Rethinking the Role of the Strategic Account Manager

By: Grande Lum

As an account manager you are facing a business world full of complexities: shifting strategies, e-commerce, globalization, mergers, and downsizing. Your role is a multi-faceted one. Don't limit your thinking. You have to generate profitability, you have to solve interpersonal problems, and you have to add value. Seeing your role from different "frames" will enable you to problem solve more creatively and effectively.

See it as a CEO for BOTH companies. CEOs are involved in designing organizational strategy. They expect that the tactics their people design and implement support this strategy. Like a chief executive, you need to make sure your strategy and tactics align with your customer's. Aligning your plan with your customer's strategy enhances speed and quality of implementation.

With this view, they are experts at linking together people, information and resources to attack an opportunity or solve a problem. But don't concentrate on the linkages that exist today. CEO's are focused on the future. Understand where your customer is heading over the next decade. A rapidly growing technology company requires different planning and implementation than an organization in decline.

Ask questions, perform research, and understand their industry to search for linkages that will be important in the future. Begin to put these people, resources, and information together today. As an account manager you need to take the elevator to the executive suite and look down on both companies to identify these linkages.

Unfortunately, not being a CEO, you need to take the elevator back down, stopping at every floor to do the dirty work as well. The ability to take a view from the top separates the extraordinary from the mediocre. See it as an ambassador: There are politics that must be dealt with. There is culture that has to be paid attention to. Take an inventory of how your customer works with other organizations. Look at things from a strategic and tactical viewpoint.

Strategically, it is important to understand why an organization does business with another company. Do they bring new skills? Do both organizations have a shared vision? Is it simply financial? From a tactical standpoint, what is the basis for these relationships? Is there shared investment or does your customer expect other organizations to financially support joint endeavors?

Do the two organizations make joint decisions or is one party or individual driving the decision making process? How much trust is there in the relationship? These are important questions that can help you determine the type of relationship you could have with an organization. Like a good ambassador, an account manager must know what is REALLY going on and act accordingly, while at all times being diplomatic and professional.

See it as mediator: You've got to resolve conflicts between individuals, teams, and companies. In the business-to-business world, there is plenty of conflict no matter how strong the relationship is. You are a manager of strategic accounts. This can mean a lot of things, but something central to all strategic account managers is the need to facilitate a business relationship between two organizations. It goes beyond sales. It is challenging to be proactive, but you must. When conflict arises it must be addressed immediately and directly.

Forget about justifying your side of a conflict. Like a mediator, try to find out the stories behind the dispute. Listen with an open mind to the individuals who disagree, regardless of company affiliation. Look for creative solutions that will enable the parties to move forward. Do your best to repair any relationship damages. If possible, explicitly engage your customer counterpart as your fellow "mediator" and jointly help both organizations solve the problem.

See it as a consultant: You're trying to make your counterpart and their organization look and be good. Sometimes you have to help put out fires and sometimes you've got to help them with long-range thinking. Sometimes you've got to just do it, and other times you should be advising, coaching and mentoring. By helping the customer solve a problem on their own, the customers will see you, the account manager, in a whole new light that can only strengthen the relationship. As an account manager, you have expertise that the customer may not have. Utilizing this expertise like a consultant and enabling the customer to be more successful will enhance the relationship.

See it as an air traffic controller: You want to make sure that each project goes well, that multiple projects are flowing smoothly and multiple individuals are not stepping on each other's toes. Like a controller directing air traffic, you need to direct the flow of communication between organizations. Differing expectations, goals, and communication styles can cause mishaps. With more companies involved and more individuals involved the problem is magnified. Some organizations over-communicate while others under-communicate.

If such organizations are involved in a joint project and communication method, frequency, and content isn't discussed, an unnecessary disaster will take place. The organizations will blame one another because they don't understand the standard for communication in each other's business. Upfront discussion, upfront communication, protocols for different scenarios and designated point people for dealing with difficulties will pay off in the long term.

This skill can be easily underestimated, because when "traffic" is running smoothly, we tend to not notice anything. But when things go wrong?

See it as a shareholder for BOTH companies: As a manager of strategic accounts, you not only have to justify your actions with your customer, you must also sell your plan to your own organization. If either organization does not derive some value from your actions, you are setting the stage for failure.

If your customer is excited about a particular project, but your company gains little value, the project will gain little attention, resources or commitment on your part. Meanwhile, you've left your customer hanging out to dry. If your customer gains little value from an idea that you want to implement, you will feel like you're pulling teeth during the implementation phase.

See yourself as a major shareholder for both companies. Venture into initiatives that would increase the value of your portfolio.

The challenge of being an effective strategic account manager is that your role requires many different skills. By taking a view from the top like a CEO of both companies, you can identify synergies between both companies. By being diplomatic and savvy like an ambassador, you can deal with both the hard reality and the politics. By resolving disputes and creating fair outcomes like a mediator you can deal with the inevitable conflicts.

By providing strategic advice and coaching like a consultant you will add value that can enhance your partnership. By ensuring a smooth flow of communication, you will avert mishaps, much like an air traffic controller who directs physical objects. And finally by seeing yourself as a shareholder of both companies, you will never lose focus on your ultimate goal, a continuing stream of win-win outcomes.

This article appeared in the Fall 1999 edition of Velocity, a newsletter published by SAMA (Strategic Account Management Association)