Oops! 4 Mistakes that Leave up to 75% of Strategic Accounts Underserved

Key accounts should receive the most attention. In fact, however, a strategic account planning study by the Strategic Account Management Association found that almost three-quarters of a global company’s major account clients were dissatisfied with the relationship they had with their assigned sales team.

Here are four mistakes that a sales force is apt to make and in so doing leave a great deal of money on the table:

1. They don’t have a clear and meaningful definition of a key account.  A key account should not necessarily be the greatest revenue producer. Maybe for your company it should be profit.  Maybe for your sales plans it should be the accounts that have the greatest potential to develop strategic relationships across the company for long-term, mutually beneficial business value.
2. They don’t allocate sufficient resources nor do they customize resources according to the needs of individual key accounts.  Apply the right resources to the right accounts. Understand what support each account requires and make it happen.
3. They don’t have strong and long-term oriented sales and service processes.  To truly engage a key account you need patience. With a well-conceived execution plan in place, the relationship will deepen over time.
4. They don’t have consistent coordination across their business. Be sure you have the right talent in the right positions and all are working together to develop all the opportunities your most important accounts represents.