Professional Development

Price includes refreshments, lunch and course materials.

Level: Foundation

Key issues:

Key accounts are a precious resource. They are volume-rich, and should be profit-wealthy. Failure to seize an opportunity to serve a key account is dangerous: in normal markets competitors wait like hyenas for such opportunities; in commodity markets they vigorously pursue our most prized assets. Right now, your key accounts are being targeted by competitors. Without planned defence your business is vulnerable.

The purpose of this course:

There is a transition required to turn a sales person into an accomplished Key Account manager. Sales arguments must become business arguments. This workshop covers the essential knowledge needed to select the right key accounts in which to invest your resources. It identifies the optimal methodology through which key business can be won, protected and grown.

Who this course is for:

New and experienced key or major account managers who want to evolve a proactive structured approach to maximising business from their major customers will benefit from this workshop, as will sales managers and directors who wish to evolve their team’s methodology for effective key account development.

Benefits for your organisation:

Delegates will develop a mature business approach in the acquisition and development of key business, investing their time in identifying optimum sales opportunities. They will recognise the value of a unified company approach to planning and achieving key account objectives, and will take a harnessing role in ensuring that resources are positioned to protect and grow high volume high value customers.

Benefits for you as an individual:

Delegates will form a clear understanding of the steps needed to protect and grow their key business. They will also learn how to apply this methodology to successfully target and win new key customers. They will clearly understand their organisation’s strengths and weaknesses in servicing the account and be able to plan effective internal and external strategies, culminating in time-effective sales action plans.

You will learn how to:

On completion delegates will be able to:

• Make the transition from traditional selling to key account management
• Effectively manage both Internal and External KAM
• Select ’true’ key accounts and analyse real account potential
• Conduct initial threat analyses
• Research qualified sales opportunities
• Create strategically linked benefits
• Utilise analysis tools to form optimum approach strategies and sales propositions
• Create deliverable internal and external strategy
• Create an action plan for success
• Build the KAM Delivery Team
• Understand and integrate practical differentiation
• Provide a business proposition not a sales pitch
• Present Value-Based solutions

Course content:

• Defining Key Account Management and Key Accounts
• Prioritising Key Accounts
• Traditional Selling Vs. KAM: Developing Strategy
• Relationship development
• The KAM model
• The Key Account methodology
• KAM output
• Customer value and differentiation
• Consultative KAM

To take away from the course:

• A workbook with complete notes supporting all of the messages from the course, and additional material to help you develop the subject further.
• A copy of KAPS (Key Account Planning System).

Professional Standards

All of our sales courses are based on MSSSB National Occupational Standards ensuring that sales people at all levels of seniority gain practical skills that employers require to improve business performance.