10 Account Management Fundamentals

I’m seeing an alarming number of business-to-business, sales/service professionals ignore some basic fundamentals when it comes to managing their existing customer base. If you work in a product-delivering service company you’ve got to review these suggestions for getting back on track and staying proactive.

1. Know which accounts are assigned to you. You’re laughing right now, aren’t you? Yet, this is overlooked more than you know. Take heed if you’re a sales manager. You and your people have got to be clear on which accounts belong to whom—and if you have “dead” accounts, you’ve got to visit them to be clear on their present situation.

2.Have a locked-in, never-fail frequency for contacting each active customer. This is lacking in many industries. It is a major selling point to new customers and gives existing customers peace of mind. Of course, it assumes you’ve got something to say that they’ll want to hear—that you’re relevant to them.

3. Know the customer’s “org chart.” Who is your contact, what’s their title, who do they report to, what’s that person’s title? You’ve got to know these people personally, and be checking in with them every single visit. Go out of your way to check in. You’ve got to know how your contact fits into the hierarchy.

4. Know the customer’s “influence chart.” Who could blindside you by changing vendors or how well you interact with your customer’s business? Who uses your product the most? Who really makes the final, ultimate decision on which company is used for your product or service? You must have basic, working relationships with these individuals and check in with them periodically to ensure they value what we do.

5. Annual reviews with decision-makers. You’ve got to get feedback on how your contacts and decision-makers feel your service is going, what needs to be changed, what equipment or product should be moved. Failure to re-evaluate your position periodically is dangerous. It may be painful to do these reviews, but it gives you a chance to respond without necessarily being reactive.

6. Every visit needs to be value-added. This means that every face-to-face visit to the account has to be more than simply a sales call, a service call, or “just checking in.” Clean your equipment, organize it, straighten the area around your products, leave a box of candy as a surprise for the next users, visit the contact to talk about the promotional product of the month. There are countless things you could do to make a bigger impact and leave a better impression.

7. Know the companies you’re dealing with. Know what they do to make money. Are they making money? Are they going through a transformation? A change of strategy? Entering new markets? Do they have a parent company? If so, where is it based? Other locations? Are you doing business with them elsewhere? Do they have a corporate agreement in place, if there are multiple locations? And don’t forget, all of this needs to be recorded somewhere.

8. What are your customers’ can’t-run-out products? Why do they need them—what do they use them for in their business? Can you highlight or red-sticker these items? Again, where will you record this information?

9. Minimum/maximum levels. If you have a fair-at-best relationship with your primary contact, start establishing min/max levels with the customer. It gives you something powerful and additional to fall back on, should the account ever be in jeopardy, and strengthens your credibility with the account. Your message should be: you’ll never run out, but I’ll never overstock you.

10 Start learning product in your off-time. What are the common, but not MOST common items you sell? How do our customers use them? Better to find out internally than from a customer. Then, as you learn more and more, share this information by creating your own one-page info sheets for users, contacts, and decision-makers (see #6.)

Managing accounts means much more than showing up. There’s pre-work to be done. Research. There are so many more things sales/service professionals should do to stay on top of their accounts. Can you think of any?