Teams read what their leaders tolerate on key account management far more accurately than what their leaders announce. Authority is granted by the organisation; credibility in this area of organisational leadership is earned separately. The course covers the organisational leadership discipline at the level of detail needed to act, and stops there. The method assumes participants will be challenged on their handling of key account management and prepares them for it. Practitioner evidence points the same way: this area of organisational leadership improves fastest where responsibility for it is named and owned. They gain the ability to sequence improvements to the practice within organisational leadership in an order their organisation can absorb. It is pitched for practitioners with responsibility for key account management, not for observers of it. Buying a tool rarely fixes this area of organisational leadership; the underlying capability has to be built internally first. The final session converts the week's work on this aspect of organisational leadership into commitments with owners and dates.
Expected Learning Outcomes
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Make decisions on key account management at the right speed for the risk involved.
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Verify that improvements to key account management have held six months after they were introduced.
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Resolve conflict about key account management without leaving residue.
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Define the scope and boundaries of key account management so that responsibility for it is unambiguous.
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Judge when to escalate key account management and when to absorb it.
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Recognise when key account management needs a different leadership style than the one that got you here.
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Build a concise leadership plan for key account management that colleagues can follow without further explanation.
Who Should Attend
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Managers in small and medium organisations who own key account management alongside other duties.
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Public sector officials applying key account management within a regulated framework.
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Founders and owner-managers formalising key account management as the organisation grows.
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Project and programme managers whose success depends on key account management.
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High-potential staff being prepared for wider responsibility for key account management.
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Executives leading multi-function programmes involving key account management.
Course Modules
Open any module to see its sessions and topics.
01
Key account management: the conversations that decide the outcome
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1The cost of key account management and how to present it
State the outcome expected from key account management in a single sentence anyone can repeat.
Establish what evidence demonstrates key account management is under control.
Give one piece of specific feedback on key account management within the week.
Establish who is informed, consulted and accountable in key account management.
Session 2Recovering after a visible mistake on key account management
Check that records of key account management answer the questions likely to be asked.
Close out actions on key account management rather than leaving them open indefinitely.
Write down the reasoning behind your position on key account management.
Agree the smallest change to key account management that would be visibly useful.
02
Key account management: delegation, trust and accountability
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Delegating key account management without abandoning it
Collect evidence on the present handling of key account management before proposing changes.
Write down the assumptions underpinning the approach to key account management.
Prepare the response for the most likely failure in key account management.
Set the decision rights on key account management: who decides, who is consulted, who is told.
Session 2Applying the standard on key account management to your best performer
