LinkedIn Posts
Key Accounts usually slip away slowly, one little issue at a time.
These are the five problems we kept seeing put those accounts at risk, and what sits underneath each one.
Watch: Five problems that put Key Accounts at risk
Key Accounts usually slip away slowly, one little issue at a time. By the time a renewal shows it, much of the damage is already done.
We spent the last 30 years leading Key Account Teams on portfolios too important to lose. These are the five problems we kept seeing put those accounts at risk, and what sits underneath each one.
Account Transitions
When an account leader leaves or changes roles, the account’s growth work goes with them. The knowledge of how to grow the account lives in a few people’s heads and scattered notes.
Account Planning
The Key Account Team reacts to issues as they arise and mainly waits on customer communication to plan each quarter. Without a clear view of where they stand today and a map to a vital partnership, each quarter gets eaten by the next fire.
Team Alignment
Misaligned teams work in silos, disconnected from each other. With no coherent growth strategy to trust, the customer gets different answers from different people.
Visibility
Leaders can’t see all the risks that could stall growth in each Key Account until something goes wrong. Account status is spread across reports, tools and memory, so a lost renewal or a surprise RFP is often the first warning.
Player Development
Many key account managers come from sales and were never developed to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority, build executive relationships or plan multiple years ahead.
Each of these can be fixed once the team can see it. Seeing it early is the hard part.
Which one are you feeling most in your Key Accounts right now?
Our system, the Vitality Index, gives your team all of this in one place and scales across your entire organization. If you want help with this or any of the 21 growth drivers that form Vital Partnerships that last, schedule a free 30-minute consultation and ask for a demo.
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