. But sleeping on non-key accounts can result in missed opportunities and potential loss of revenue.
Way overspend on your budget. Key accounts are a calculated bet. It's why so many sales teams hand these accounts over to their rockstar reps in the hope that the bet will pay off. But all this extra attention comes at a cost—and sometimes that cost isn’t justified.
Complicate your account workflow. Key accounts can be tricky with a lot of different stakeholders and needs. If your team doesn't understand the individual circumstances of each account, it's hard to communicate well and make them feel important. This can have the opposite effect of nurturing and retaining these accounts.
So, just how can a sales team balance nurturing key accounts while closing more deals?

The 4 Pillars of Key Account Management
Over 20 years ago, Dr. Michael Stankosky proposed what he thought were the four essential pillars of knowledge management: Leadership, Organization, Technology, and Learning.

Each pillar represents a core element of any successful KAM strategy:

Leadership. Sales leaders provide clear direction for which iran telegram data accounts to target and how many the team should aim to close. This leadership also sets the tone for the overall KAM strategy, from how often the team should touch base with key accounts to how these accounts are targeted and measured.
Organization. Who will research and find key accounts? What will the process look like to target and close them? Organization is the bread and butter of any KAM process. A sales team will have clearly defined roles and ideally carve out individual relationships with important customers to build trust.
Technology. Your tech stack will become the command center of your KAM strategy. The CRM, analytics tools, and communication platforms you equip your team with will make a huge difference in how they nurture key accounts.
Learning. This is arguably the most important pillar of Dr Stankosky's theory—is your team willing to learn and change up its strategy? Your key accounts won't be static. Customer needs and goals will change over time. This requires your team to listen, learn, and change up their approach to suit individual accounts.
Any KAM strategy worth its salt will use these pillars as a solid foundation. But you should also use your secret sauce—customer data—to create a competitive advantage. Let's take a look at what that means

5 Steps to a Successful Key Account Management Process