Key accounts: Measuring the success with relationship mapping
The make or break of any sales cycle is understanding the dynamic relationship between a client and business. For instance, if you are speaking to someone as a buyer, and believe that the person in conversation is the decision maker of the organization. Once you have invested a considerable amount of time in this proposition, you find out that this person is not the decision maker and you never really spoke to his boss. That’s when you realize that there are other people in the organization with significant influence on this purchase that weren’t aware about.
Therefore, before you begin building the relationship, it is important that you map the potential people in the organization and their influence on decision making. You need to identify the hierarchical relationship before you make the ‘pitch’.
Moreover, there may be external influencers as well such as consultants that hold some kind of influence on the purchase. And these influencers also have to be taken into consideration.
Exploring the key accounts
The ideal first step is gathering all the relevant information of your customers. This will help you make a list of the decision makers in the organization. Identifying people within the organization will also help in relating with people from the other organization better. Account managers usually are aware as to where and with whom they should begin marketing for their new product or service.
The important thing to remember is mapping the right relationships, with every person in the organization, the authority level, the decision making power they hold, and pain points. This information will help in creating a transparent relationship maps.
The mapping process
Once you have the data, start visual mapping for understanding the growth potential with each person. You can choose to show the individuals within or are directly linked to, and their probable connections with one another. Create larger nodes for representing stronger influence and greater connections. With these maps the key account holders can create strategies that will help drive sales.
So what should this map help achieve?
# Plan of action and its possible effects
# The effect of relationships on the plan
# Support
# Controlling pain points
How to qualify relationships?
Believe us when we say this, not every relationship that you map will be alike. Depending on the multiple levels of connection, it will be degraded with the influence that is involved.
Relationship mapping
Ideally relationship mapping should be done with the help of a tool. It is important that you invest in the right tool and get the maximum results. O
