A Word on Key Account Management (Aasha B )
30 June 2010
Key Account Management 
· The management of the customer relationships that are most important to a company. Key accounts are those held by customers who produce most profit for a company or have the potential to do so, or those who are of strategic importance. Development of these customer relations and customer retention is important to business success. Particular emphasis is placed on analyzing which accounts are key to a company at any one time, determining the needs of these particular customers, and implementing procedures to ensure that they receive premium customer service and to increase customer satisfaction. Siyandza has introduced in its new structure 3 new key account managers. They are: 1. Aasha Bhoola 2. Khanya Matlala 3. Kim Davids A key account manager needs to have a low key swagger. He/she needs to be able to see what will happen in the sales landscape before it happens and shape it (kind of like how Michael Jordan could see 5-10 seconds into the future and position himself to be where he needed to be). This people make things happen in a great way for their company. In net, they drive revenue in a positive way. Some additional thoughts: 1. The key account manager understands the customer's markets, competition, customer issues, customer opportunities better than the account, itself, does.
2. The key account manager understands the customer, their strengths weaknesses, how they work, their key metrics and performance against those metrics better than the account itself does.
3. The key account manager consistently brings the customer ideas on how they can improve their business (both on the top line and bottom line).
4. The key account manager effectively brings together people within the account, serving as a bridge to communication within the account.
5. The key account manager is a strong effective advocate for the account within the key account manager's own company.
6. The key account manager consistently brings business justified solutions to address the customer's key priorities.
7. The key account manager grows the value of his company's solutions to the customer consistently.
8. The key account manager does not waste the customer's time, but creates value in every interchange.
9. The key account manager leaps over tall buildings with a single bound
