Compensation Philosophies for Business-to-Business Selling: Implications for Strategic Account Management

APRIL 2024       

In this webinar, Professor Son K. Lam of the University of Georgia will discuss compensation for business to business selling as it relates to strategic account management. Attendees will develop a good understanding of the two major philosophies of sales force compensation plans and their underpinnings. Professor Lam will evaluate how recent trends in professional selling may shift the philosophy of account management compensation plans and discuss implications of these changes for designing compensation plans, especially for strategic account programs.

Speaker: Son K. Lam (Ph.D.), Professor of Marketing, University of Georgia 

Be a Student of Your Customer

MARCH 2024  

Selling value is tougher than it’s ever been. If we sell value, it’s not enough to just understand our customer’s needs, we have to have a much broader understanding. This is especially true today when Procurement is trying to commoditize everything we do. Although this skill can seem “basic”, there is almost nothing more important in the role of a SAM than having a “deep” understanding of our prospects and customers. The “right” knowledge can help us win more often while differentiating ourselves form competition.

Key learnings:

• How to clearly understand “what” broad areas of knowledge we need to learn to have a “deep” understanding of our customers
• How to identify our unique value by not only understanding our “solution fit” but also our compelling “business fit”
• How to quickly gather and analyze data research (the “public” perspective”)
• How to gain a true “insiders” perspective through high impact research meetings (interviews) that follow the “95-5” rule

Speaker: Dan Kosch, Co-CEO, IMPAX Sales Performance

From Beginning to Winning: Critical Building Blocks for Building and Sustaining a Strategic Accounts Program

FEBRUARY 2024     

This 60-minute session will outline elements necessary to launch and sustain an effective SAM program. Four critical building blocks will include: 

1. Why do you need a SAM program? 
2. What critical success factors should you consider in your program blueprint?
3. How do you build a program to address these critical success factors? 
4. How can you create value, so your customers feel the impact?

This highly interactive webinar will include a live discussion with Patrick Engkjer, Head of Strategic Accounts at Sanofi Vaccines and a thought leader on strategic account management. Participants will leave with specific action to take if you are starting a SAM program or if you have already started a program and are looking for ways to benchmark your progress.

Speakers: Todd Lenhart, Managing Partner, PMI; and Patrick Engkjer, Head of Strategic Accounts, Sanofi 

Presentation Skills for SAMs: Critical points to remember

January 2024      

SAMs are challenged both internally and externally to develop and deliver a message to each constituency that resonates and motivates as well as informs and educates. This webinar will go through six critical points that SAMs should remember and excel at when presenting. Even the most polished and successful SAM will benefit from these reminders and will be able to immediately employ things they may have forgotten to use in today’s fast-paced environment.

Join Bill Moore, President at Industrial Profit Strategies, LLC, as he discusses these critical-to-success items.

Speaker: Bill Moore, President, Industrial Profit Strategies, LLC

Preparing Your Accounts for Explosive Growth

December 2023       

How do we prepare our accounts for explosive future growth? Explosive growth is more than 2%-5% growth year over year. What steps do top-performing SAMs and their teams take to drive explosive growth in revenue, gross profit, and market share? Is there a framework that, if followed, has consistently driven explosive growth with our accounts? We invited Mark Allen Roberts to share the process he discovered to help teams drive explosive growth with their accounts. Mark is a past SAMA presenter, author of the book "Driving Explosive Growth" (ranked in the top 1% of new book sales in the summer of 2023), and a certified Scaling Up business coach with over 35 years of experience in helping drive explosive customer growth. Having been a SAM himself for accounts like Ford, Chrysler, Walmart, Target, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Disney, Ingram, and Cummins, to name a few, he delivers practical, no-smoke-and-mirrors insights to prepare your accounts for explosive growth. Please join us on December 5th at 11 a.m. EST for this fast-moving presentation designed to help SAMA members hit the ground running in 2024.

Speaker: Mark Allen Roberts, CEO, OTB Solutions 

Build Story-Driven Messages 

November 2023       

Ineffective communication can hold SAMs back, while tight well-constructed messaging can set the tone of their customer relationships, inspire customer confidence, and ensure the SAM is seen as a trusted advisor.

Without productive communication, SAMs risk missed opportunities on deals, dwindling engagement and productivity, and diminished satisfaction – from both internal team members and valued customers.

Build powerful strategic messages that address communication challenges head-on by equipping SAMs with four essential messaging skills that help deepen customer-engagement and encourage productive communication:

1. UNDERSTAND the customer’s “care-abouts”

2. DISTILL large amounts of content & data using Mandel’s communication framework, SCI-PAB®

3. CRAFT concise and powerful story-driven messages

4. APPLY those messages in every customer interaction

Speaker: Michael Albert, Consultant, Vantage Partners  

Best-in-Class Practices to Engage Procurement

October 2023      

Of course, procurement cares about value, but only if you can communicate, demonstrate, and engage around real “value.” Numerous studies have shown that procurement organizations that buy on best value (not lowest price) are 35% more profitable than companies that do not. As SAMs, it is our job to do this at the right time, in the right way, to help our clients accomplish this.

In this webinar, Todd Snelgrove, a leading subject matter expert in the field of value, will share best practice examples from over 20 years of field experience in global value, strategic accounts negotiations, and 10 plus years working with and from a procurement perspective to understand, realize, and negotiate based on value. Todd will also share numerous real-life stories of what good SAMs do to help them buy on value. 

In this presentation you will learn: 

• Explaining value to procurement
• Procurement and the buying cycle, and how they think
• Dos and don'ts of pricing your value for procurement so they are able and willing to pay for it 

Todd has developed successful value programs with Global Fortune 1000 companies, in numerous industries, with focuses on products, software and services in all geographies of the world. He has led sessions on value at Executive MBA courses at Harvard University, the IMD Business School in Switzerland, and at other universities in the US and abroad. Todd directed and edited the bestselling Routledge book "Value First Then Price: Quantifying Value in Business Markets from the Perspectives of both the Buyers and Sellers" in 2022, and the forthcoming Chinese language Edition in 2024.

Speaker: Todd Snelgrove, Senior Managing Partner, Experts In Value 

How Do Executives Unlock Strategic Partnerships? How Do SAMs Unlock Executive Mindshare?

September 2023      

Today’s business executives face enormous challenges on how to develop successful collaborations. There are many considerations. The journey is complex, and the timelines can be long — all of which tests both partners on their will to remain in the game and on track.

In this session, Neil Wright, a healthcare executive from the largest hospital in the UK will share his experiences. As he defines true partnership, he will explain the importance of key drivers for partnering and the agreement on common values. This session will educate the SAM through the customer's lens and place them in the customer's shoes. A deep understanding of the customer's situation, their careabouts, and what they value is imperative in developing and sustaining strategic partnerships beyond product.

The session also features a live role play in which a SAM will demonstrate the use of structured thinking and design principles from The Summit Group to uncover customer careabouts and deeper understanding. Conversations that win mindshare ultimately win wallet share. Wining mindshare is about the story and will be the distinguisher.

Speakers: Janti Masani, Principal, The Summit Group; and Neil Wright, Commercial Director, Guys & St Thomas NHS Trust Hospital

“Customer First” Strategic Account Management

August 2023       

In today’s business environment of economic uncertainty, rapidly changing business models, dynamic customer demands, and intense competition, it is even more imperative to understand your customer’s financial and strategic priorities...and align your solutions and products with your customer’s financial outcomes.

Yet, research shows that executive buyers believe that almost 80 percent of enterprise sellers don’t understand their business.

This session begins with an overview of proprietary research conducted by SAMA and FinListics regarding current strategic account management trends and best practices...correlated with account management results, such as increased revenue. FinListics will then overview key elements and new insights for creating strategic, ‘customer first’ account management plans that are more relevant to customer executives. You will also receive a step-by-step template for applying these to your customers.

• How to conduct problem-minded discovery, not solution-minded, to improve problem agreement and solution alignment.
• How to create clear and differentiated contrast between the customer’s installed approach and any competitive alternatives.
• How to articulate your solution’s value in a way that protects your pricing while convincing executive buyers to make a decision.

Speakers: Dr. Stephen Timme, President and Founder, FinListics Solutions; Ben Cagle, Chief Customer Solutions Officer, FinListics

Executive Presence for Strategic Account Managers

JUNE 2023       

Strategic Account Managers are expected to collaborate effectively with customer contacts at all levels. One of the most critical stakeholders we work with are senior-level executives. C-suite executives have high expectations, and we must be at our best to meet and exceed them.

For us to confidently connect with these individuals, our executive presence must be strong. Our preparation, image, message delivery, and conduct all have an impact on the customer, for better or worse. This session will answer the question, “What is executive presence, and how do I develop it?” This webinar will provide usable ideas to help any Strategic Account Manager assess and strengthen their executive presence.

Speaker: Mark Shonka, Co-CEO, IMPAX Corporation