The KAM Club Podcast - Real Talk for Key Account Managers

If you’re in sales or account management, you know how challenging it is to convince your client to buy your services. And is there anything more frustrating than when you think you’ve navigated all the potential hurdles that could get in the way of the client signing off on your proposal and then they say they’re not ready to move forward or are mulling things over.

What do you do if your deal stalls. How do you get your client moving forward and get momentum back into your deal? That’s what we’re talking about in this episode of The KAM Club podcast:

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The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Be sure to follow @thekamclub on social and check out our website https://www.thekamclub.com.

Want some KAM swag? We've got T-shirts, coffee mugs and more. Check it out here.

Working with clients can be a tricky process. Especially when you’re trying to sell them on something. You need your client engaged and communicating, to move forward with ideas and projects. Yet sometimes, it feels like you’re constantly chasing them for the simplest of answers.

In an ideal world, everyone would get everything they needed in a single interaction. That’s not how it works. No matter what the scenario, there’s constant backwards and forwards between stakeholder. We need to follow up with clients for lots of reasons: to close a sale, to ask a question, to get a decision, to share information or reminders.

In this episode of The KAM Club podcast, we explore the best ways to follow up with your clients, without being annoying.

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The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Key account management is a role that requires both sales skills and strategic thinking. You need to be able to identify opportunities, build rapport with key contacts, negotiate favourable contracts, and work collaboratively with your team.

In other words, it’s not an easy job.

And it’s why key account managers can struggle when faced with common problems that stop them from doing their job

Listen to see if you’re experiencing any of the same struggles as other key account managers. Knowing what the problem is the first step to finding a solution.

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Not every deal will go your way. I guess that's why they say, "you win some, you lose some!" 

But, it's also why we need to keep a close eye on our sales process to identify where we might be falling short and to keep doing what works. Episode 10 of The KAM Club podcast explores why you're losing sales opportunities and what to do about it.

The drivers of sales failure

• Lack of flexibility
• Poor relationships
• Excessive costs

We also discuss win/loss reviews and why you must do them even for the small deals along with some additional resources to help you gain insights that will improve sales performance

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Be sure to follow @thekamclub on social and check out our website https://www.thekamclub.com.

Want some KAM swag? We've got T-shirts, coffee mugs and more. Check it out here.

Resources:

• The KAM Club Newsletter. Sign up to never miss an episode.
• Episode show notes. Read the summary notes and get links to all the resources mentioned in the show.
• The KAM Club. Learn more about the world's greatest community of key account managers from around the globe.

I hear the word “value” all the time. “I deliver value, I create value, our clients value us.” But what does it actually mean to create value? In fact, what does it mean to co-create value with our customers and why does it matter?

Value comes in many forms – price, convenience, reliability, quality, service, and so on. But creating value requires more than a positive experience and happy customers.

We want to the kind of value that brings mutually beneficial outcomes. 

In this episode:

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Sales negotiations are challenging. Even the most experienced negotiators can struggle when things get tough. And when the going does get tough, it’s tempting to just to fold and give the client what they want. At least you closed the deal right?

But what we want is a deal where everyone wins. And that’s not so easy, especially for those of us not in pure sales roles. We’re not wheeling and dealing every day.

The secret to win-win is knowing what to expect and in this episode of The KAM Club podcast we discuss how to prepare for a sales negotiation.

In this episode:

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

If your clients don't respond to your emails, it could be you're part of the problem. Learn some practical and easy tips for writing effective emails your clients will actually read.

Remember, a great email conveys the right message and tone and doesn't waste the readers time. It says what you want, why it matters and what your client should do.

Before you start an email, be clear on why you're sending it. Without purpose, it won't matter how well written it is.

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Key account managers need help from internal teams to get results for clients. But the path to cooperation is full of conflict. Find out why and what to do about it.

In this episode:

And lots more.

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.

Is it easy to sell to existing customers? The answer is NO. We bust some myths on why it's actually very difficult to sell more to existing clients and some practical tips to help you close deals. 

And a whole lot more.

The KAM Club podcast is dedicated to helping busy key account managers get one step ahead. Listen for news, trends, tips, best practices and advice on how to have a successful career in key account management.