Account Management Best Practices: Delivering and Communicating Value

In today’s fast changing, competitive and complex market, account management presents tremendous opportunities and challenges to many multi-product and multi-business corporations. While building long-term strategic relationships with the most important customers promises a pathway to profitable growth, many account management organizations are struggling to deliver expected results and demonstrate value. This study takes a fresh look at how best-in-class companies:

• Structure and organize their account management functions to optimize their service: cost, quality and value
• Improve internal and external customer satisfaction
• Communicate value and receive recognition for services rendered

Industries Profiled:
Pharmaceutical; Medical Device; Technology; Consumer Products; Biotech; Computer Hardware; Computers; High Tech; Service; Health Care; Financial Services; Computer Software; Manufacturing; Retail; Internet; Shipping; Government


Companies Profiled:
Abbott Laboratories; Baxter Healthcare; Boston Scientific; CenterStone Technologies; Colgate-Palmolive; ContentCare; DSM Pharmaceutical; Hewlett-Packard; Infosys; Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems; Merck; Merrill Lynch; NCR; Nike; Novartis; SAS Institute; Siemens VDO Automotive; Staples; USPS

Study Snapshot

This research originated from a Best Practices, LLC consulting project. It was conducted for a pharmaceutical client and was based on surveys with benchmark partners across industries. Executives will find this study critical for:

• Pinpointing their account management organization’s key strengths and improvement areas relative to high-performing companies
• Aligning organizational structure and resources for maximizing operational efficiency and effectiveness
• Creating a roadmap for building high-impact account management capabilities to drive business value

Sample Key Findings

Strategically position groups' roles and responsibilities at the forefront of business growth and value creation.

1. Actively listen to product groups or business units’ growth priorities and pains.
2. Employ a joint planning process to clearly define & agree on services that directly support growth.
3. Develop and provide actionable market intelligence, sales-enabling tools, contract negotiation expertise and customer relationship leverage to help product groups or business units meet sales and profit targets.
4. Build and grow relationships with external customers through quality service and support, rapid problem resolution and innovative programs.

If you purchase Best Practice Database document(s), you will have 30 days from the date of purchase to apply some or all of the cost of the document(s) toward the cost of a Full Access Individual, Pharma, Group or University Membership. Write us at DatabaseTeam@bestpracticesllc.com or call David Guinn at 919-767-9179 if you have any questions.