Key Account Management - The Series, Part 5

Communications with Key Accounts

By Tom Tate

This installment deals with how to communicate with your key accounts. To recap, you have created an appropriate structure for management of the accounts and the personnel you will have working (Introduction). You have identified the sales team using the characteristics essential for success (Part 2). You have identified and procured the resources for your account managers’ success (Part 3) and you have created account plans to guide their efforts (Part 4).

 What comes next is perhaps the most difficult piece of the puzzle, communicating with your key accounts via your account managers, in an effective, timely, and productive manner. I will steal a march on folks who will point to the Internet and electronic forms of contact as the modern way to do business with this; that approach is fine for selling products and services that are uncomplicated and relatively inexpensive…commodities if you prefer. But for sales of solutions to real business needs, you are going to have to meet your customers face-to-face at some point.

Yes, a field sales force is expensive and having employees travel adds to that tab. Implemented properly, the returns will more than repay the investment. Here’s the best strategic approach in my experience, you add the customer to your team. In fact, you make the customer the center of your team. With annual plans (from Part 4) in hand, have the sales team make appointments to go see the top accounts in person. Establish a time length for the meeting. If secondary and tertiary accounts are in close proximity, try and see them too. You can even consider making cold calls on these lower tier accounts. Okay, get up off the floor, it is actually fun. And I have made some nice contacts and sales as a result.

This methodology starts out as if you are creating a new relationship. If you already have a working relationship in place, just ignore the intro pieces that don’t apply. Show up ahead of time, not a huge amount but 10 minutes +/-. Not enough that you appear anxious but enough to demonstrate you value their time. Years ago, this was referred to as “Lombardi Time.”

In the meeting, take a little time to unwind and make some pleasant conversation. Ask them if there are any exciting developments underway for their company. This next bit may sound trite, but look around the office and see what is on display. It is valuable to know what they value. If it isn’t important, it won’t be on their walls or desk. You’ll also know if they are not interested in small talk, trust me.

Now, make the necessary introductions of your company and yourself. Thank them for their time and state that you want to go over the account plan you have created for them to make sure it is properly focused on their current and projected needs. That sounds a bit like this,

“During the coming year, we plan to do the following for the benefit of your company.” List the items. “Thinking about your goals and objectives, where can we modify this plan to better meet your needs? I would like to take notes if that is acceptable.”

It’s an old saw, but always ask open ended questions that start with who, how, when, where, why, if, and so forth. It engages the customer in the conversation. Having said that, stay alert to cues that the customer is not in the mood to discuss the plan. Use all possible body language and verbal cues to make sure you do not overstay your welcome.

Excellent questions for relating the plan to the customer’s objectives are things like,

“How does what I have presented fit with your objectives?”

“Where can we refocus resources to better align to your needs?”

“At the end of the year, what will be your measure of success?”

“What key challenges do you face in your business?”

And my personal favorite, “When your feet hit the floor this morning, what is the first work-related thing that came to mind?”

If the conversation is going well, keep the customer engaged until the appointment is up. At the appointed time, stop and say something along these lines,

“This has been extremely productive. I know you are busy and I promised to only take xx minutes and we have reached that point. To close out, let’s talk about next steps.”

Chances are pretty good the customer will give you some additional time…not always but frequently. Continue until they indicate they need to move on or until you need to go to your next appointment.

 Before you leave, you want to make sure you have:

• Agreed on a call schedule for the coming year…each month, day, quarter, once a year?
• Identified a preferred communication method between personal calls.
• Identified changes to your account plan. If it is on target, you might ask them to sign it. Depends upon the customer. At the very least, leave a copy or send the updated version. Use as a follow up reason – at least by email.
• Recap any commitments you have made during the meeting whether it is to check a bill issue, send literature, schedule a meeting with a technical resource, etc. Always leave with a reason to contact the customer again, either in person or otherwise.

Back in your vehicle, transcribe everything that went on into your account management tool, be it software or paper. DO NOT check emails, messages, go to social media, or anything else until you complete a data dump of the call. Nuances are important and letting other activities intrude before trying to capture the call details can lead to important things getting lost. It might be fun to recap the day sitting at a bar but you are losing a lot of valuable intel.

Let’s talk about another very important aspect of account management, taking care of the gatekeepers. When you arrive at the customer’s office, chances are you will meet a receptionist or some other person responsible for regulating flow of people and contact. Be nice! Introduce yourself. Make special note of their name and record it, discretely. Be aware of the activity level around you and don’t go overboard engaging them. Next time you have reason to come in or call, use their name. Learn a bit about them and ask for updates. Show genuine interest. I recall many occasions where I came to a customer without an appointment and stood behind other account managers who just so happened to want to see the same person I did. The gatekeeper told them they were not available. When I stepped up, I made my pleasantries and said,

“I couldn’t help but overhear so-and-so was not available. Do you know when they might be?”

Only to have that person tell me they were available and show me in. Being nice to people pays dividends and makes your day that much better.

A couple of tips:

• If they have an odd name, ask them to pronounce it. My Mom’s maiden name was complex and she grew up being tired of people making no effort to learn how to say it. It matters to people. Ask the ethnicity if you are interested. This is especially important with the growing diversity of nationalities in the workforce.
• Don’t automatically jump to an abbreviated version. I learned that in an embarrassing way. A customer’s office manager was a touch cranky shall we say? Her name was Florence. Being young and full of it, I called her Flo from the first time we met. One day the conversation went like this,

“Flo, I have noticed no one else calls you that.” I said.

“Well, one person used to call me that and I didn’t like him.” she replied.

“Florence, I am glad we had this conversation.” came my red-faced reply as I looked for the nearest place to hide until my customer arrived.

To be honest, I won her over eventually but it was a rocky start.

Here’s another tidbit, all these techniques are applicable in your workplace. At some point you will need to sell someone on an idea, a project, a request for something, and treating it like an account management exercise can improve your chances of success.

Tidbit mania continues. Never disregard or treat anyone poorly. You never know where they might turn up later. There are just a few in your customer’s company who can say, “Yes,” but there are a lot who can say, “No,” even if they are “just” a gatekeeper.

Even when communicating electronically, it is a nice touch to open and close pleasantly. My practice is to say hello, express the wish that I hope they are well, and if I know of something they are engaged with, ask how it is going. Closing is with something like, “I hope you have a nice evening/day/whatever,” then go to “Warm regards,” “Yours truly,” or mine, “Sincerely.” Work it into your email signature. Oh, spell properly and use good sentence structure. Unless you know the recipient is okay with it, limit the use of emoticons and internet abbreviations.

Time to follow up on your commitments. Here is where an account management system can shine by reminding you of those promises and streamlining the fulfillment/response process. Meet even the smallest commitment. It gives an impression, properly, that no detail is too small when it comes to your customer.

Follow up to be sure that they received everything, that files opened properly, and so forth. I love the internet and email but it is not always reliable. Do not assume they received it.

So, now what is the approach for ongoing calls? If you have a reason to go back, do it. If there is no need until the next appointed time, that is fine. Schedule the appointment or work it into a day of calls. So, what do you do talk about when there may be no immediate needs?

• Ask them what has gone on since you last met.
• Ask them if their goals and objectives have changed.
• Use some of the questions listed previously.
• Something happening in their industry? Ask how it is impacting them. You are keeping tabs on the industries of your customers, right?

The key is to get the customer to talk about themselves and their challenges. They may not be facing any need that your company can satisfy today. Accept that and move along. Your professional treatment of their time will be recognized.

When I traveled with my account managers, I often had them set up appointments just so I could speak with their contact and show management interest in them as a customer. Plus it was a great way to learn about the customers in my charge. And, as the manager, I could ask questions of the customer that the account manager might be reluctant to ask. One area was asking about how decisions were made and who was their boss. You will see why I asked about their boss in a minute.

When setting up these meetings, invariably I was asked by my account manager,

“What will we talk about? What literature do we take in?”

My reply to that was,

“I don’t know what we’ll talk about. I plan to let the customer tell us what is important to them.”

If you take a hammer to a meeting, everything will look like a nail. Let the customer identify the areas of interest and importance to them at that point. You may not have a play in meeting those needs so move along. Oh, and create a reason to contact them again even if it is just confirming you’ll come back at the next scheduled time.

A caveat with respect to meeting customers, some may decide they want to deal higher up the food chain than with their account manager. Make every effort to redirect that and let the key relationship reside with the account manager.

For lower tier customers and those who don’t want a personal call except annually, put electronic media into your mix. Newsletters, case studies, updates. Support self-service options via your website. Keep a bit of a presence with them without jamming their inboxes. How much is too much? Track your electronic unsubscription numbers. If they jump, back off the electronic contact a touch.

Okay, a year has passed, account managers have executed their plans and documented the results. Now it is time to give the customer a report…with a twist. Write a letter to their boss and the highest level officer you can find in their company. In that letter, start by saying,

“During the year, we have been able to achieve the following results with the help of the local manager, M/M Smith. With their help and guidance, the following benefits have accrued to your company.”

Some will point to this as a fatal move since most local managers resent anyone going over their head. That is true except in this case, you write the letter to position the local manager as the catalyst, meeting objectives and goals and solving problems using your products and services. Be sure to provide quantifiable results or statements of value. I found this very effective and the local manager was hard pressed to complain when you praise them to their upper management.

A couple of additional implementation points:

• Give the report to the local manager at or near the same time the letter goes out. They shouldn’t hear the results from their management. They won’t know about the letter and if they hear about that, it is fine.
• Have the letter come from the account manager’s boss (me in my situation). If for some reason the effect is negative, the account manager’s reputation can remain unblemished. How do they phrase it in Mission Impossible? “We will deny all knowledge of you and your actions.” Account managers take note and blame your manager in this case…

 Even for the lower tier customers, a similar letter can be constructed. Report that you ran an account analysis and all looked good, they were getting the best price for their purchase levels, something to wrap up a year of working with and for them.

That is it for my communication tips and approach. Next is account manager compensation and recognition of other departments that helped you succeed.