If my key account's CFO asked what we're worth in dollars, what would we say?

If my key account's CFO asked what we're worth in dollars, what would we say?

A result becomes a number a CFO can use when it's stated in dollars: what it earned, saved or protected, and what that's worth over a year. Stated in the customer's own terms, it needs no translation.

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

1. Can your KAM state your impact as revenue gained, cost saved or risk reduced?
2. Is each result calculated as a percentage, a dollar value and an annual impact?
3. Are those numbers measured against the baseline you agreed on with the customer?
4. Would the customer's finance team agree with how you calculated them?
5. Are the results written in the terms the customer's leaders use?

Two or more no's, and the CFO may have only part of the picture of what you deliver.

We had a key account leader who didn't think we were any different from the other seven vendors on her list. She also had no formal way of measuring the total value of each vendor. That was our third question in our first meeting: "How do you know if your vendors give you a return on investment?" She said, "We don't. We just measure their delivery against what they agreed to." We said, "So that's compliance, and it matters, but ROI is different."

After that meeting, we followed up with three of her success metrics that she agreed were critical to her success and would be a good way to measure our ROI. They had to do with efficiency, capacity and capabilities. We used her terms to describe them and agreed on how and when they would be measured. She measured the other vendors against the same standards, and now we all had an objective lens she could use to tell a good partner from a vital partner.

In the end, it was clear we had saved her millions and earned her millions in new projects. We increased her efficiency, capacity and capabilities, and we could prove it.

The proof came from her metrics, measured her way. Your team can start with the same question we asked: "How do you know if your vendors give you a return on investment?"

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.

What is your team worth to your largest customer, in dollars, this 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.