How to Build a Key Account Talent Pipeline

Sales organizations are often challenged to source and upskill talent into key account roles. Finding candidates with the required skill set, customer knowledge, and relational fit to customers is difficult.

Beta Company (pseudonym), a high technology firm, struggled to find sufficient candidates with the necessary skills within the sales organization or outside the function that possessed cross-silo product knowledge and experience. In addition to lack of skills, Beta also struggled to ensure that selected candidates would also be a relational fit for specific customer segments.

Beta created a formal certification program that evaluated Key Account Management candidates against segment-specific customer needs. Talent was sourced across functions, such as Marketing and Finance, based on a set of basic prerequisite skills for the KAM role and specific skills required for particular customer segments. For example, all candidates must have strong business acumen skills, excellent negotiation skills, strategic planning ability, and achievement of some threshold of performance.

Once candidates were selected, they were developed for the role within a particular segment through classroom and on-the-job training. Beta Company created individual development plans that provided opportunities to learn the required skills and also demonstrate proficiency in critical areas. For those whose capabilities do not display mastery of the required skills, or who opt out of the development track, were offered alternative career options.

Beta Company further evaluated certified candidates based on their resumes to determine who will be the best fit for particular customer segments. After this pre-screening, customers were able to interview the candidates and make the final hiring decision. Through this opportunity to match candidate and customer, Beta was able to ensure a better relational fit for its Key Account Managers.

As a result, Beta saw an improvement in customer relationships and decreased churn in the KAM role. After the segment-based KAM certification and deployment program, there were four times less customer requests for KAM replacement and KAM roles were filled twice as quickly. The certification also ensured candidates were more qualified and had appropriate expectations for the KAM role. It also facilitated customer-manager relational fit through customer involvement in the selection process.

SEC members, learn more about how Beta selected and certified its Key Account Managers. Also, read more about Key Account Management strategy and check out the Key Account Topic Center for more best practices on improving Key Account management.