Best Key Account Management Training | Excellent Key Account Management Training | The Importance of

Objectives setting is an important function of the key account manager. Key account managers sometimes use the mnemonic “SMART” (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) to help them to set effective objectives. The main thing that a key account manager needs to remember, however, is the “M” and the “T” of SMART. M is measurable, and T is time-based. So, a quick check for any key account objective that the key account manager sets is:

• “What is the measure of progress/success?”

• “By when should this objective be achieved?”

An example might be a key account manager selling burger buns to a fast food retailer. There are several competing suppliers of burger buns and this supplier is currently number 2 with the key account for which the plan is being developed. The key account manager’s goal is for her company to become the number 1 supplier of burger buns to this key account. To state this as an objective, she would need to think about success measurement – how would the supplier know when they had achieved it? One measure of success would be their share of customer spend on burger buns. Another might be whether the key account manager can persuade the key account to buy across the product range. So, the objectives in this key account manager’s KAM plan might be:

1. To increase our share of customer spend on existing plain white burger buns from 25% to 35% by end of year 3; and

2. To get one order each for new low fat and high fibre burger bun products from existing customer divisions by end of year 2.

However, to become the number 1 supplier of burger buns to an international or global company, the supplier might have to do much more. So, additional objectives might be set:

3. To achieve $500,000 sales of white buns to German division by end of year 2;

4. To obtain first order for high fibre bun from Canadian division by end of planning period; and

5. To implement just in time (JIT) delivery of white buns across all US customer delivery depots by end of year 3.

Objective number 5 is a slightly different kind of objective which recognizes that, in order to obtain lead supplier status, the supplier often has to carry out some process improvements. Process changes may be demanded by the key account, so that the supplier is in line with the way it likes to do business; some key accounts will help their suppliers with process improvements, sharing their knowledge and expertise and even, occasionally, sharing the cost.

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