At first glance, the idea of outsourcing strategic account management may seem absurd.
After all, B2B companies usually define strategic accounts as their best customers and prospects based on criteria like potential for revenue, profit and growth. So how could it make sense to use outside resources to engage with target companies this valuable?
The line of thinking goes something like this: “Outside resources cannot possibly understand what our sales reps and account managers know about our company, our solutions and our culture. And externally—when it comes to our market space, our customers and our prospects—outside resources would be even more in the dark around the nuances of our business and conveying our value. They just would not be able to understand our customers’ complex business challenges or handle direct interactions as well as we do.”
This stance is understandable, and it’s one we hear frequently prior to engaging with clients to provide outsourced support for their strategic account initiatives. But as right as the above objection may initially feel, it’s also important to ask the following questions about your strategic account management program:
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The truth is there are a significant number of external and internal factors that can keep executives—those responsible for strategic account management teams—from responding with a wholehearted “yes” to these five questions. Here are some of the most critical factors that prevent strategic account management initiatives from reaching full potential.
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So how can outsourcing strategic account management prove to be an advantageous strategy? Let’s create a framework for looking at strategic account opportunities. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s view types of strategic accounts as if they are laid out on a four-quadrant grid where the X axis represents your business strength and the Y axis represents revenue potential:
When we work with clients on strategic account management initiatives, we provide value in areas that include market coverage, prospect development and best-practice process flow. Our extensive expertise in analyzing target markets allows us to segment prospects into groups that are most likely to buy and at higher deal sizes. This means that we can add significant value by identifying, qualifying and nurturing opportunities in grid quadrants like “Desired target prospects” and “Current customers who may grow” as described above. Because we offload this functionality from strategic account teams, they are able to focus on working to close opportunities that have been fully qualified by our business development team, as well on working their named accounts.
I’d like to share an example with you around how this works. A client had a strategic account manager who worked long-term with one customer. This resource initially expressed skepticism about our efforts by noting that he was so well connected inside the customer’s business that he would surely know of any and all opportunities that would arise. As it turned out, we identified and connected with a number of new decision makers at the customer’s business and delivered a multi-million dollar opportunity that the account manager was not aware of.
The key to successfully outsourcing strategic account management functionality lies in partnering with a lead generation and lead nurturing provider that possesses the following characteristics:
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Outsourcing strategic account management is not so crazy after all. In fact, it can improve market coverage and enhance internal resource productivity—actions that ultimately lead to more closed deals and drive greater revenue.
