• Fundamentally serves as an “always on” assistant for the SAM in keeping a large number of stakeholders on both sides aligned and on task


• Has the potential to fundamentally change the pace and nature of our approach to working with customers


We previewed the tool with key customers


and explored the idea of giving them direct access. In this way they would have a real- time connection to our collective ideas and


the initiatives we have in flight to execute on the challenges we’ve jointly identified. They loved it!


We are in the early days of using Valkre as


a customer-facing tool, but we see the appli- cation of these resources as a fundamental game-changer. In so many ways, this single concept sets the stage for the future of our SAM program and – even more intrigu- ing – the future of how our customers work with us.


In so many ways, this single concept sets the stage for the future of our SAM program and – even more intriguing – the future of how our customers work with us.


CHALLENGE 2: ENABLE SAM PLAYBOOK


SUEZ – WATER TECHNOLOGIES & SOLUTIONS


Our challenge has been to ensure


our SAMs follow a consistent approach that is visible, can be managed and that we can grow and improve. When we considered tools, we were really looking for software that enabled the work we expected our SAMs to do.


Like others, we’ve had some form of


Ed Zupanc Key Accounts – Global Operations Leader


strategic account management for years. We recently embarked on renewing and refreshing our program. For an assist, we attended a SAMA Academy training workshop to get up to speed on the lat- est thinking and best practices. One of the top talking points at SAMA is that KAM/SAM is a different animal than sales. Yes, there are revenue-growth tar- gets involved, but the role of the KAM/ SAM in those targets is to define an overarching strategy to solve customer challenges. During the Academy we were exposed to a playbook that SAMs could


3 0 VE L O C I T Y ®


follow to further embody best practices. In the Valkre tool we were able to see


the playbook come to life. It follows this basic logic:


• Assessment: What is the situation at our customer, and what are their chal- lenges?


• Ideas: What ideas do we have that could help the customer solve their challenges?


• Initiatives: What are the activities


underway to implement those ideas? This is the core work we want our


SAMs to focus on. For us, it follows a fundamental business logic that growth with our most important customers flows from how we help them solve chal- lenges. Sometimes our ideas might be to organize a team to help our customer solve a challenge that has no immedi- ate deal tied to it. Other times, it may


VOL. 21 ISSUE 3 2019


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