If you don’t have these 2 things in your key accounts, you could lose millions in revenue.

Watch: Executive access and a champion in your key accounts

If you don’t have these 2 things in your key accounts, you could lose millions in revenue.

I watched a competitor lose a key account worth $100M+ because they were missing them.

In my experience, about 2 in 100 Key Account Teams have both.

Here’s how it happens.

The incumbent had the account for years. Their team knew operations and procurement like family.

Two levels up sat the executive who controlled the spend. Their team had never given that executive a reason to know them.

I know how it ends because I was the competitor.

Our champion had the power and influence to reach that executive. Our champion took our story up, tied to the outcomes the executive cared about, then brought us into the room so the success was linked to both of us.

The executive blessed the partnership and took it to the board for final approval.

That account became an 11-year exclusive partnership worth more than $100M. (full case study linked in comments)

To become a Vital Partner who can expand and protect your most critical accounts, you need access to the top executive and a champion willing to help you build that relationship. The incumbent had neither, and it cost them the account.

Winning a new customer costs 5 to 25 times more than keeping one, according to Harvard Business Review. Replacing an account worth $100M+ takes years most companies don’t have.

How many of your key accounts look like this one?

Here’s where to start:

1. Map the account’s political landscape. Find the top executive your services can impact most.

2. Find the champion with the power, influence and access to reach that executive.

3. Co-author quantified proof points with your champion, tied to the executive’s goals. If they won’t put their name on it, they aren’t ready to sell on your behalf.

4. Shape the story around what the executive and the board care about: making money, saving money and reducing risk. As Anthony Parinello taught in Selling to VITO, you get sent to the level you sound like.

5. Make the story easy for your champion to tell without you in the room.

6. Invite the executive to the business reviews that prove those outcomes, then use them to earn a one-on-one relationship.

If you want help with this and the other 20 growth drivers that form Vital Partnerships that last, schedule a free 30-minute consultation and ask for a demo of the Vitality Index.