Custom Resources for SAM Professionals

SAMA’s best-in-class SAM Competency Model® identifies five areas of job competence, three or four skills associated with each one, and key behaviors and activities most relevant to each skill. While strategic account management implementation may vary by company, industry, and business model, the foundational skills required for the job are remarkably consistent.

Through decades of benchmarking with world-class companies and daily interactions with our esteemed member companies, SAMA has developed a repeatable, scalable framework for developing and delivering value with strategic customers.

Outstanding SAMs have been shown to outperform average ones by a factor of three. SAMA’s 360-degree Individual Competency Assessment delivers a snapshot of the account manager’s current strengths and weaknesses and provides a roadmap for professional development.

The role of a strategic account manager is complex, and there are many priorities vying for their time, attention, and expertise. They need support and coaching to maximize their effectiveness and impact. Although this coaching can be done by many in our organizations, not everyone is equipped to provide the level of coaching necessary. This session is designed to provide these coaches with insights and strategies they can use to improve their ability to support your SAMs.

In this session, you will learn about:

• Optimal opportunities for coaching.
• Challenges to coaching and how to overcome them.
• Coaching strategies and techniques.

Join representatives from Hilton Corporation as they guide you through their approach to establishing a coaching culture within their 300-person global sales team. A multipart process, from development to implementation, spanning several years — with guidance from both Human Resources and Learning & Development — Hilton firmly believed that a strong, strategic, engaged, and intentional coaching culture was better for their team members and, ultimately, their clients. Learn their framework to stand up a strong coaching culture in your organization.

Succession planning and SAM readiness is a focused process to develop future SAMs and to ensure readiness for new-to-role SAMs. We identified training gaps due to the number of strategic roles that were being filled from outside the company, and the lack of clarity on how to be successful as a new SAM. We transformed our training programs to fill these gaps.

Helpful questions, tips, and advice to facilitate the training and development of strategic account managers.

This study is one of a four-part research series of Current Trends & Practices focused on SAM Program Performance Factors. How well are supplier firms currently aligning talent and internal resources for strategic account performance? What do their highest performing SAMs do best that differentiate them from other SAMs? How well are they supported by executive, managerial, and functional experts? What factors tend to impair or diminish performance? This 47-page top-line report presents the major findings from the survey.

This roundtable is an opportunity for talent management professionals, SAM program executives, and SAM managers to exchange best practices and discuss issues as well as challenges related to establishing the strategic account manager position as a recognized career path. Panelists from IDEXX, AbbVie, and Ecolab will share best practices and insights on SAM development topics, including SAM certification, critical SAM competencies and skills, career pathing, and the importance of SAM-specific training.

The last five years has seen a rapid rise in KAM-related commercial models in the U.S. pharmaceuticals industry. The consolidation of provider organizations and rapidly evolving needs, business priorities, and decision processes have been significant drivers.

A recent ZS survey found that 15 of 16 pharmaceutical executives expressed a strong need for KAM. However, only two of 16 conveyed confidence that their organization was effective in this area. This session focuses on steps that Janssen Oncology has taken to rapidly advance its KAM effectiveness to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by today’s U.S. healthcare ecosystem.

Key points include:

• Investing in KAM program office support to rapidly advance capabilities.
• Tailoring go-to-market models to meet the needs of local healthcare markets and accounts.
• Adopting a “KAM 360” approach to driving purposeful and continuous improvement.

Recent research has identified critical competencies, skills, and characteristics that drive high performance outcomes in account management roles. This research underlines the vital capabilities and talent that women bring to the account manager role, aligning with the more connected, complex, and competitive market of today.

In today’s SAM/KAM environment, growth and results are key metrics of a sustainable SAM program. However, there is an imbalance between coaching to the results and coaching to the behaviors that lead to results. While measuring growth is important, we found that when the emphasis is placed on the best practices that lead to growth, results follow. Not only does this help to develop the competency of a SAM, it also enables leaders to get more done through others.

In order to be most effective as SAM/KAM coaches, we must first know what “good” looks like (the “what”), which is supported by a practical coaching model (the “how”) for the SAM/KAM process. This session focuses on both the behaviors that lead to effective SAM execution (including co-discovery and co-creation of value) as well as coaching to these behaviors.

More than any other factors, the capabilities of the SAM influence the success of a strategic account. In this session, we will look at our journey as a new SAM leadership team to utilize SAM-specific competencies. Through this journey, we improved our SAM talent discussions, aligned SAM competency with accounts and segments, and focused our training efforts to improve our team.

AVI-SPL details how their holistic strategy and precise tactics equipped their SAM teams for success.

You can hire average SAMs. But if you want to achieve distinctive, differentiating value for your company, only tailored, competency-driven training will consistently produce ace SAMs who dramatically outperform their peers.”

SAMA’s training is:

• Designed specifically for strategic account managers.
• Based on a proven competency model developed from years of benchmarking data.
• Facilitated by a proven network of trainers who are experts in the art and science of strategic account management.

This episode welcomes Max Walker, Director of Strategic Account Management – EMEA at Medtronic, as he illuminates why he’s such an evangelist for SAMA’s Certified Strategic Account Manager (CSAM) program and why the training represents the highest mark of professional development and achievement for strategic and key account managers.

Max’s passion and endorsement are a testament to the return on investment in our CSAM program, where graduates emerge with the skill set, mindset, and behaviors to build lasting, mutual growth with strategic customers and create transformational relationships that go beyond the product. Listen and learn more about the our CSAM-certification program and how you can reap the exponential value it can provide.

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.

SAMA’s best-in-class SAM Competency Model® identifies five areas of job competence, three or four skills associated with each one, and key behaviors and activities most relevant to each skill. While strategic account management implementation may vary by company, industry, and business model, the foundational skills required for the job are remarkably consistent.

Through decades of benchmarking with world-class companies and daily interactions with our esteemed member companies, SAMA has developed a repeatable, scalable framework for developing and delivering value with strategic customers.

Outstanding SAMs have been shown to outperform average ones by a factor of three. SAMA’s 360-degree Individual Competency Assessment delivers a snapshot of the account manager’s current strengths and weaknesses and provides a roadmap for professional development.

• How can effective co-discovery between you, your account team, and your customer put your account planning efforts on an accelerated trajectory to be success?
• How do top-performing account managers harness the power of value creation, internal and external alignment, and authentic customer relationships to drive greater collaboration and develop higher-impact account plans?
• How can you equip yourself with proven strategic account management (SAM) best practices to drive mutual growth and value creation with your most strategic customers?
• How can you implement an account planning process that will enable you and your customer to engage, win, and grow together?

These questions and more will be answered in this high-energy workshop in which participants try on contemporary SAM concepts and best practices proven within the SAMA community. Participants will select a strategic customer and “must-win” opportunity as part of their pre-work before the session, and then apply workshop learnings to this customer and opportunity, ensuring takeaways that can be put to use immediately.

Drawing on their engagements with best-in-class organizations, PMI has designed and developed a methodology for implementing and sustaining strategic account management best practices in The Keys to Effective Strategic Account Planning.

Higher-order value is created when companies collaborate to develop relevant, differentiating solutions that impact what the customer — and customer’s customer — care most about. This “core” SAM program equips strategic account managers with leading practices, a proven, pragmatic “operating system”, and tools to co-create value with the customer — tools that differentiate how you engage, elevate relationships, and accelerate mutual, sustainable, and profitable growth.

A further exploration of a study on how companies could engineer their sales processes to maximize success with innovative new products and services.

Higher-order value is created when companies collaborate to develop relevant, differentiating solutions that impact what the customer — and customer’s customer — care about most. This “core” SAM program equips strategic account managers with leading practices; a proven, pragmatic “operating system”; and tools to co-create value with the customer — tools that differentiate how you engage, elevate relationships, and accelerate mutual, sustainable, and profitable growth.

Co-creation is an overused term, whose meaning varies in both the minds of customers and our own organizations. Panelists will share perspectives on what “co-creation” really means and discuss the reality of what it takes to truly drive it with top customers.

We will share examples of effective and ineffective segmentation, engagement strategies, and tactics, emphasizing the critical importance of alignment, a deep understanding of each other’s capabilities, prioritizing initiatives, and a shared commitment to co-creation. Additionally, we will present a proven framework designed to ensure both the customer and our organizations are fully engaged, aligned on the business case, and motivated to collaboratively develop innovative solutions.

Winner of SAMA’s 2023 Excellence Award for Innovative Value Co-creation — Medtronic — demonstrates how their SAM program thinks outside the box to solve complex problems by engaging their company’s entire ecosystem in value co-creation. By applying novel, innovative mechanisms, Medtronic solved their customer’s problems, as well as their customer’s customer’s problems.

This highly interactive workshop equips SAMs with practical frameworks and tools to enhance their ability to demonstrate credible account leadership, engage in strategic influence conversations with customers and internal teams, and develop cohesive account strategies. Participants will learn to strengthen and expand relationships while driving account revenue through actionable insights and collaborative planning.

This article provides concrete instructions for how SAMs can leverage an obscure financial filing to unlock insights on how to become strategic to their customer executives.

This session will be a facilitated by expert panelists representing various industries to discuss why, how, and when to engage the customer in the account planning process. Participants will gain insights and learn proven best practices from the panelists specifically focused on:

• Determining the appropriate resources to prepare for collaborative account planning with your customer.
• Identifying and prioritizing potential target areas with your customer for mutual value co-creation.
• Brainstorming and strategizing to determine the best approach to drive mutual value co-creation with your customer.
• Developing and executing action plans to pursue targets for mutual value co-creation and account growth.
• Assessing and measuring progress based on mutually agreed upon metrics and success criteria.

Craig Jones will facilitate the discussion and introduce an approach developed within the SAMA community to collaborate and drive customer engagement with the account planning process. Participants will have the opportunity to assess their own engagement of customers and determine the ideal fit for account selection in the collaborative planning process.

Joining today’s episode is Rita McGrath, a bestselling author and distinguished faculty member at Columbia Business School, where she’s the Academic Director in Executive Education. Rita’s groundbreaking book, “The End of Competitive Advantage,” challenged traditional thinking and offered a new playbook for navigating the ever-shifting business landscape.

As a globally recognized expert in strategic management, Rita’s work has been instrumental in helping organizations navigate the complex challenges of today’s dynamic business environment.

Participate in an engaging, interactive, and results-driven workshop designed to optimize relationships with strategic customers. During this session, participants will:

• Explore innovative methods, practices, and tools to enhance customer-supplier relationships.
• Experience the dynamics of the relationship from both the strategic customer and supplier perspectives.
• Collaborate in teams through group discussions and activity-based outcomes.

This immersive journey into the future (or perhaps the present!) offers actionable insights and techniques for strengthening strategic partnerships.

Strategic accounts expect suppliers to:

• Understand and anticipate their needs, market changes, and opportunities for competitive advantage.
• Gain deeper, in-depth knowledge, including fresh insights from account stakeholders, even those with limited direct interaction.
• Identify opportunities for innovation, create economic value, and provide high-probability solutions for success.

This webinar features a case study demonstrating how leveraging direct insights from strategic accounts can enhance engagement and build stronger, mutually beneficial relationships.

In today’s interconnected global economy, organizations need to move beyond the geographic-area model that is proving inadequate for customers that operate globally. To address this challenge, organizations must design an organizational structure that interfaces more effectively with their global accounts, including providing support to global account managers (GAMs).

In this episode, host Harvey Dunham discusses global account management with Noel Capon, the R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s leading marketing educators and a global leader in strategic and global account management, Capon also talks about his new executive education program at Columbia Business School, “Growing and Managing Global Customers.”

We have all seen claims that AI can help businesses improve — including helping SAMs sell. However, we have not seen many actual use cases shared in the public domain…until now.

A recent Harvard Business Review article, “Can AI Really Help You Sell?,” shared several great use cases that definitively answer this question. We here at SAMA loved the article so much that we asked the authors — Jim Dickie and Barry Trailer — to join us on our podcast to further discuss their findings.

Prominent researchers in neuroscience, economics and business administration agree on this premise: One of the most important factors for success is getting others’ attention. This is because attention paves the way to memory and decision making. But getting customers’ attention is becoming increasingly harder, and trying to do it virtually doesn’t make it any easier.

In this session, attendees will learn the results from Dr. Simon’s most recent neuroscience research, wherein she studied buyers’ brains to find practical answers to questions like:

• Does a picture always lead to more attention and memory?
• Are extra details in complex sales messages detrimental or desirable for sustaining attention?
• For virtual settings, what kind of Zoom background keeps an audience more focused?

Attendees will gain practical applications taken from studying the buyer’s brain with neuroscience tools, which have the advantage of finding customers’ implicit responses and are therefore more accurate than self-reports.

Many organizations face challenges with resource availability and allocation for their largest accounts. This workshop provides a comprehensive framework to operate as one integrated, cross-functional team by detailing:

• Operating guidelines, procedures, cadence, and collaboration strategies to drive team alignment.
• Account journey mapping to identify the right team members and high-value activities.
• RACI (Responsibility Assignment Matrix) to define roles and responsibilities.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics for team success.
• Communication and strategy planning best practices.
• Execution of strategic plays for impactful results.

Many organizations face challenges with resource availability and allocation for their largest accounts. This workshop provides a comprehensive framework to operate as one integrated, cross-functional team by detailing:

• Operating guidelines, procedures, cadence, and collaboration strategies to drive team alignment.
• Account journey mapping to identify the right team members and high-value activities.
• RACI (Responsibility Assignment Matrix) to define roles and responsibilities.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics for team success.
• Communication and strategy planning best practices.
• Execution of strategic plays for impactful results.

This article explores how organizations can identify, evaluate, and effectively manage accounts that no longer align with strategic priorities. The article provides actionable strategies to transition these accounts while preserving relationships, optimizing resources, and maintaining focus on long-term growth.

Strategic account managers are responsible for monetizing the investments their companies have made to build the products and services they offer — and to prevent them from being commoditized. A product or service will become commoditized if it does not have differentiated value that can be quantified and monetized, and so it is the SAM’s responsibility to convert this value into cash. This course equips strategic account managers with leading practices, frameworks, and tools to quantify and monetize the value they bring to their customer and to differentiate how they engage with them.

SAMA’s Certified Strategic Account Manager (CSAM) program represents the highest mark of professional development achievement for strategic and key account managers. The customer will be the ultimate judge of a SAM’s professional capabilities, but SAMA’s CSAM program provides its graduates with the skill set, mindset, and behaviors to build lasting, mutual growth with strategic customers

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.

The importance of having systems and processes in place that support and enable the SAM in the creation of long-term, mutual value with strategic customers cannot be overstated. Based on decades of benchmarking with the world’s most strategic customer-centric companies, SAMA has developed a robust, repeatable process for supporting and enabling the strategic account manager and the value-creation process.

Take a closer look at SAMA insights and SAMA fundamentals to begin learning from us as your organization progresses.

SAMA’s best-in-class SAM Competency Model® identifies five areas of job competence, three or four skills associated with each one, and key behaviors and activities most relevant to each skill. While strategic account management implementation may vary by company, industry, and business model, the foundational skills required for the job are remarkably consistent.

Through decades of benchmarking with world-class companies and daily interactions with our esteemed member companies, SAMA has developed a repeatable, scalable framework for developing and delivering value with strategic customers.

Outstanding SAMs have been shown to outperform average ones by a factor of three. SAMA’s 360-degree Individual Competency Assessment delivers a snapshot of the account manager’s current strengths and weaknesses and provides a roadmap for professional development.

Strategic account management organizations face a multitude of challenges, many of which can spring from missteps in the creation and evolution of the program itself. In this session, you will get an inside look at how to design, build, and operate a SAM program that yields award-winning results, including SAMA’s 2022 Excellence Award winner for Outstanding Mature Program of the Year.

Geoff Williams’ wealth of experience and wisdom shines bright as he unravels the intricacies of strategic account management’s role as a true business initiative, providing valuable insights for both seasoned professionals and those new to the field. Tune in as Williams and host Harvey Dunham outline this initiative and discuss how successful SAMs can navigate the path to sustainable customer relationships.

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

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

This article highlights how AVI/SPL successfully launched its global account management (GAM) program by addressing challenges like “the Amazon effect.” Their innovative approach has driven significant positive results, earning them the 2020 SAMA Excellence Award for Outstanding Young Program of the Year.

Join Richard Santucci and David Hughes to hear how they leveraged their combined 50 years of experience in B2B sales and sales leadership to build and lead a very successful, global strategic account management program from scratch, then wrote a great book about it. If you are new to strategic account management, you will quickly realize that the principles and experiences Richard and David share in the podcast and their book apply to any company and newly appointed SAM program leader.

Creating a SAM program and having it function like a well-oiled machine is a challenge for companies large and small. Successful SAM implementation requires the right combination of people, knowledge and tools. In this session, Chris Wells, Director, Strategic Accounts, bioMerieux, will draw on his experiences over the last decade in building a SAM program from the ground up and the initiatives that have evolved from it. Chris will also share examples of the types of tools that have evolved over time to support and serve the company’s work with strategic customers.

This study is the first in a four-part research series on Current Trends & Practices focused on SAM program performance factors. How do companies use metrics to make the business case for strategic account investments? What type of metrics are most effective for different types of investments? And, what factors affect how investment decisions are made?

The Facilitator: SAMA’s Strategic Accounts Selector is a process-enabled tool that:

• Brings your internal stakeholders to the table and forces them to align around a common process for selecting strategic accounts.
• Facilitates the acquisition and input of data you need to make informed decisions.
• Crunches the numbers and feeds you customized recommendations.
• Builds consensus through live coaching.

Pricing:

• Corporate Members: $5,000
• Individual Members: $6,500
• Non-members: $8,000

Do you want to start investing in customers who will deliver the ROI potential of a true strategic account? Contact SAMA’s Research General Manager, Joel Schaafsma, at schaafsma@strategicaccounts.org or +1-312-251-3131 to learn how The Facilitator™ can help.

This study is one of a four-part research series of Current Trends & Practices focused on SAM Program Performance Factors. How well are supplier firms currently aligning talent and internal resources for strategic account performance? What do their highest performing SAMs do best that differentiate them from other SAMs? How well are they supported by executive, managerial, and functional experts? What factors tend to impair or diminish performance? This 47-page top-line report presents the major findings from the survey.

This article provides a general framework for designing a strategic account management (SAM) organization tailored to a company’s unique needs and goals. It includes examples of how two vastly different companies successfully applied these principles to build effective SAM models.

Drawing on their engagements with best-in-class organizations, PMI has designed and developed a methodology for implementing and sustaining strategic account management best practices in The Keys to Effective Strategic Account Planning.

This article highlights how Owens Corning successfully implemented a formal key account management (KAM) program, demonstrating that even a 50-year-old business can achieve organic growth with existing customers. Their efforts earned them the 2022 SAMA Excellence Award for Young Program of the Year by linking value creation to value capture to drive execution.

Winner of SAMA’s 2023 Excellence Award for Innovative Value Co-creation — Medtronic — demonstrates how their SAM program thinks outside the box to solve complex problems by engaging their company’s entire ecosystem in value co-creation. By applying novel, innovative mechanisms, Medtronic solved their customer’s problems, as well as their customer’s customer’s problems.

This webinar dives into the essential role of metrics and actionable intelligence in the SAM profession, emphasizing the need for concise, impactful insights. The session will focus on:

• Customer retention, churn, and growth.
• Relationship and opportunity pipeline development.
• Recognition and measurement of mutual value.

As customer demands grow, resources tighten, and artificial intelligence becomes a key tool, this example-rich session will demonstrate how data-driven facts can uncover hidden insights and drive success in strategic account management.

AVI-SPL details how their holistic strategy and precise tactics equipped their SAM teams for success.

This study is the most comprehensive survey of strategic account management compensation practices available today and is designed to establish benchmarks and track market trends related to:

• Profile, responsibilities, and job scope
• SAM program practices
• Market compensation levels and incentive mix
• Pay plan type, structure, components, and metrics
• Performance measurement
• Frequency of performance measurement and payouts

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.

The importance of having systems and processes in place that support and enable the SAM in the creation of long-term, mutual value with strategic customers cannot be overstated. Based on decades of benchmarking with the world’s most strategic customer-centric companies, SAMA has developed a robust, repeatable process for supporting and enabling the strategic account manager and the value-creation process.

Take a closer look at SAMA insights and SAMA fundamentals to begin learning from us as your organization progresses.

Outstanding SAMs have been shown to outperform average ones by a factor of three. SAMA’s 360-degree Individual Competency Assessment delivers a snapshot of the account manager’s current strengths and weaknesses and provides a roadmap for professional development.

SAMA’s Program Assessment will quantitatively rate the maturity and strength of your SAM program across 9 key “enablers” — from program metrics and KPIs to account selection/deselection. You will wind up with a roadmap to guide resource allocation to where it’s needed most urgently to drive business results.

In this keynote from the 2022 SAMA Annual Conference, the following executives share their insights and experiences in strategic account management:

• Jim Ford, Chief Executive Officer at Solecta and Chairman of the SAMA Board of Directors
• Gus Vonderheide, Vice President of Global Sales – Americas at Hyatt Hotels Corporation
• Frédéric Kahn, Vice President of Sales at Wavelength Pharmaceuticals
• Joseph Laezza, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Accounts at AVI-SPL
• Max Walker, Director of Strategic Account Management – EMEA at Medtronic

Our latest B2B Pulse Survey reveals that across all sectors and regions, market leaders continue to experiment, invest, and commit to omnichannel sales as the path to sustainable growth.

The Customer Engagement Assessment examines eight critical areas of B2B customer engagement and the impact of your existing strategy and management. You will receive engagement scores for each focus area, as well as a comprehensive Customer Engagement Score that measures the effectiveness of your current approach. The output connects the perceptions of leaders in order to spark dialogue towards building alignment.

Join Richard Santucci and David Hughes to hear how they leveraged their combined 50 years of experience in B2B sales and sales leadership to build and lead a very successful, global strategic account management program from scratch, then wrote a great book about it. If you are new to strategic account management, you will quickly realize that the principles and experiences Richard and David share in the podcast and their book apply to any company and newly appointed SAM program leader.

This study is the most comprehensive survey of strategic account management compensation practices available today and is designed to establish benchmarks and track market trends related to:

• Profile, responsibilities, and job scope
• SAM program practices
• Market compensation levels and incentive mix
• Pay plan type, structure, components, and metrics
• Performance measurement
• Frequency of performance measurement and payouts

Succession planning and SAM readiness is a focused process to develop future SAMs and to ensure readiness for new-to-role SAMs. We identified training gaps due to the number of strategic roles that were being filled from outside the company, and the lack of clarity on how to be successful as a new SAM. We transformed our training programs to fill these gaps.

Joining today’s episode is Rita McGrath, a bestselling author and distinguished faculty member at Columbia Business School, where she’s the Academic Director in Executive Education. Rita’s groundbreaking book, “The End of Competitive Advantage,” challenged traditional thinking and offered a new playbook for navigating the ever-shifting business landscape.

As a globally recognized expert in strategic management, Rita’s work has been instrumental in helping organizations navigate the complex challenges of today’s dynamic business environment.

Clarifying the executive sponsor role, behaviors (internally and externally), and expectations is critical to leverage the role as an accelerator and create executive accountability within the account team.

From initiating their program through its maturation, learn how AVI-SPL’s executive team provided significant stewardship, mentorship, and support to both their program and their customers, as a testament to their 2023 SAMA Excellence Award for C-Suite Support and Engagement for the SAM Program and Strategic Customers.

SAM teams need a clear roadmap to align internal and external efforts, and a SAM playbook provides that definitive guide by turning concepts into actionable strategies. Unlike spot training, the playbook institutionalizes practices across the organization, fostering customer alignment and mutual goal achievement. It is a cornerstone resource for building a customer-centric organization and creating a standout, best-in-class SAM program.

Key learning points include:

• Critical components of a SAM playbook
• How to operationalize your SAM program using this resource
• Strategies for socializing your SAM program and securing executive support and alignment
• Development of a SAM charter document
• Examples of playbooks with case studies of their application
• Best practices for creating and launching a successful playbook, including pitfalls to avoid

The authors explore into the success story of Thales, a complex global organization serving various business segments, as they harnessed the potential of ABM to enhance customer intimacy and relevance during challenging times.

A profile on Boehringer Ingelheim, the 2023 SAMA Excellence Award winner for Outstanding Mature Program of the Year, and their blueprint for SAM success.

Tiffany Bova highlights the critical role of customer experience as a key competitive advantage, urging sales professionals to adopt a beginner’s mindset and continuously adapt to evolving technology and expectations. She emphasizes the importance of hyper-personalized, value-driven interactions, the connection between employee satisfaction and customer experience, and using data to drive better decision-making. Ultimately, she encourages leaders to support their teams, refine strategies with empathy, and equip employees with the tools needed to thrive in today’s dynamic environment.

Our research, which surveyed nearly 3,500 decision-makers across 12 markets (and over 21,000 since 2016), revealed that customers consistently want “more” from omnichannel experiences.

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.

The importance of having systems and processes in place that support and enable the SAM in the creation of long-term, mutual value with strategic customers cannot be overstated. Based on decades of benchmarking with the world’s most strategic customer-centric companies, SAMA has developed a robust, repeatable process for supporting and enabling the strategic account manager and the value-creation process.

Take a closer look at SAMA insights and SAMA fundamentals to begin learning from us as your organization progresses.

Geoff Williams’ wealth of experience and wisdom shines bright as he unravels the intricacies of strategic account management’s role as a true business initiative, providing valuable insights for both seasoned professionals and those new to the field. Tune in as Williams and host Harvey Dunham outline this initiative and discuss how successful SAMs can navigate the path to sustainable customer relationships.

Our latest B2B Pulse Survey reveals that across all sectors and regions, market leaders continue to experiment, invest, and commit to omnichannel sales as the path to sustainable growth.

From initiating their program through its maturation, learn how AVI-SPL’s executive team provided significant stewardship, mentorship, and support to both their program and their customers, as a testament to their 2023 SAMA Excellence Award for C-Suite Support and Engagement for the SAM Program and Strategic Customers.

In this keynote from the 2022 SAMA Annual Conference, the following executives share their insights and experiences in strategic account management:

• Jim Ford, Chief Executive Officer at Solecta and Chairman of the SAMA Board of Directors
• Gus Vonderheide, Vice President of Global Sales – Americas at Hyatt Hotels Corporation
• Frédéric Kahn, Vice President of Sales at Wavelength Pharmaceuticals
• Joseph Laezza, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Accounts at AVI-SPL
• Max Walker, Director of Strategic Account Management – EMEA at Medtronic

Tiffany Bova highlights the critical role of customer experience as a key competitive advantage, urging sales professionals to adopt a beginner’s mindset and continuously adapt to evolving technology and expectations. She emphasizes the importance of hyper-personalized, value-driven interactions, the connection between employee satisfaction and customer experience, and using data to drive better decision-making. Ultimately, she encourages leaders to support their teams, refine strategies with empathy, and equip employees with the tools needed to thrive in today’s dynamic environment.

Clarifying the executive sponsor role, behaviors (internally and externally), and expectations is critical to leverage the role as an accelerator and create executive accountability within the account team.

Joining today’s episode is Rita McGrath, a bestselling author and distinguished faculty member at Columbia Business School, where she’s the Academic Director in Executive Education. Rita’s groundbreaking book, “The End of Competitive Advantage,” challenged traditional thinking and offered a new playbook for navigating the ever-shifting business landscape.

As a globally recognized expert in strategic management, Rita’s work has been instrumental in helping organizations navigate the complex challenges of today’s dynamic business environment.

This video offers a buy-side perspective on procurement and strategic sourcing, focusing on CxO-level engagement and strategies. It provides insights into how organizations approach sourcing decisions and align procurement strategies with broader business goals.

This resource is a compilation of SAMA fundamentals and examples that highlight the benefits of a functional and effective strategic account management (SAM) or global account management (GAM) organization.

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

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

Rather than thinking about what you could do, think about what you have done. Where do you feel you’ve made the greatest impact out of everything you have done? The Congruity Group leader Betsy Westhafer found her forte when she realized that Customer Advisory Boards were her strongest suit. She sits with Denise Freier to tap into the undeniable power of the Customer Advisory Boards. She talks about how she started in the field and became so passionate about CABs. Learn more as Betsy shares with us the best practices for designing strategic CABs and the pitfalls to avoid in executing them.

This article features a transcript of a discussion covering key topics in strategic account management, including SAM career paths, training for corporate account employees, data management and analysis, the role of C-level leaders and HR in corporate accounts, resource allocation, and the “virtuous cycle” of the customer-supplier relationship.

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.

The importance of having systems and processes in place that support and enable the SAM in the creation of long-term, mutual value with strategic customers cannot be overstated. Based on decades of benchmarking with the world’s most strategic customer-centric companies, SAMA has developed a robust, repeatable process for supporting and enabling the strategic account manager and the value-creation process.

Take a closer look at SAMA insights and SAMA fundamentals to begin learning from us as your organization progresses.

SAMA’s best-in-class SAM Competency Model® identifies five areas of job competence, three or four skills associated with each one, and key behaviors and activities most relevant to each skill. While strategic account management implementation may vary by company, industry, and business model, the foundational skills required for the job are remarkably consistent.

Through decades of benchmarking with world-class companies and daily interactions with our esteemed member companies, SAMA has developed a repeatable, scalable framework for developing and delivering value with strategic customers.

Outstanding SAMs have been shown to outperform average ones by a factor of three. SAMA’s 360-degree Individual Competency Assessment delivers a snapshot of the account manager’s current strengths and weaknesses and provides a roadmap for professional development.

This document outlines SAMA’s Seven-Step SAM Process and includes a checklist based on these steps. SAM program managers can utilize this tool for coaching SAMs through the SAM Process. Additionally, SAMs can refer to the document as a snapshot of their current status in the account planning process and to determine if further discovery is required.

This article provides a general framework for designing a strategic account management (SAM) organization tailored to a company’s unique needs and goals. It includes examples of how two vastly different companies successfully applied these principles to build effective SAM models.

This study is the first in a four-part research series on Current Trends & Practices focused on SAM program performance factors. How do companies use metrics to make the business case for strategic account investments? What type of metrics are most effective for different types of investments? And, what factors affect how investment decisions are made?

AVI-SPL details how their holistic strategy and precise tactics equipped their SAM teams for success.

In numerous companies, the expansion of enterprise capabilities for managing strategic and global customers has necessitated the organization of a central “office” to facilitate cross-business operations, systems and support, as well as to coordinate, standardize, and help drive SAM performance excellence. This session brings together several SAM program office directors for an exchange on their individual jobs and the scope of their central office.

The last five years has seen a rapid rise in KAM-related commercial models in the U.S. pharmaceuticals industry. The consolidation of provider organizations and rapidly evolving needs, business priorities, and decision processes have been significant drivers.

A recent ZS survey found that 15 of 16 pharmaceutical executives expressed a strong need for KAM. However, only two of 16 conveyed confidence that their organization was effective in this area. This session focuses on steps that Janssen Oncology has taken to rapidly advance its KAM effectiveness to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by today’s U.S. healthcare ecosystem.

Key points include:

• Investing in KAM program office support to rapidly advance capabilities.
• Tailoring go-to-market models to meet the needs of local healthcare markets and accounts.
• Adopting a “KAM 360” approach to driving purposeful and continuous improvement.

Each year, SAMA issues awards for new and mature SAM programs. One thing every winning company has in common is they all had an established, centralized programming office, or Center of Excellence (CoE). A coincidence? We think not. Establishing a CoE is the key success factor for implementing an effective strategic selling and strategic account management approach. Despite this fact, only 10 percent of SAMA member companies have a CoE, let alone an effective one. With such a clear business opportunity, it is time to take a closer look at CoEs, i.e., their challenges, benefits, and key characteristics for SAM impact and success.

Why Centers of Excellence are key to the SAM initiative and how to tackle the challenge of building one.

Starting a global strategic account management journey to align around your most important customers is never a simple task. It is a business transformation that requires a clear roadmap, executive engagement, and many passionate people to make it a success. In this session, you will have the opportunity to gain insights and tips — based on real experience — on how to build successful global SAM programs.

Pfizer established online and face-to-face “Center of Excellence” hubs to provide leadership, expertise, guidance, and internal support for the SAM initiative.

This study is the most comprehensive survey of strategic account management compensation practices available today and is designed to establish benchmarks and track market trends related to:

• Profile, responsibilities, and job scope
• SAM program practices
• Market compensation levels and incentive mix
• Pay plan type, structure, components, and metrics
• Performance measurement
• Frequency of performance measurement and payouts

SAMA’s Annual Conference is the premier event for strategic account management professionals, bringing together industry leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe. Through cutting-edge insights, best practices, and unmatched networking opportunities, the conference is dedicated to shaping the future of strategic account management.

SAMA’s Pan-European Conference is a dynamic gathering of strategic account management professionals from across Europe and beyond, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to elevate your SAM approach. As part of SAMA’s global community, this event fosters collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of best practices.