Almost every professional B2B sales person comes to grips with one of the challenges of penetrating key accounts. Key accounts are different than the ordinary, and require some more sophisticated skills and strategies. Here are four fundamentals for effectively penetrating key accounts.
1. Recognize that key accounts are different.
First of all, they are larger, but that’s only the beginning. Their decision-making processes will be much more complex, and in some cases, highly structured. A product
that may, in a smaller account, only need one person’s approval to purchase can require dozens of people to sign off on it in a key account.
The people have widely different specialty skill sets, perspectives, and motivations. In smaller accounts, you may only have to deal effectively with an owner or
executive. In key accounts, the same product may require skillful communications with an engineer, a purchasing agent, a project manager and a foreman. Each of these specialties is likely to have a different personality type, challenging the sales person to adapt.
Because of the size and complexity, there are a variety of motivations and
agendas inside a key account. A naive sales person can be constantly frustrated because they all don’t think the way he/she thinks.
I can go on for pages on ways in which key accounts are different, but this is sufficient to make the point. If you don’t adjust your strategies and tactics to the unique dynamics of a key account, you will be
wasting your time.
2. Approach the organization of your time within a key account like you would your entire territory.