We’re told that the customer is always right, but are we to believe this every single time? To extend this analogy we could assume that we need to pay an equal amount of the utmost attention to every client, all the time? A considerable amount of resources are necessary to service accounts that we would ultimately classify as “key,” and if we believe our first statement, we should put all this effort into each and every account. Of course, in reality, not all accounts are created equally and some accounts will mean more to the organisation than others. We could go so far as to say that some accounts are not really critical to the survival of the business, but that others are fundamentally so. The quandary that we face is to accurately determine the correct position of each account. How is it possible to accurately determine and consequently service, allocating resources correctly and effectively? We know that key account management is a skill that must be mastered, but in truth many organisations do not have the skill set, experience, education or resources to be able to identify and consequently manage these clients.
While we can define key account management several different ways, ultimately it is the process of looking after important accounts by giving them a raft of services or products, specifically tailored to them and delivered consistently. It’s far from as simple as that, of course and depends on many complicated and often associated factors. Company executives often find it difficult, if not impossible to establish a set of criteria to determine how they should handle and manage appropriately. In many cases, significant customers will be looking for enhanced value through selection of preferred suppliers. They may well be looking for strategic information, the joint development of certain projects or special methods of financing. Depending on their level of proficiency, they may also seek and demand that their suppliers maintain a sophisticated approach to the relationship and even become party to the adoption of certain accounting, procurement and delivery methods.
No two key accounts will be the same when it comes to the way that they are structured, the expectations or the behaviour and we can expect to see unusual demands which might be very difficult for the pharmaceutical company to deal with, stretching and straining its resources. It is also likely that a raft of sophisticated techniques will be required to ensure the highest level of delivery and to ensure that the client itself is happy. At the end of the day, does the client consider that it is the pharmaceutical company’s “most important” account, as this may be the goal to strive for?
The pharmaceutical sales training company will discuss and deploy a number of sophisticated techniques during key account management training, and while many of these techniques may be confidential to the company, the end result of this planning and deployment will be an increase in reputation for the company. Some external parties may view the relationship as a successful and developing one – and as such, key account management deployment can be beneficial in terms of attracting the attention of new clients, in the future. Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical sales training always has many different perspectives and potential goals.
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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