Watching the Herd: Key Account Acquisiton
Winning a new key account takes more than sales skills. In fact, taking a sales approach, which expects a yes/no outcome from every contact can hurt you if you’re going after major accounts.
When pursuing a key account, much more time is spent with influencers, ie. those who may have an indirect interest in your services.
I call these types of conversations “discovery” conversations because you don’t spend your time “telling” or “selling”.
Strategic questions sound like this:
“The last quarterly report said…about shareholder value…how is this impacting your business unit?”
“I’m guessing from the CEO’s comments…your unit’s mandate for next quarter is….?”
“Knowing that the…market segment is underperforming, are resources being re-allocated?”
Tactical questions sound like this:
“Who makes the decision?”
“How much do you spend on…?”
Tactical questions will often mean being sent to the operating part of the business.
This is where Request for Proposals, annual budgets and purchasing departments happen. In my opinion, this is the hardest way for a new supplier to get a foothold.
Becoming a preferred vendor company-wide requires access to and influence with EVERYONE who would be impacted if your firm were to be hired. I have learned the hard way that there is never just one right person to talk to.
Influencers, champions, implementers and user groups have different needs. Each group will want different things from you and will see the value of what your firm offers quite differently, one from the other.
Being able to tell your story differently for each stakeholder is a skill Big Game Hunters must develop.
