Key Account Manager. How to attract and filter applicants

Account Manager key clients - one of the key figures in the enterprise. He enters into contracts with clients who bring the main income to the company. Responsibilities key account manager consist of many points, and the main result of his activities is a completed (or better yet, overfulfilled) plan. If the plan is not met, the variable portion of KAM's salary may be significantly reduced.

Job Description for Key Account Manager

I APPROVED
General manager
Last name I.O. ________________
"________"_____________ ____ G.

1. General provisions

1.1. A key account manager is classified as a specialist.
1.2. A key account manager is appointed to the position and dismissed from it by order of the director of the enterprise upon nomination commercial director.
1.3. The key account manager reports directly to the head of the sales department (development director, commercial director).
1.4. During the absence of a key account manager, his rights and responsibilities are transferred to another official, as announced in the organization order.
1.5. A person who has higher education and at least 2 years of experience in sales.
1.6. The key account manager is guided in his activities by:
- legislative acts of the Russian Federation;
- Company Charter, Internal Rules labor regulations, others regulations companies;
- established financial and business practices in this area;
- rules for concluding and executing contracts for the supply of products;
- real job description.

2. Job responsibilities of a key account manager

The Key Account Manager performs the following job responsibilities:

2.1. Based on the plans of the department, plans individual sales volumes and individual targets for the development of an active customer base.
2.2. Plans a schedule of visiting and calling clients on a weekly basis.
2.3. In accordance with the schedule (and, if necessary, outside the schedule), regularly calls and personally visits existing and potential customers, conducts all necessary negotiations with them on the terms of sale of goods and the procedure for making payments.
2.4. Organizes the preparation and conclusion of contracts with new clients, and, if necessary, renewal of contracts with existing clients.
2.5. In accordance with the procedure established by the enterprise, it carries out a set of measures to verify the reliability and creditworthiness of clients.
2.6. Personally accepts orders from all key clients, passing technical work(entering orders into a computer) to the sales support department.
2.7. If necessary, advises the client on the optimal preparation of an order, based on the specifics of the client’s business and the company’s strategic focus on long-term cooperation with this key client.
2.8. Within the framework of the conditions set out in clause 7, as well as taking into account the quality of the client’s existing debt and his credit history, strives to maximum size orders not only by volume, but also by assortment.
2.9. Based on the rules and regulations in force in the company, determines the amount of discounts (price list column). In case of non-standard situation, consults with the head of the department.
2.10. Carries out merchandising.
2.11. Keeps records of the execution of orders placed and mutual settlements with its clients. Analyzes cases of returns and refusals. Takes measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
2.12. Conducts work to train client personnel in methods of increasing the efficiency of sales of company products.
2.13. Ensures timely and complete recovery of accounts receivable from its clients. Takes all possible measures to ensure immediate and full collection of overdue receivables.
2.14. If necessary and in accordance with the rules adopted by the enterprise, participates in the preparation of acts and other documents for shortages, misgrading, etc.
2.15. Maintains a sales history for each of its clients, and also collects and systematizes all available information about existing and potential clients in its market segment, their needs, and the prospects for developing trade relations with them.
2.16. Collects and systematizes all available information about competitors, always tries to keep abreast of all changes in the market, and is always ready to adequately respond to the actions of competitors.
2.17. At the request of management, assesses sales prospects in the market segment assigned to him, prepares proposals for adjusting the range and prices.
2.18. If appropriate decisions are made by management, it carries out work to stimulate sales and implement special programs discounts and bonuses, other sales promotions.
2.19. Constantly improves his professional level.
2.20. Ensures timely and reliable execution of all required reporting and other working documentation.
2.21. Provides a regime for maintaining trade secrets.
2.22. Maintains good working relationships within the workforce.
2.23. Carry out official assignments from his immediate supervisor and direct superiors.

3. Rights of a key account manager

The Key Account Manager has the right to:

3.1. Represent the interests of the enterprise in relations with clients regarding sales organization issues.
3.2. Get acquainted with the decisions of the enterprise management regarding the purchase and sale of products.
3.3. Submit proposals to improve product sales for consideration by the commercial director.
3.4. Interact with employees of all structural divisions enterprises.
3.5. Request personally or on behalf of your immediate supervisor information and documents from department heads and specialists necessary to fulfill your duties job responsibilities.
3.6. Inform your immediate supervisor about all shortcomings in the activities of the enterprise identified during the performance of your official duties and make proposals for their elimination.

4. Responsibility of the key account manager

The Key Account Manager is responsible for:

1. For improper performance or failure to fulfill one’s official duties provided for by this job description - within the limits determined by the current labor legislation Russian Federation.
2. For causing material damage - within the limits determined by the current labor and civil legislation of the Russian Federation.
3. For failure to fulfill the sales plan, the plan for the active client base, the plan for new clients - within the limits of the variable part of the salary.

The criterion can be either a certain absolute amount of money, or a certain percentage of your income, the excess of which by a given client makes it a key one.

If this is an absolute amount, then of course we need to take into account the size of our business. For example, for one company, a client who brings in 5 million rubles a year can be considered key, but for another, 500 thousand is enough for the client to be considered such. If the criterion is a percentage of our income, then, as a rule, the key client is considered to be the one whose sales volume is more than 10% of the turnover (income) of your company. It is important to emphasize here: there are companies that consider turnover as a criterion, there are companies that consider income as a criterion. Personally, I believe that it is more correct to operate with income from a specific client, rather than turnover. It’s enough to create a large turnover simply by lowering prices and working at a minus, but we don’t need that at all, so it’s better to operate with income rather than turnover.

If one specific client gives you more than 20% of your income, the company has a critical dependence and the higher this percentage is, the more dependent we are on this client. We are very pleased that this client we have, but it will be very sad if he leaves us, because there is no one to replace him. If one specific client brings us more than 70% of our income, such a client is conventionally called a “mono client”. In Greek, the word "mono" means "one." In fact, most of our income comes from just one client. You need to work proactively with such clients: you don’t need to wait until they themselves start asking you for some additional things. services or discounts. Our task when working with such clients is to achieve their maximum loyalty to you and your company. It is also necessary to build barriers that will not allow competitors not only to sell to this company, but even to appear there.

The second definition of a key client is this: a client who has great potential.

A client could bring us a lot of money and give us great turnover, but we either do not work with this client at all, or we work with him very little. He has the need and budget to buy our products and services, but he works with competitors. Or he buys just a little from us, and takes everything else from competitors. Either he has a need, he has a budget, but he doesn’t buy from us or from others, although he could.

The third definition of a key client is a well-known and recognizable client.

Working with it, it will be easier for us to approach other clients if we can refer to it. Working with such clients especially helps when we decide to specialize in a specific industry. Let's say we decide to specialize in selling to banks. This means that it will be easier for us if a well-known bank is among our clients. For other clients, this will mean that we understand their specifics too, which means it will be easier for us to work with him.

By the way, in lately B2B clients are more detail-oriented and may ask you what exactly you did for that particular client. That is, if you claim that your client is, relatively speaking, “Sberbank,” then clients ask “what exactly did you do for Sberbank?”

Typically, Key Account Management operates with these three definitions listed above. But there are three more definitions of a key customer that are just as important if you want to grow your business. In these definitions, clients may not necessarily make you a lot of money, but by working with them, thanks to their advice, tips, you can make a lot of money by improving your work and selling more to other clients.

The fourth definition is that a key client is a client partner.

There are businesses, for example, in the IT sector, where all their dealers are called partners, in this definition This is not what is meant. You cannot consider every customer or dealer a partner. A partner is a client who shares his strategic plans with us, perceives you as an ally, he is not closed, he can test some of his ideas with you. Agree, not every client is ready to honestly discuss with us the size of his budget, plans for the future, the conditions under which he can double his purchases, what orders he is willing to give you without a tender, under what conditions he is ready to give an exclusive, etc.

“Partner” - this does not mean that he is always ready to choose us as a supplier on any terms, he should not act against the interests own company. A “partner” is a client who is as open as possible with us about his needs, problems, and plans. He may, for example, say “if you had this, I would buy it.” Essentially, he answers our question “what kind of person do we need to be in order for him to choose us as a supplier.”

Fifth definition. A key client is a client who is more competent than us.

Moreover, ideally, he should not only be competent, but also demanding, which will force us and our company to work correctly. This is the client who will teach us to respect professional standards. He doesn’t like the words “compromise”, “it will do”, “it can be done this way”. This is a client with whom you can consult, for example, asking him to look at your commercial proposals that you have prepared for other clients, or asking his opinion on new products or what he thinks about changes you have planned in your sales model. You can get advice from him on how to bypass the tender and make a direct purchase with another client, and how you can increase your own sales.

Sixth definition. The key client is the innovative client.

You can sell him new services, products, ideas. There are very few such clients; only 2.5% of clients are ready to immediately openly consider new ideas and solutions. These customers are very important for launching new products.

• A client can be key either by any one criterion, or by several of the above definitions. For example, he buys a lot from you (definition No. 1), while he is an innovator (definition No. 6), and he is also a well-known company (definition No. 3).
• According to the classics of Key Account Management, it is believed that one key account manager at the company level can be assigned from one to three.
• A key client can be not only at the company level, but also at the level of a sales manager (for this manager the client is key because it brings him a lot of money), or at the level of a company department (for this department the client is key).

(c) Evgeny Kolotilov

Key Account Manager is a manager whose job is to establish contacts with the organization's main clients. This position is available in many trading firms and agencies.

Concept of a key account manager

For this profession, the generally accepted abbreviation is “KAM”, which is an abbreviation for English name Key account manager. The main responsibilities of an employee holding this position are to motivate the organization's main customers to develop long-term cooperation.

It is impossible to give a definite answer to the question “What is KAM?” At its core, it is this specialist who connects the key clients of an economic entity with the latter. His actions should be aimed at meeting the needs of such clients, while he should provide consulting, providing assistance in choosing optimal option for the customer's business.

Which customers are considered key?

Trade organizations and agencies have many clients who individually bring small income for these organizations.

KAM's work is aimed at ensuring that clients who bring the company 10-20% of income cooperate with this economic entity for as long as possible.

Key clients include those who are leaders in the market segment under consideration, bring high profits to the organization in question (there may be few such clients, but in total they can bring up to 70-80% of profits), provide new opportunities to increase sales volumes, consider the organization in which KAM works as a reliable partner.

Thus, another answer to the question “What is KAM?” will be like this: this is a manager who works with his head, which is different from the average sales manager, whose main working body is his legs.

Account manager tasks

KAM's tasks boil down to implementing the implementation plan in the territory assigned to it, identifying key customers with analyzing their potential, priority and new opportunities for doing business in the organization, contacting leading specialists, management of partners, organizing purchases from leading suppliers, implementing tender work, if such is provided for an economic entity, working with distributors, holding and participating in major events, drawing up reports.

Job responsibilities of KAM

The responsibilities of the Key Account Manager are as follows:

• researching markets that interest the organization he represents, negotiating with potential clients;
• expansion of sales channels;
• management of key clients;

• statistical processing of information when drawing up an implementation plan;
• processing orders from key customers;
• information support for the above-mentioned clients;
• resolving conflict situations and complaints from customers.

What requirements does the employer impose on applicants for the position in question?

A key account manager must have business acumen, intuition, tact, be capable of analysis, and to some extent even be a psychologist. Like most employees of the organization, applicants for this position are required to have a higher education and knowledge of a foreign language. In addition, he must provide good coverage of the product of the organization he represents, understand how prices are set and marketing strategy, as well as paperwork in legal entity which he represents. He must have business communication skills, be stress-resistant, and have an active life position.

In addition, employers want to see specialists in KAM positions with skills in working in sales or with VIP clients who would have the following basic characteristics:

• a combination of assertiveness and tact;
• ability to work in a single team;
• understanding of business laws and sales techniques;
• carrying out marketing research on the work of clients and competitors;
• presentable appearance;
• knowledge of document management.

Thus, the third answer to the question “What is KAM?” the following will serve: this is the position in which a specialist should work generalist, caring about the interests of the company and his own, since KAM’s salary directly depends on the profit received by this organization.

Most often, this position is occupied by PR specialists, advertisers, and sales managers with their own client base.

Positive and negative aspects of KAM's activities

The position of Key Account Manager has its upsides and downsides, just like any other job that involves communicating with people.

One of the main positive qualities is that successful activity This position allows you to achieve career growth. It should be understood that this can be achieved if there is necessary knowledge, intuition and ability to communicate with people.

The negative point is that even successful activities do not always contribute to the implementation of a specialist in a particular organization. If a company pursues an ineffective marketing policy, then the employee will not be able to fully open up.

KAM's competencies

Completing the tasks listed in the previous section requires the key account manager to have the following competencies:

• be able to identify customers of the category under consideration based on potential joint growth based on the analysis of NPV and other basic indicators;
• understand business strategies, market behavior, methods used by their clients in their daily work;
• develop strategies for the organization that KAM represents, focused on the VIP client, that would work for the benefit of both the customer and the business entity in which the manager works;
• develop complete business proposals for the group of clients in question, which should involve all departments of the organization, as well as, if necessary, external resources;
• create effective communications with heads of organizations and departments of both your organization and your partner;
• create commercial strategies from which all parties involved should benefit;
• allow conflict situations within the limits of their powers;
• implement communication and sales strategies, using the resources necessary to achieve set goals.

Income level when working in the position in question

The fourth answer to the question “What is KAM?” will be like this: “This is a position held by a specific person who, like all people, wants to be rewarded for his work.”

His earnings are very rarely fixed. The main part of the income is interest from transactions. They can come from both the transaction amount and the received margin. If interest is accrued on the transaction amount, then it provides for an agency fee, which can range from 5%, if the transaction is large, to 15% for medium transactions.

If KAM operates effectively, its income level can exceed 10,000 euros; if it is ineffective, its income will be about 10,000 rubles.

In conclusion

The abbreviation “KAM” comes from the English Key Account Manager. A person holding this position can receive either a high or low salary, which is largely determined by the effectiveness of his work. This manager must build relationships with clients who individually bring at least 10% of the income of the organization that KAM represents. Clients can be different, so he must be a psychologist, an analyst, a linguist, a manager, and a document management specialist. He must develop various strategies that lead to improved performance of both the organization in which KAM is employed and key clients. An employer may be looking for a manager with experience, but it costs more than one who has little or no experience in the position. If the organization does not have the financial resources that would facilitate the hiring of experienced KAMs, it is better to grow your own personnel.

The abbreviation KAM comes from the English Key Account Manager (= key account manager). Often, the regional manager himself may carry out the functions of KAM throughout the territory; if the territory is large, then the regional manager may have more than one KAM subordinate to him.

1. I.Key competencies of a key account manager

As with medical representatives, core competencies are directly related to the functionality that KAM has to perform. By the way, the functionality of KAM is significantly less diversified, but is complicated by the specifics of the individuals with whom KAM will have to work. Therefore, among the competencies so necessary for a good CAM, personal characteristics predominate. Many of them can be taught in mature age it is forbidden. This means careful selection of employees for this position.

Table Key Account Manager Profile

It must be admitted that it is not easy to find a good KAM, since he does not stay long on the free personnel market. If there is a shortage, it makes sense to take a closer look at the employees of your own company. There are often cases when yesterday’s medical representative becomes an excellent CAM. Interestingly, such a medical representative will likely have a significant disadvantage for being a representative. He must fulfill the visit standards extremely poorly, may engage in writing reports and in every possible way neglect the procedural and typical work. But with all this, it will give excellent results on its territory, achieving it in its own ways. If you encounter such a phenomenon in your department, do not rush to scold such an employee and stereotype him. Think about it: is his competence suitable for the position of KAM?

Marina R., employee of one of the famous pharmaceutical companies was a medical representative of the city of Rostov-on-Don. Her immediate manager, a very pedantic and attentive person to the rules, was extremely dissatisfied with her. The reporting was done very poorly, information about visits was clearly filled out by simple copying, sometimes even dates and addresses were forgotten to change. Despite the fact that the working day began at 9, at 11 she was usually still asleep, and the manager had to literally wake her up. The question of her dismissal arose more than once, but the indicators for her territory were excellent and the decision was postponed. After changing the regional manager new manager I personally studied the work of my medical representatives, and finally made a decision on this employee. Instead of dismissal, she was offered the position of KAM. The audit results showed that all VIPs and KOLs of the city knew Marina very well and considered her an excellent employee. It was thanks to Marina that the company regularly won large tenders in the territory, had a good composition of loyal doctors in large commercial centers. Her personality traits were not conducive to regular work involving pedantic visits to doctors, although she tried very hard. But she was excellent at assessing a situation and establishing and developing personal relationships with people who made key decisions.

1. II.Specifics of managing a key account manager

Working with key clients involves a high level of responsibility, as the consequences serious mistakes are very noticeable for the company and are always accompanied by a loss of money and market share in the region. And since this is work, first of all, with people, and people with power, status, control of money and other resources, such work, by definition, requires an individual approach. The two designated conditions - risk zone and individual approach - inform us of the requirements for KAM. This should be an employee who can quickly move to a development level of at least D3-D4, and there should be a minimum number of templates in his work.

Each new VIP or KOL is a separate yet unknown project, for which each of us is at level D1. And this involves joint detailed setting of goals with KAM before the start of the project, joint detailed discussion of the plan for its implementation and step-by-step monitoring of progress.

However, as the relationship with the VIP or KOL builds, be prepared to change your management style and delegate more to KAM. Agree with him on tasks and goals for VIP and KOL, determine the budget and its purpose, but learn to trust a successful employee.

It is completely unacceptable to introduce visit standards for KAM. Firstly, VIP or KOL clients are not going to obey any regulations; they have their own very busy work schedule. And their readiness for the meeting directly depends on the significance of this meeting for them personally. This significance cannot always be normalized. Secondly, often a number of issues are resolved not during visits, but during informal meetings. And the more important the topic, the more informal the conditions in which it is discussed. It is appropriate here to define the boundaries of interaction, but not to introduce templates.

I foresee a question that I often hear: “What if KAM doesn’t do his job - he doesn’t know his VIPs, much less they know him. All that remains is to force and introduce standards for visits - let him go like everyone else.” My dear regional manager! If KAM does not want or cannot do his job, you need to talk to him and say goodbye. Let him become a medical representative and “walk like everyone else.” And to equalize functions while maintaining job titles is, at a minimum, economically inexpedient. After all, instead of an existing but non-functioning KAM, you will have to build acquaintances. No no! You will not be able to tell your management that KAM is to blame. Remember, an ineffective subordinate is yours error. You are responsible for your department and its results. If you have an unsuitable resource, you need to replace it with a suitable one. Everything else is an excuse for an as yet inexperienced manager.

A key account manager is responsible for maintaining relationships with the most important partners for the company. Therefore, he must remember that he cannot look at clients only as a source of income; such an attitude is always intuitive and repulsive. It is important to be able to maintain a balance between your own interests and the benefit of your partner.

General description

In Russia, there has been a tradition to classify people involved in the field of communication with people as managers. The word “manager” has the meaning of “managing others,” and a key account manager usually has no subordinates and is responsible only for his own work. It would be more accurate to call such a person simply a “specialist.”

However, we will not delve into terminology. The profession Key Account Manager (KAM), or key account manager, is found in trading companies and various kinds of agencies, such as advertising. Interaction with clients is the most important part of any business, so the company’s specialization is not fundamental here; it only adjusts the work of the specialist and clarifies the tasks facing him.

Customer interaction is the most important part of any business.

KAM maintains relationships with the most important clients for the company, forms commercial proposals, conducts initial presentations and subsequent meetings, and concludes contracts on behalf of the company. He takes part in the development pricing policy, decides on discounts or special conditions for partners, and also controls the process and timing of the provision of goods or services, and compliance with agreements. A key account manager must be able to predict possible difficulties in work and promptly solve problems.

Education

Many employers agree that a higher education is necessary for a key account manager, but what kind of education is not so important. Ideally, KAM needs knowledge in the field of marketing and human psychology. Consequently, psychological education can become the main one, and marketing courses can be an additional one. Having a degree in marketing is not so important, since the main job of a key account manager is contact with real people. Employers do not give preference to a nice line in the “Education” column, but to the similar work experience of the applicant for this position.

Related careers

Former marketers or advertising and PR specialists come to this profession - as a rule, they are attracted by the opportunity to significantly increase their level of income. People often apply for the KAM position former managers sales or advertising managers who have developed sufficient skills and client base in order to independently supervise important projects and manage the company’s main clients. Long-term and stable relationships with various organizations always useful, no matter what potential employer is engaged. All companies are sales-oriented in one way or another, so the areas of interest of many of them often overlap.

Functional responsibilities

KAM's work begins with market research and identifying potential strategic clients - those with whom cooperation should become one of the main sources of income for the company. He then contacts them. Having established initial contact, the key account manager, with the help of specialists from other departments, forms commercial offer, in which potential client the benefits of cooperation must be demonstrated. It is formed very carefully, based on knowledge about the market, the client and his needs. The better the analysis of a potential partner, the greater the likelihood of interest in a specific offer. Then the next step will be a personal meeting.

Svetlana N. has been working with clients for several years, now in advertising agency. Before that, she was an advertising manager and sales manager. According to her, the first personal meeting is very important element in building relationships. After all, the success of further cooperation will depend on how much people were able to find a common language with each other. Svetlana says that at a meeting a person first of all evaluates himself, and only then his partner, so communication takes place not only on a verbal, but also on a non-verbal, energetic level.

After the parties agree to begin work, the details of cooperation are discussed separately, then an agreement is signed and the process of providing the product or service begins.

KAM ensures that both parties comply with mutual obligations so that there are no overlaps.

A key account manager must not only constantly search for and attract new clients, but also keep existing ones under review, monitor changes in their business and, based on this, adjust interaction with them. He also needs to painstakingly maintain a client base, collect all available information about the company, right down to client reviews and his own observations.

Skills and qualities

The main tools used in the work of KAM are the ability to understand the psychology of people, skills business communication and knowledge of the product (goods or services) offered by the company represented by the manager. In addition, the ability to “program” oneself for good luck is very important in the work of such specialists. “You need to be able to create the right message for the client. “By selling anything to anyone, you can make a deal only once - it won’t work the second time,” Svetlana shares her thoughts.

A good key account manager must have business acumen, know where to make money, but at the same time be tactful, have developed intuition and understand when to stop, stop putting pressure on the client, so as not to go too far. Otherwise, the deal may fall through.

A good key account manager must have business acumen

KAM must also have good intellectual abilities and analytical thinking. Separately, it is necessary to note such a skill as knowledge foreign languages. The number of companies that cooperate with foreign partners is constantly increasing today. To take the position of key account manager in a large organization, you simply need knowledge of the English language.

Pros and cons in the profession

This profession requires constant contact with people. It is suitable for those who have an active lifestyle, know how to analyze the situation and make predictions. The advantage of this profession is that a key account manager can quickly build a career, taking higher positions in the company due to his personal charm and ability to win people over. Another positive point- the opportunity to receive a very high salary. But since the level of compensation depends not only on the skills and abilities of the specialist, but also on the capabilities of the company as a whole, the factor of instability of earnings, the dependence of the level of income on the number of transactions concluded and interest received will be a minus for many candidates.

The level of compensation depends not only on the skills and abilities of the specialist, but also on the capabilities of the company as a whole.

Problems may arise when the skills and abilities of a specialist are not fully in demand by a particular company. For example, good specialist turns out to be a bad victim marketing policy organizations. There is only one way out of this situation - looking for a new job.

Remuneration

The salary of key account managers is rarely a fixed salary. Most from them receives interest from transactions. The percentage can come from the margin - from the difference between the cost of the product and the amount for which it was sold - or from the total amount of the transaction. The latter includes the so-called agency fee, which is where bonuses are awarded to the manager. The size of the agent's fee can vary from 10 to 15% of the transaction amount if the transaction is medium, and be equal to approximately 5% if it is large.

Wages for a key account manager in the “fruitful” and “lean” months for the company can differ significantly - from 10 thousand rubles to 10 thousand euros per month and even more. KAM’s earnings depend not only on personal skills, but also on the company’s capabilities - how long it can provide a given product or service. If an organization does not fulfill its obligations in a timely manner, for example, for some reason it delays the process of providing a service, this will negatively affect both its reputation and the profit received.

Prospects

A successful key account manager may subsequently take on the position of head of sales, development director or commercial director. Career growth is usually determined by the number of successful deals.

As for financial prospects, what larger company, the larger the deal and the larger the bonus KAM receives. Therefore, when looking for a job, applicants should first of all pay attention not to the “Salary” column in the job description, since a fantastic amount may be indicated there, but to the scale of the company and its business reputation on the market.