Professional Development to Propel Your Career Forward
SAMA’s Certified Strategic Account Management (CSAM) program is the most widely recognized certification for strategic account managers (SAMs) and their leaders today.
We help B2B companies all over the world transform their most qualified candidates for these highly sought-after roles of strategic account managers. SAMA provides the skillset, mindset, and behaviors to build lasting, mutual growth with strategic customers. Our certification instructors provide real-world experience as well as best-in-class methodologies, as almost all have been SAMs or SAM program leaders during their careers.
Many of the organizations that SAMA works with recognize the value of certification as a way to safeguard their investments in strategic accounts, while also providing a proven framework and tools for developing and transforming their strategic account managers from “average” to “outstanding” performers. In addition, the certification journey cultivates a coaching mentality between SAMs and their leaders, positions SAM as an attractive career path within your company, and reinforces your commitment to key customer-facing employees by investing in their professional growth.
Research reveals
SAMA research reveals that no single factor has more impact on the success (or failure) of a SAM initiative than the skills and competencies of individual SAMs.
The best SAMs are 3X as likely as average ones to record outstanding growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
Certified SAMs boost their skills in the behaviors most closely linked to customer business success by an average of 20%.
What Will SAMs Learn?
- The art and science of strategic account management
- Why SAM and the SAM mindset
- The architecture of a successful SAM program
- How to lead your customer through SAMA’s SAM process
- Account planning to allow you to be more strategic with your customer
- Value co-creation
- How to lead without authority
- How to work with your executive sponsor
- Best practices from peers
- And much, much more…
SAMA’s Certification Journey
SAMA’s Certified Strategic Account Manager (CSAM) program guides participants through a comprehensive certification journey that assesses competencies, develops skills, enables coaching, and ensures adoption of improved behaviors. CSAM candidates are provided access to an optional SAM-specific tool designed to track the inputs of the program and enable a standardized coaching and customer-assessment process.
Step 1 - Complete the SAMA Competency Assessment
Complete the SAMA Competency Assessment, which enables SAMs and their managers to understand what competencies are necessary to be an effective SAM and in which areas the participant needs to focus throughout his or her journey to establish certification goals. The assessment includes benchmarking input from the SAM and SAM managers, with optional input from upper management, peers, and customers, and is intended to enable a structured learning and coaching environment.
Step 2 - Complete course work
Complete course work. SAMA Certification requires nine training units of course work focused on enabling the SAM to effectively manage their role in the SAM process. It includes seven units of the SAMA Core Curriculum (CORES 0-4) plus two units of electives (E) based on current needs and assessment results. Courses are modular and can be taken in any order. They are offered multiple times during the year, both in-person and online.
The Curriculum
- CORE 0 – SAM Playbook: Foundational skills for driving superior customer results
- CORE 1 – Value Co-Discovery and Strategic Account Planning
- CORE 2 – Co-Creation and Quantification of Value
- CORE 3 – Leading and Influencing Your Strategic Account
- CORE 4 – Managing the Customer Relationship and Value Journey
Sample Electives
Candidates are required to complete two training-units‘ worth of electives to round out the training and ensure a full-spectrum coverage of the SAM Competency Assessment. A sample list includes:
Step 3
Preparation for the Executive Account Review, which is the final step of your certification.
Average certification completion is 12-18 months.
Step 4
Executive Account Review presentation to demonstrate the successful application of the courses and a post-coursework, 360-degree competency assessment.
Enrollment Requirements
- Must be employed as a strategic account manager, national account manager, global account manager, key account manager, or equivalent role
- Must be actively managing at least one strategic account
- Must have the sponsorship of a direct manager or leader within your organization
Certification Pricing
Corporate Member: $9,700
Individual Member: $10,150
Non-Member: $11,140
Pricing Details
| Total Certification Investment | Corporate Member | Individual Member | Non-Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certification Fees | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Initial SAMA Competency Assessment | |||
| Coaching Questionnaire | |||
| World-Class Technology | |||
| Course Coaching Guidelines | |||
| Closing SAMA Competency Assessment | |||
| Certification Board Review | |||
| 9 Training Units Through SAMA Academy | $7,200 | $7,650 | $8,640 |
| CORE 0 - SAM Playbook: Foundational Skills for Driving Superior Customer Results (2 training units) | |||
| CORE 1 - Co-Discovery and Strategic Account Planning (2 training units) | |||
| CORE 2 - Value Co-Creation and Monetization | |||
| CORE 3 - Leading and Influencing Your Strategic Account | |||
| CORE 4 - Managing the Customer Relationship and Value Journey | |||
| Electives (2 Training Units Required) | |||
| Total | $9,700 | $10,150 | $11,140 |
Pricing based on full prepayment of SAMA Academy training units. View our cancellation policy. Pay as you go pricing below.
Academy Workshop Pricing (per training unit)
| Academy Workshop Pricing (per training unit) | |
|---|---|
| New Training Unit Fee Worldwide, except Europe (in-person), Online and Self-led | |
| Corporate Member | $1,050 |
| Individual Member | $1,100 |
| Non-Member | $1,250 |
| Classes that require 2 training units: CORE 0, CORE 1, and all Self-led workshops. | |
| Prepayment of CSAM curriculum (9 training units through SAMA Academy) offers a 20% discount for Corporate and Individual Members. | |
Terms & Conditions of Prepayment
To be eligible for prepayment, candidates must enroll in CSAM prior to taking their first CSAM course. Candidates must complete certification within 24 months from the date of payment, otherwise funds are forfeited. If a candidate needs more time to complete, they may extend funds for an additional 6 months by paying an extension fee of $200 per unfinished course. Prepayment funds are non-refundable and non-transferable to other SAMA services, but may be transferred to a new or substitute training candidate within 24 months of the original payment date. For substitutions, a new candidate may take the place of a prior candidate within 6 months of the prior candidate leaving the program. The new candidate will owe the remainder of any prepaid costs, including enrollment fees.
CSAM workshops are offered through SAMA Academy events, which are available in-person, live and self-led. Open-enrollment SAMA Academy workshops feature a wide variety of companies and insights. For this reason, the number of representatives from a single company in public SAMA Academy workshops may be restricted. The capacity by company will vary depending on the style of workshop.
View workshop descriptions, a schedule and fees here: https://strategicaccounts.org/en/training-certification/sama-academy.
Corporate members interested in private delivery of all or part of the CSAM program should contact Libby Souder, Director, Knowledge, Certification and Training, at souder@strategicaccounts.org or +1 (312) 251-3131, ext. 132.
Individual membership special for non-members enrolling in CSAM
Non-member enrollees have the option to add two years of individual membership to their CSAM enrollment for $500. View individual membership benefits at https://strategicaccounts.org/en/membership/individual
For more information, email certification@strategicaccounts.org.
SAMA Certification Team
Stephanie Fahey
Assistant Director, Certification & Training
+1 312 251 3131 ext. 122
FAQs
No, the courses are modular and can be taken in any order.
Yes. We frequently have people that aren’t SAMs take the courses. If you are not a SAM and are interested in certification, please contact a member of the certification for more information.
On average, 12-18 months.
All courses are offered multiple times throughout the year.
Typically, we require a minimum of 10 participants, and depending on the course, a maximum of 20–24 for optimal engagement.
We offer both in-person and ‘live’ online courses based on demand. We do offer a few self-led options for electives for those that need more flexibility. Please see individual courses for more information.
SAMA engages with the industry’s top providers of training and uses technology designed specifically for the role of the SAM and the entire SAM process.
