Value is very important in any business-to-business relationship and both sides must clearly see its benefits. There is no point in trying to build a relationship without establishing its value. Furthermore, unless value is readily apparent on both sides of the equation and is seen as being equitable, the relationship is not likely to last. The differential of value is one of the key challenges facing the pharmaceutical company’s executives and their consultants, as they determine how to deliver this value to their clients, most especially those who are classified as “key.” Key account management training seeks to emphasise how important this differentiation is, and trainers should make additional effort to ensure that all employees within the organisation understand the intricacies.
Fundamentally, the pharmaceutical sales company is providing products to the health care professional and these valuable instruments provide a distinct benefit to the purchaser. The purchaser must in turn make sacrifices in order to receive the value of these products and before this value can be consumed. This is how most business-to-business relationships are formed, through an exchange of value in this way. If there is an additional perception of value, relationships can be elevated, on either side. These days, key account management training focuses on the fact that additional benefits could be construed in many different ways, such as through important information exchange, service enhancements, market positioning, reputational gain, or a combination of other, maybe more subtle aspects.
Often, a key account value can be construed independently and can be viewed differently from either side. For example, the client may not be aware that the sales company is treating their association as “key,” at all. The interpretation may be entirely one-sided, as it may not need to affect the way that services and products are delivered from the company to the client. The relationship between the two may work entirely well on this basis. In most cases however, the actual relationship itself determines the real value and through collaboration, the relationship prospers and moves forward pro-actively.
The pharmaceutical organisation should make sure that its key account management training is very purposeful, so that great attention is paid to developing the relationship and elevating it above the straightforward exchange of pharmaceuticals for money. The relationship should be everything and a clear definition should be established to show exactly why the key account is so special and important. Not surprisingly, pharma training can, consequently, be very complicated and can be set to focus on areas that do not represent the critical mission statement of the organisation, necessarily. Pharma training must emphasise how dynamic these relationships should be and how “over delivery” can help to cement their future.
It is the job of the successful pharmaceutical consultant to ensure that the parent organisation is well aware of how real value should be imparted to each of the key accounts on the books and how such attention to detail can move them ahead of their competitors, who may not be so proactive and careful. Determination of value is a critical component of key account management.
Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.
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