Create an Account Management Team In many companies, once a salesperson has closed a deal with a new customer, the day-‐to-‐day responsibilities of managing the account are transferred from a sales rep to an account manager. Using this type of structure offers a number of benefits & challenges. Check those that you think apply to your scenario: BENEFITS
CHALLENGES
Sales team has more time available to actively sell rather than manage.
An account manager earns less than a top sales performer, so you can manage existing customers more profitably. In many industries, account management is a more routine function than sales and is better suited to a different personality profile than a sales position. By splitting the functions, you can ensure that the right person is managing the account.
An account manager typically has less sales experience and usually isn’t as successful as a salesperson at growing accounts. If the salesperson stays on the account team, the customer can get confused about who to contact. If something goes wrong with the account, the account manager may not have the business or industry experience to address and resolve it as quickly as a salesperson might.
After reviewing these benefits and challenges, are there any processes you can use to minimize the challenges you checked? Explain:
DEFINE YOUR TEAM’S ROLES The next step is to outline the structure for your team so you have a clear picture of the skill set you’ll need for success. What are the responsibilities for an account manager on a day-‐to-‐day basis?
Customer Retention Create an Account Management Team
page 1 of 4
Who is responsible for “growing” an account, i.e. convincing the customer to buy more volume, more frequency, or to expand into other departments? How will you transition an account from a sales rep to an account manager? When should an account manager seek help from a sales rep or other team member? Who will the account managers report to?
SKILL SET What kind of experience will your account managers need? Match up their experience level to the sophistication, importance and value of each customer segment. Customer segment Level of importance to the company Based on the roles you outlined earlier, what experience will they need to be successful? What additional knowledge & skills will they need to be successful?
Customer Retention Create an Account Management Team
page 2 of 4
Repeat the exercise for each customer segment.
HEADCOUNT How many account managers will you need? Use 396-‐B to help you to generate an estimate for the number of accounts each person can manage and the number of bodies you’ll need.
COMPENSATION PLAN Many companies make the mistake of offering commissions to account managers or salespeople to reward them for growing new accounts. They feel that they don’t need to pay commission on “house” accounts, yet it’s ten times more expensive to replace a lost customer with a new one. A better approach: Provide strong incentives for your team to maintain and grow your existing accounts. If a salesperson can make more money on a new customer versus existing one, the company will suffer and the team will spend far more time acquiring that one new customer than managing existing ones. Account managers earn less than top sales performers and don’t need the same type of compensation plan because they don’t have the same need to go out and hunt for new business. They need to keep current customers happy as well as grow their accounts. Therefore, create a commission program to keep them motivated to do what it takes to maintain and grow their business. [Sales Management can help]
ACCOUNT GOALS When you transition an account from sales to account management, define an account strategy that outlines the major goals, needs and activities for the customer.
ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Customer/Client Account Manager Salesperson Date of strategy Customer segment Estimated lifetime value of this customer Customer challenges: Describe the challenges this customer faces and how your product solves those challenges.
Customer Retention Create an Account Management Team
page 3 of 4
Customer team members: List all of the people the salesperson worked at the customer’s company with during the sales process. Which of these people will continue to be involved with your company on an ongoing basis? NAME
DEPARTMENT
CONTACT INFO
ROLE
What are your three-‐month goals in working with this customer? Think in terms of upselling more volume or better products, cross-‐selling related products, gaining referrals, and building a lasting relationship. What are your six-‐month goals? What are your one-‐year goals? Management plan: Add any other details about how you will manage this account.
Customer Retention Create an Account Management Team
page 4 of 4