Creating Competitive Immunity by Deep Customer Discovery
DECEMBER 6, 2022 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM CENTRAL TIME (US AND CANADA)
One thing we have learned the past couple of years – if as a SAM you weren’t deeply ingrained with your customers in terms of knowledge and relationships, you went backward during the Covid era. If you weren’t prepared, you found your customer’s business and organization changing drastically at the exact time when your access to people and insight was limited. If you weren’t constantly learning about and co-creating with your customers, your competitors were quick to jump in. Another thing we learned – there is almost nothing more important in the role of a SAM than truly understanding your customer’s business and needs, developing a network of supporters, and identifying and gaining access to real senior level decision makers with a customer-focused message.
Although these skills can seem “basic”, understanding your customer’s business and leveraging that deep understanding with senior level decision makers are incredibly challenging and critical skills.
This webinar has been designed for new and experienced SAMs who are working with dynamic customers where the stakes are high, and the payoffs are huge.
Speaker: Dan Kosch, Co-CEO, IMPAX Corporation
Corporate Members can register by logging in and selecting "Webinar Registration" from the profile page. Individual Members can register by emailing membership@strategicaccounts.org
Modern Buying Behavior and Its Impact on the Future of Key Account Selling
JANUARY 19, 2023 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CENTRAL TIME (US AND CANADA)
The events over the last few years have led to a tremendous amount of change in the buying and selling processes, many of which seem to be permanent changes. Modern buyers are remote first and must deal with information overload, decision complexity, value opacity and implementation uncertainty. For enterprise sellers and key account managers, these changes mean they have to deal with increased sales process complexity, more stakeholders and constantly changing buyer demands.
Join us in this webinar as we explore some of the latest market trends and best practices to adapt proven processes like account plans and opportunity plans to cater to the digital-first buyers.
Key takeaways will include:
- Learn about modern buyer and their preferences
- What should KAMs do differently today compared to 2-3 years ago, and why
- Role of digital-first transparency with buyers to build trust and relationships
- Champion enablement and its role in accelerating sales cycle
- Some tactics that you can adapt into your KAM motion today
Sponsored by: BuyerAssist.io, Inc.
Sorry Shouldn't Be the Hardest Word: Master the Psychology of Effective Customer Apologies
FEBRUARY 23, 2023 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CENTRAL TIME (US AND CANADA)
No matter how you spin it, saying “I’m sorry” isn’t easy. Especially if you’ve been saying nothing but “I’m sorry” for the past two years.
Supply chain delays and staffing shortages, combined with rising inflation and continued economic uncertainty, have made service failures not only inevitable but increasingly intolerable. And while vendors can resolve most lapses eventually, repairing the damage to the relationship has proven more challenging—no matter how sincere the apology is.
The good news is, handling a customer crisis the right way can not only rescue the relationship but advance it to an even higher level. That’s a distinct advantage these days, when retaining and expanding customers is the best way to weather an uncertain business environment.
In this session with Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions, you’ll discover a science-backed message framework that you can use to build and deliver your apology—and positively influence even your most frustrated and bitterly disappointed customers. Specifically, you’ll see:
- Results of an academic behavioral research study conducted with 500 B2B decision makers.
- The precise message choreography you can use to recover from critical service failures.
- Why a “just-the-facts” approach proves to be the least effective way to apologize.
Speaker: Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Visions
Recent Webinars
How to Price Fairly for Your Customers and Your Bottom Line
NOVEMBER 10, 2022
Inflation and pricing pressures from customers are two of the top five global challenges having a negative impact on SAMs today (as reported from SAMA’s 2022 annual conference in May). We expect these challenges to endure, as market volatility looks unpredictable for the next several years. The ability to create trust with customers while positioning price more effectively will be essential to a SAM’s success.
In this webinar you will learn:
- How to position price based on your audience. Different buyer types have different decision criteria and the way you position the price matters.
- Why customers focus on price instead of the value they receive, and the tactics you can use to shift the conversation back to value.
- When and how to communicate price increases.
Speakers: Patrick McCullough, Senior Director, Holden Advisors; Tracy Dent, Marketing Lead, Holden Advisors
Timing Is Everything! Global Service Account Management's Role Early in the Product Life Cycle
OCTOBER 12, 2022
Coherent Inc. is a global provider of lasers and laser-based technology serving demanding commercial markets like automotive and semiconductor manufacturing. These markets are heavily skewed to post-sale activity with respect to customer satisfaction and company revenue. To meet this need, we created the global service account manager (GSAM) role that, while similar to a traditional GAM role, requires a special understanding of manufacturing, service, logistics and quality.
The Global Service Account Management’s role and engagement early in the product or market life cycle is critical. In this webinar, we will discuss our experience introducing the GSAM role into the automotive manufacturing market.
In addition, we’ll cover:
- Why timing matters
- How to establish relationships, create partnerships and align expectations
- How to tailor your solution’s value across the customer organization
- How to identify key stakeholders (internal and customer) and prioritize activities
- How to leverage enterprise capabilities to differentiate yourself from competitors
Speakers: Robert C. Willard, Sr. Manager Global Service Accounts, Coherent, Inc.; Chris Miller, Sr. Manager, Global Service Markets and Accounts, Coherent, Inc.
The Future of KAM
SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
As key account management adapts to a fast paced digital environment, how do you foresee its future?
As businesses become more global and complex, the role of strategic account management is evolving. Strategic account managers are now expected to not only maintain and grow key relationships but also to proactively manage risk and identify new opportunities. In the current business landscape, key account management (KAM) is more important than ever before. As companies strive to increase market share and grow their customer base, they are turning to digital KAM to help them achieve these goals.
Join the discussion about trends, skills, tools and strategies in the key account management landscape, and what to expect going forward.
The panelists will discuss what the future of strategic account management looks like, what will be the new set of skills required while discussing some of the insights revealed in the Future of KAM CSO study conducted by DemandFarm.
Some of the key topics we will cover in the webinar include:
- What has changed in KAM post-COVID?
- What are the top contributors to a successful KAM program
- What are some of the key skills required for effective KAM in the future?
- How will digital KAM change the selling experience, going forward?
- What are the kinds of tools important for KAM today and tomorrow?
Speakers: Abhijit Gangoli, CEO, DemandFarm; Harvey Dunham, Managing Director, SAMA; Andrew Hazard Sr., Director GTM Enablement, Contentful; Richard Dunn, Senior Director, Global Account Management, DHL
Leveraging Thought Leadership, Insights, and Event Management to Deepen Customer Relationships
SEPTEMBER 20, 2022
In a world that is moving increasingly towards commoditization, how do you, as a SAM, stand out and how do you get your company to stand out in the sea of competitors? Join SAMA board member, Ron Davis as he and a panel of SAMs from Zurich Insurance discuss how to deepen your customer relationships.
Key takeaways will include:
- Engaging with Customer Advisory Boards can inspire new ideas and improved propositions
- Partnering on thought leadership and innovation with outside organizations
- Finding creative ways to involve Executive Sponsors and other executives
- And more!
Speakers: Amanda Christensen, Senior VP, Global Relationship Leader, Zurich Insurance; Charlotte Peters, Deal Manager Team Leader, Zurich Insurance; Cornelius Froescher, Director, Global Customer & Distribution Management, Zurich Corporate Life & Pensions, Zurich Insurance; and Ron Davis, Executive VP, Global Head of Customer Management, Zurich Insurance
Corporate Members can register by logging in and selecting "Webinar Registration" from the profile page. Individual Members can register by emailing membership@strategicaccounts.org
Using a Coach Approach With Your Customer to Deepen the Relationship
AUGUST 18, 2022
The uncertainty we all face in the years to come requires us to reset and reinvent how we engage with each other. This is especially true for the relationship between the SAM and his or her key customers. In this webinar, we will draw from the profession of executive coaching to share immediately applicable practices and questions that will enable you to truly differentiate yourself in the eyes of your customers. You will learn how to give power to the relationship between you and your client; how to establish a verbal contract to give energy to the value they seek; and how to use thought-provoking questions developed by the most seasoned executive coaches to engage, enlighten and empower your clients to excel. The outcome will be a deeper level of trust and endurance that will enable the alliance to thrive in the face of adversity.
Speaker: Shakeel Bharmal, Senior Vice President, The Summit Group
Ready, Set, Go! Putting More Action, Into Your Strategic Account Planning
JULY 12 , 2022
Let’s be honest: Most account plans don’t actually drive the value we had hoped for them to drive. Most of the time, they are a time-consuming exercise on "what we’ve done," with never enough about "what we’re going to do.” Join Greg Callahan of Bain & Company and Coro Account Planning, as he shares how he helps clients drive 20%-40% increase in booking through better account planning.
Speaker: Gregory Callahan, Partner, Bain & Company
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Creating a Competitive Advantage for SAM Organizations
JUNE 29, 2022
Join Joseph Machicote (Chief Diversity Officer, Premier Inc.) and SAMA Customer Advisory Board members Jerid S. Lydic (Pfizer) and Jane McGinty (Nilfisk) for a panel discussion and question and answer session moderated by David Barnes Jr.,M.Ed CPC, Managing Partner, Diversity Inclusion Equity Group, regarding how the emergence DEI&B strategies in organization are impacting the role of SAM’s.
Discussion topics:
- Debunking DEI&B myths and why it is top of mind for CEO’s
- DEI&B impact on SAM’s daily interaction with customers
- Organizations DEI&B strategies emerging impact on the SAM’s sales process, account penetration, increasing differentiation, and customer loyalty
Speakers: David Barnes Jr.,M.Ed CPC, Managing Partner, Diversity Inclusion Equity Group; Joseph Machicote, Chief Diversity Officer, Premier Inc.; Jane McGinty, Global Strategic Accounts Director, Nilfisk; Jerid Lydic, MBA, CMR, Americas Lead, Global KAM Center of Excellence, Pfizer
Transforming Account Management for Value Creation: Research Insights from an Expert-Panel Study
APRIL 5, 2022
Given today’s hybrid, digitized and saturated market environment, the role of the strategic account manager is in urgent need of repositioning. To find out what that might look like, we invited 62 experts from sales, marketing, procurement, academia and consulting to provide their views on nine hypotheses of what account managers can do to stay relevant as value creators.
Should account managers, for example, focus exclusively on high-level value dimensions? Or should they give equal weight to value creation and the prevention of value destruction?
This webinar will deliver key insights from this expert-panel study, helping attendees to either validate or reframe their sales transformation efforts.
Speaker: Dr. Axel Thoma, Lecturer, University of St. Gallen and Advisor, Value Creation Lab
Customer-Centric Supply Chains: Innovation Beyond Potential
MARCH 29, 2022
Welcome to the era of logistics! The major megatrends of our time – globalization, digitization, e-commerce and sustainability – simultaneous provide challenges and opportunities. Today, consumer – and, as a consequence, business – demand is based on a multi-dimensional set of requirements where cost and quality are no longer the sole decision criteria.
In this environment, supply chains are becoming major drivers of profitable growth, fueling long-term and sustainable business success, while providing competitive advantages and delivering the customer experience – literally. Hence, logistics and supply chain management is transforming into a strategic asset and value driver for businesses.
The webinar will outline DHL's view on supply chains of the future, including the most relevant trends, the DHL approach on customer-centric innovation and specific examples of logistics innovation.
Speaker: Dr. Klaus Dohrmann, Vice President Innovation Europe & Trend Research, DHL Customer Solutions
Selling Internally: Managing Internal Stakeholders to Successfully Advance Creative Customer Solutions
March 9, 2022
Most SAMs readily acknowledge that selling internally is a greater challenge than selling to customers. In this webinar, we will explore the keys to successfully managing internal stakeholder relationships. You'll learn the different types of internal stakeholders and the expectations of each. We'll also explore the differences between internal and external stakeholder management. You'll walk away with practical tips for effectively gaining internal support for your ideas and accelerating the required approvals.
Speaker: Adrian Davis, President, Whetstone Inc.
Building Account Plans Using Account-Based Marketing
January 25, 2022
Account-based marketing is finding its way into the account planning process. Thanks to this connection, account managers now have a powerful new partner to help them build more effective account plans. For marketers, the connection is helping them to implement their strategic ABM work with the customer. In this session, we will review early examples of how this work is being done in practice.
Speaker: Jerry Alderman, CEO, Valkre