#001 Importance of a KAM Culture in today's modern marketplace

In this episodeDavid Ventura, your host, explores the following BIG question: What is a KAM culture and why is it so important in today’s market? But first: what is KAM? We all know that businesses love a TLA (Three Letter Acronyms) and KAM is just another one of those. It stands for Key Account Management. Many businesses we meet are naturally familiar with KAM whilst others will say “we don’t have key accounts” or “KAM is for bigger companies; we are too small for that”. For us, the devil is in the detail here and the nuances around language and terminology determine how connected you feel to the idea of KAM rather than the reality of its existence. Some clients will repel the concept of KAM and, in the same breath will talk passionately about the ‘strategic partnerships’ that they have with key organisations. Others will sell through the channel and have important relationships with distributors or consultants who sell on their behalf. Firms in professional services often prefer the term ‘clients’ over ‘customers’. Charitable organisations have key relationships rather than the typical ‘customer base’ in a b2b organisation. The point here is that when you strip KAM back to its bare bones, we are talking about how we interact and manage our most important RELATIONSHIPS. The language choice and nuances in definition belong to you and your business, and the principle remain the same. highlights of what we cover in this episode:What is a KAM Culture Why is a KAM Culture so important to instil in your organisation in today’s market? The 3-legged stool analogy: Do you have a robust KAM strategy that is clear and that everyone understands, accepts and is committed to? Do you have the right systems to support the customer and the teams in the business who look after them? Do your people have the right level of skills required to deliver excellent service and business growth with our top clients? While KAM is a part of the sales process – it is not a sales technique (we dive a bit into how its differe