One can often see two ways of managing key accounts that are certain to fail. The first is management by chance – there is no control and there is no plan. No one can explain why we are winning the business or forecast how long our success will last. We do not learn from our mistakes or from our successes. This is at one extreme.
At the other extreme is management by formula. Here everything is documented, controlled and decided. I have seen one account planning process which demands that for every account, the team must hold a one day orientation meeting, then gather information for twenty-one working days and finally, hold a two-day planning session. The timescale cannot be changed. The people who must be present never change. The documents that must be prepared are described in detail. The process is a good one, but it leaves no room for flexibility, common sense or the differences that exist both between accounts and departments.
We need a way of managing key accounts that is effective, consistent and flexible. We need a way of working that is simple but strong. We need discipline and we need creativity.