I need to know what could change at my key account before it's too late to adapt.

I need to know what could change at my key account before it's too late to adapt.

Changes inside a key account rarely come with an announcement. A champion moves to a new role, a new leader takes over procurement, a budget gets cut, or a competitor gets time with an executive. Teams that watch for these patterns on a set schedule see them early enough to adapt.

Five questions to see if your team can do this job today:

1. Does your key account manager (KAM) track role changes and turnover among the people who influence your business?
2. When someone who supports you changes roles, does your team secure a new sponsor quickly?
3. Does your team review compliance risk points on a regular schedule?
4. Does your team track competitor activity in the account every quarter?
5. Do you hear about changes from your own team before you hear about them from the customer?

Two or more no's, and some changes at your account may be reaching you later than you'd like.

I had a comfortable, long-standing relationship with a head of procurement who controlled an annual budget of more than $2B, including our partnership, valued at $12M a year.

She had sponsored five renewals over 15 years. One day, we were notified that she was leaving. In our last few check-ins, she never mentioned it, but I later learned she had been planning the move for a year and had searched for and found her replacement in that time.

I should have asked her when she planned to retire or change organizations. My failed assumption was that she was a lifer with 5, 10, 15 years ahead. From our point of view, the move happened suddenly. From hers, it took a year or more.

The transition to the new head of procurement did not go well. It was impersonal and short, and we felt like just another line item in his ledger.

We went from being her legacy to the new leader's number one target for price reductions. We faced an uphill battle that could have been avoided if I had kept up with organizational change as part of my process.

The change was in motion for a year before we heard about it. Your team can ask key contacts about their plans at every check-in and get to know the next leader before the handoff.

Our system, the Vitality Index, shows your key account teams where they stand today, the work it takes to level up, and how to do it, until they reach a vital partnership that lasts.

When did your team last ask your most important contact about their plans for the next year?

We built a free, 4-minute Key Account Risk Assessment. It gives you a risk score for your key accounts across team alignment, account planning, account transitions, and visibility. Link in the comments.