ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT: THE SAMA VIEW
The following conversation took place in November 2019 between Denise Freier, President & CEO, SAMA; Harvey Dunham, Managing Director of Business Development, SAMA; Libby Souder, Director of Knowledge, Training and Certification, SAMA; and Nicolas Zimmerman, Editor-in-Chief, SAMA. It has been lightly edited and condensed.
By SAMA Editors
Nicolas Zimmerman: So why is it so
important that SAMA promote the development and adoption of tools spe- cifically designed to manage strategic customers?
areas where
Denise Freier: I think there are two tools
designed specifi-
cally for the work of strategic account management can have a huge impact. Number one is internal efficiency and productivity. It’s obviously a huge step up from Excel and note-taking. Whether it’s account planning, CRM (customer relationship management), whatever -- it gives immediate visibility for your entire team of what’s going on in the account.
But there’s also an external compo-
nent. Customers want immediate access to what you’re offering, and so need to be able to deliver your messaging and solutioning to them in multiple ways, whenever and wherever they are in the world.
Libby Souder: When I think of tools
supporting the SAM, I also think of a couple of different
8 VE L O C I T Y ® things. Number one, it can take away some of those
operational/logistical/transactional pieces of the SAM job so you can focus on being more relational. Think about [IBM’s] Watson. If you’re a SAM having a problem because your company can’t locate something, there’s technology out there that can check every manufactur- ing spot, find the fastest carrier and get something to your customers in the fast- est, most efficient way. It can remove a lot of the firefighting that comes with the role of the SAM.
Not only can a tool
collect and document the data, but it helps bring discipline to how you
are approaching issues and making decisions.
The other piece I see revolves around
giving you a better visual of where your company stands with a customer as well as what your customer’s needs may be. If you have a tool that offers discovery ser- vices, it can deliver insights much faster and more effectively than the traditional way of going to a bunch of different
websites, digesting annual reports, etc. Your customers expect you to know these things before you walk in the door. Taking out that leg work can free you up to spend more time thinking about what your company can do to help with your customer’s business problems.
DF: In my experience, one of the hard-
est things for SAMs to do is to really understand not only their clients’ busi- ness initiatives but also the competitive landscape. Now, you have tools that can run the analytics in an instant. And it’s become a necessity to arm your teams with this kind of information.
LS: A tool can also help you become
more strategic by making sure you’re looking at and leveraging the right information. As an example, a lot of companies, when they’re selecting their strategic accounts, the first question they ask is, “How much business does this company do with us?” However, thanks to SAMA benchmarking, we know that the two most important variables are “growth potential” and “willingness to partner.” If you’re using a tool, you are training your brain to think about these things in the right way.
DF: Great point! Not only can a tool
collect and document the data, but it helps bring discipline to how you are
VOL. 21 ISSUE 3 2019
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