We Gained the Support of the Internal Executive and Became the #1 Supplier in a $45M Program.

The internal executive's job is clearing roadblocks, resolving conflicts between business units, and making sure the account stays visible at the leadership level. When that sponsorship is in place, research from SAMA (Strategic Account Management Association) shows that strategic accounts with strong programs grow at twice the rate, with 20% greater profit margins as the program matures.

When the account executive operates without visible backing from the regional or divisional leader, the field operations teams, delivery managers, and corporate functions follow the priorities of the person they report to. The account becomes an orphan, and growing it is nearly impossible.

Attempts to mobilize resources and people inside large, matrixed organizations are often met by a wide range of obstacles, including apathy, competing priorities, and even active resistance. Without someone at the RVP level or above actively sponsoring the account, the account executive is fighting the internal organization and the external competition at the same time.

When I was a strategic account executive (SAE) for a large company, we would spend the last few weeks of the year finalizing our national accounts list for the following year. This required some strategy. Select the wrong customers and we could miss forecast. Select the right ones and we could become an industry leader. It was a high-stakes game for everyone in the national sales organization.

When selecting strategic national accounts to target and forecast, my formula was simple:

1. Do we have an internal executive, in this case, an RVP committed to contributing their leadership toward growing the account?
2. Do we have at least one active site that can become our account team's nucleus?
3. Does this account have upside, a customer where we have yet to capitalize on the opportunity?

That year, I found a large biotech firm that fit this formula perfectly. We were active in one location out of 10 possible (upside), and there was an RVP sitting in the local branch next to the customer's HQ (executive leadership).

To kick off that year, I traveled across the country to meet with this team and the RVP.

I first met with the local account team. We ran a SWOT analysis for the account. We reviewed their performance last year, surfaced some areas for improvement in operations, and uncovered customer business units where we could potentially begin saturating, diversifying, and expanding the business. From an operations perspective, there were some strong delivery teams at this branch we could deploy, but they were currently assigned to other customers.

That part of the meeting was housekeeping. What I really wanted to know was why they were not focused on growing this account. Was it low margins? Too many vendors? A lack of customer champions? Too much work for the ROI? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Then I asked them directly, "How does your regional leadership talk about this account?" They said, "He doesn't. He directs us to focus on business that moves faster, ones with better margins, less competition, ones where we have solid relationships." I said, "If you were to focus time and energy on growing this account, it would be going against your leadership's current directive, correct?" They said, "Yes, that's correct."

I thought, "Perfect, that's exactly what I expected to hear." I already knew the account team was not going to focus on my account without the support of the RVP who sat three doors down from the Account Managers. I just needed them to communicate their current state to me before I ran my next play with the RVP.

That afternoon, I met with the RVP. I asked him the same questions I had asked the account team earlier that day, and he gave me the exact same answers. I agreed with him that if things didn't change, this account would not grow.

Then I asked him, "Would you be willing to attend a business review with the client tomorrow? I've set the meeting to introduce myself as their new national contact, review our performance from last year, and learn what they expect from us." He agreed to attend.

I'd also prepped the client ahead of the trip that I would likely be inviting the RVP to attend with me. I explained, "I want him to be read in and aware of potential areas he can invest resources to better support your needs and any risks you see to our partnership."

Before the day was over, I had run the three plays from my system for building internal executive support for a key account:

1. Establish a connection between the client's key stakeholders and the RVP.
2. Establish a recurring cadence where he could meet with the client for 1 hour each quarter.
3. Prep the RVP before each meeting so he's not facilitating, just listening and contributing where he has the power to act.

Then, for the meeting and the time between meetings, I gave him a steady diet of reporting on our performance metrics, account updates, and opportunities for growth. Leading into the recurring meeting, I always asked him what he thought the account needed in terms of resources and support. Then, I made sure I developed the business reviews each quarter and included his suggestions. The constant theme of the reviews was "Building a Strategic Partnership and Becoming Supplier of the Year." (See Business Reviews at https://www.vitality-index.com/case-studies/business-reviews.)

As the RVP became more engaged in the account, he would learn that some of his earlier judgments had been wrong. He started directing people to focus on the account and pointed them to areas where the client needed more support from us.

As he continued to attend business reviews, his impact on the account's success grew. He started adding new team members dedicated exclusively to the account. He created new roles to improve delivery. He supported me on national team calls and championed this account by selling the opportunity with the other RVPs.

Three years after our first business review, we were awarded Top Supplier of the Year in this account. That was the most important goal we could achieve in strategic sales because it speaks to the quality of partnerships that we're able to build with large, complex accounts.

We went from not focusing on this account three years earlier to being active in all 10 locations, with the anchor site where the RVP sits. This program was spending $45M in our service area across many vendors. We would eventually surpass all of them in spend and impact and become a vital partner to the client's success.

Internal Executive Buy-In is just 1 of the 21 Growth Drivers in the Vitality Index, the Key Account Growth System. It belongs to the Domain we call Relationships. The plays I ran to gain the RVP buy-in for this account are just 3 of the 50 plays in this Growth Driver that we handcrafted to help account teams build vital partnerships that last.

In the Vitality Index, we cover 7 Domains in all. These include 21 Growth Drivers and over 1,200 power plays, next moves, and coaching insights.

Growing key accounts can be complex, so we distilled this type of work into a system everyone can use, no matter what level of experience you bring to the table. It was built from the same approach we used to create some of the largest partnerships in our industry that have lasted decades and are still running.

Winning, growing, and protecting key accounts has been our life's work for the past 30 years. In the Vitality Index, we don't tell you what to do. We show you, because we lived it. This is the system we wished we had years ago. But now, it's here! If becoming a top-producing account team is important to you, then the Vitality Index can help.

We made a sample for you to try. This is not the actual system, but it will show you a practical plan for growing a live customer in your portfolio. This snapshot will give you a diagnostic, analysis, and an actual growth plan for where you currently sit across two of the seven Domains: Relationships and Competitiveness.