The Best Career Feature as a Strategic Account Manager

Those who supply strategic account management (SAM) services define it as a system for jointly coordinating resources and developing opportunities that incorporates the supplier into the client organization and their supply chain. This approach provides unlimited tangible benefits for the supplier; when you are immersed in the client Organization, the client will inevitably be reluctant to replace you.

strategic account management (SAM) is the effort exerted to work jointly with clients in developing strategy and formulating decisions, also called “upstream working”. The practitioners are usually have the duty of acting as captains of a cross-functional account management team that is a core part of the client’s value chain. They focus more on positioning, leading and Communicating with the team and establishing a bond with high-level customers.

The ultimate goal of SAM, from the supplier’s viewpoint, is to move farther upstream in the client organization’s own strategy and decision making processes. Deciding exactly how far one wants to move, and can move, is a key question for the strategic account manager to answer with his or her team.

SAM also represents a departure from the skill set of more traditional selling; hence account managers seldom excel in the practices that are paramount to the success of SAM. Ideal SAM candidates need to be well equipped with senior- level leadership skills, team management skills, coaching and group influence skills which are essential to managing large groups of people from varied functions and geographies, most of whom do not directly report to them. It is imperative that a strategic account manager develop strong business wisdom, strategy and planning skills so the client sees him as a co-manager of a business. It’s no wonder that Russell Thompson, a respected strategic affinities manager with NPower Business, said that an account manager requires a good dose of confidence and negotiating skills because he must talk to the Executive Officers with the emphasis that the contracts the party develops make economic sense.

SAM candidates are selected for their displayed potential in developing shared business goals, their ability for influencing critical business strategies, and and their short term revenue decisions. They also need to display the ability to integrate systems and resources to create considerable efficiencies for supplier and customer.

These abilities are critical to an account manager because SAM is a critical customer-facing role and operates at a state level in managing the habitual relationship with the company’s prime clients. It is the duty of SAM to ensure profit generation and client satisfaction.