KAMCast - Key Account Management Strategies for Business Leaders
30 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingA show hosted by me, David Ventura, a specialist in training, educating and consulting on practical strategies for harnessing the power of Key Account Management (KAM) in SME’s today. I am also the principal KAM consultant and Managing Director of www.kamguru.com.
In a world of diminishing customer loyalty, what can business leaders do to retain their top customers, while still adding value. In this podcast I explore some hands-on tips and tactics you can implement today – to remarkably shift your sales culture in your business.
The episodes are designed to challenge your thinking and preconceptions of “sales”. They will teach you techniques for:
- protecting your most important customers from competitors;
- building & maintaining profitable partnerships with your key contacts; &
- developing the strategies, systems & skills to deliver customer growth (i.e. identify, retain and grow your top ten customers).
I am joined by business leaders who have learnt to radically shift their culture and attitude towards sales, and empower their business with the ability to grow rapidly from within. I also invite experts in the fields of leadership, coaching and customer experience to share their insights into the psychology of sales, organisational culture and leading business growth.
In the modern, digitally-heightened business world we operate in today, can you afford to be flippant about your top customers, and why they choose to work with you? No, you cannot.
I invite you to subscribe to KAMCast and listen openly as I challenge you to reimagine your customer success protocols and relationship strategies.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
#028 Choose to be a coach, with Lisa Brice
December 09, 2021 01:00 - 43 minutes - 40.6 MBIN THIS EPISODE: How well do you empower your people to reach their own full potential, supported along the way with good, timely, and accessible coaching conversations? Now sure how to go about that? Then this episode is for you because I’m joined by a friend of the show, Lisa Brice, NLP Master Trainer and Coach and author of a new book called: “Choose to be a coach - the be quick guide to coaching in the corridor, at the coffee shop or on the computer.” - - - 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗔 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗢: Lisa i...
#027 Account Management is Where Marketing Starts, with Bryony Thomas
November 11, 2021 01:00 - 52 minutes - 48.7 MBIN THIS EPISODE... Sales and Marketing is like stealing your neighbour’s cat…and in this episode, I talk to Bryony Thomas at Watertight Marketing to find out why. Bryony is the creator of the Watertight Marketing methodology, captured in her best-selling book of the same name which acts as the hub to a suite of thinking tools that have been designed and refined over two decades and across over 2000 organisations. - - - 𝗕𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢: Bryony is an award-winning speaker, author, mar...
#026 Getting Closer to the Close, with David (Ledge) Ledgerwood
October 28, 2021 01:00 - 30 minutes - 28.5 MBIN THIS EPISODE How strong is your account management team when it comes to the skills of closing new business? I’m not talking about taking repeat orders from happy clients here. I’m talking about applying the art of winning new business, creating opportunities, and closing deals, with existing customers. In this episode, I am joined by Nashville-based David ‘Ledge’ Ledgerwood, Managing Partner at Add1Zero, a business that provides lead-to-close sales execution for tech-enabled B2B ser...
#025 Selling Through Partnering, with Fred Copestake
October 14, 2021 01:00 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBIN THIS EPISODE Do you tell your clients that you work in partnership? What evidence do you have to reassure them that the statement is, in fact, true? What are the qualities of a good partnership? Does your team possess the skills required to forge strong win:win relationships, built on trust, transparency, transparency, comfort with change and interdependence and a focus on the future? In this episode, I invite Fred Copestake, a sales consultant and trainer specialising in complex B2b...
#024 Perfect Your Communication Style with Practice
September 30, 2021 01:00 - 26 minutes - 24.9 MBIN THIS EPISODE How ‘in tune’ are you with the qualities, traits and characteristics that make up your personality? How does your personality affect the results you have with your key account relationships? If you are in tune with who YOU are, let me ask: how well can you read other people? Do you use your knowledge and reflection to change the way you behave to better your chances of success? Or…do you act the same in every interaction you have with your customer contacts? In this epi...
#023 The Loyalty Loop, with Drew Davis
September 16, 2021 01:00 - 48 minutes - 45.1 MBIN THIS EPISODE Do you have LOYAL customers? What does loyalty mean to you? Is it a destination where happy customers, who love what you do, gather to bathe in the success that your product or service has brought them? Or is it more than that…? Rather than a destination, is it an on-going journey of moments that inspire your loyal customers to commit to you, time and time again, whilst shouting from the rooftops to all who will hear their recommendation to work with you? How often do you ...
#022 A Conversation about Race in KAM, with Sharon Amesu
September 02, 2021 01:00 - 52 minutes - 48.7 MBIN THIS EPISODE... When was the last time you had a conversation about racism? Perhaps, like so many, these conversations are triggered within your circles, by high-profile cases of injustice in the media or by your own personal experiences on the receiving end of overt or covert prejudice. Or perhaps… like so many, you have NEVER had a conversation, within your circles, about racism. What about at work, in your business, with your team, or with your customers? This episode is a conversa...
#021 CX – A serious opportunity to add value as a KAM Pro
July 29, 2021 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBIN THIS EPISODE How much attention are you paying to the customer experience with your Key Accounts? Do you surprise and delight your clients on a regular basis or, have you fallen into the trap of leaving this up to marketing at the front end of the sales cycle? With customers experiencing thousands of ‘moments’ every day in all areas of their lives, what are you doing to ensure the moments they share with you, exceed their expectations? For me, the thing about experience is that it is...
#020 The evolution of a key account manager, with Chris Ortolano
July 08, 2021 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBIN THIS EPISODE This is such an expansive topic, I really wanted to add some context and perspective to the subject here. So, I’m going to really open this discussion up for you with some background to get you in the right mindset to listen to this episode. If you had to be truthful - what kind of salesperson would you say you are? What’s your natural selling style? Do you deploy an intentional methodology to maximise the impact of your interactions? Or are you winging it along the way, ...
#019 Employee Engagement in a Hybrid Working World, with Robert Hicks & Lou Kwakye
June 10, 2021 09:00 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBIN THIS EPISODE: Do you have a team whose hearts and minds are 100% invested in your business goals? What are the levels of motivation across your account managers and sales team? How ENGAGED are they? For many businesses, the working world has changed and for most - it’s still changing. The concept of remote and Hybrid working is no longer uncommon, and sales leaders are battling the ongoing challenge of managing performance and inspiring excellence in teams that are no longer sat every...
#018 Mapping your way to success, with Ian Windle
May 27, 2021 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.6 MBIN THIS EPISODE: How successful is your key account management team? What is the definition you have for what success is, for your business? How do you measure the performance of your key account managers? If you find that the answers are all to do with growth, you’re probably looking at it TOO LATE and you are running a massive risk with your most important accounts. Success is a destination, one that is different and personal to each business and each team. And for every clear destinati...
#017 Five Reasons your KAM Programme is Failing
May 13, 2021 09:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBIN THIS EPISODE: Key account management is a beautifully simple business basic…one that isn’t that easy! If it was, we’d all be doing it brilliantly wouldn’t we? Like most working practices in business, there are a handful of common, or typical reasons why a KAM culture struggles to get off the ground in an organisation. In this episode, I seek to shine a glaring light on the assassins of good KAM practice. The intent for this episode is this: we’re big believers in shining a light on v...
#016 The ‘Next’ Normal, a KAM Industry reflection with Warwick Brown
April 29, 2021 09:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBIN THIS EPISODE Are you 'ready' for getting back to normal? And…what is normal? For many of us, the effects of the pandemic have been going on for so long that we can’t quite remember what normal is anymore. So, as we start to 'unlock' society, here in the UK, and begin thinking about how we will reengage with our key accounts, many of whom we won’t have seen for over a year, how ready do you feel to hit the ground running'? Have you thought about who you need to see first, what you want...
#015 Mind the Intergenerational Gap with Henry Rose Lee
April 15, 2021 09:00 - 47 minutes - 44.1 MBIn this episode… Have you ever found yourself struggling to understand, or get along, with people who are older or younger than you? Perhaps a clash in communications style, working preferences, belief systems, values or motivational needs? Many of the business leaders that we talk to in our work at KAMGuru tell us how difficult they find driving higher levels of motivation and engagement from younger sales teams. They say that age is just a number… except it isn’t, is it? GENERATIONAL ...
#014 KAM and COVID, One Year On
April 01, 2021 09:00 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBIN THIS EPISODE... How has the last 12 months been for you and your business? At the time of recording this episode, it’s been a year… to the day that I delivered my last ‘in person’ seminar for a group of Chief Executives in Leeds. By then, we had already stopped shaking hands with people and we were pouring copious amounts of antibacterial gel over our hands at every opportunity. We were beginning to come to terms with the idea that we would likely need to ‘hibernate’ in a home working...
#013 What does a strategic conversation look like?
March 18, 2021 09:00 - 42 minutes - 59.4 MBIN THIS EPISODE: Do you wish your team members were having more strategic conversations with your key accounts? Do you have a clear understanding of what strategy is? Does your team have a clear understanding of what strategy is? It’s fair to say that the S word – strategy – gets bandied around a lot in business - we even talk about it as one of our guiding pillars for success in KAM. And with words that get so heavily used, it’s common for the waters to get muddied and the definition t...
#EP012 When you lose…don’t lose the learning, with Vince Tickel
March 04, 2021 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBIN THIS EPISODE:How often do you put aside time to reflect honestly on the learning you have gained following the closure of a deal, whether you won or lost it? Do you pause for a moment to celebrate the victory or commiserate the loss? Or do you go deeper than that, in pursuit of feedback that can be fed forward into future pitches? Creating a learning culture in an account management team is hugely beneficial and requires us all to embrace feedback, even the painful stuff. The sort of feedb...
#012 When you lose…don’t lose the learning, with Vince Tickel
March 04, 2021 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBIN THIS EPISODE: How often do you put aside time to reflect honestly on the learning you have gained following the closure of a deal, whether you won or lost it? Do you pause for a moment to celebrate the victory or commiserate the loss? Or do you go deeper than that, in pursuit of feedback that can be fed forward into future pitches? Creating a learning culture in an account management team is hugely beneficial and requires us all to embrace feedback, even the painful stuff. The sort o...
#011 Great Answers to Tough Questions, with Michael Dodd
February 18, 2021 09:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBIN THIS EPISODE: What is the toughest question you have faced from your most important customers?What is the toughest question you have faced from you team? How did you handle those questions? Did you answer with confidence and finesse? Or did you crumble under the pressure and end up blurting out more that you would care to share? As a business leader, you will have undoubtedly faced some really tough questions over the years. Your ability to answer them will have played a really import...
#010 The Five Types of Talk Triggers with Jay Baer
February 04, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBIN THIS EPISODE: I continue my discussion with Jay Baer, Hall of Fame Keynote speaker and the author of SIX best-selling books which all point to the importance of the customer experience. One of those books is ‘Talk Triggers’ which delves into creating intentional mechanisms within the day to day carrying out of your business which spur your customers to CHOOSE to talk enthusiastically about you to their friends, colleagues and networks. This is without being prompted by you! This introdu...
#009 Crafting Talk Triggers with Jay Baer
January 21, 2021 09:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBIN THIS EPISODE: How many of your Key Account contacts have a story to tell about their (customer) experience of you? I am not talking about a prompted testimonial packed with marketing quotes, engineered to pitch your products and services to a new audience. I am also not meaning a review of the features and benefits they enjoy from using your solution or engaging in your service. I am rather referring to the kind of story that arises only from a truly REMARKABLE customer experience. O...
#EP009 Crafting Talk Triggers with Jay Baer
January 21, 2021 09:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBIN THIS EPISODE:How many of your Key Account contacts have a story to tell about their (customer) experience of you? I am not talking about a prompted testimonial packed with marketing quotes, engineered to pitch your products and services to a new audience. I am also not meaning a review of the features and benefits they enjoy from using your solution or engaging in your service. I am rather referring to the kind of story that arises only from a truly REMARKABLE customer experience. One that...
#008 Survive the speed of change - become an irreplaceable advisor
January 07, 2021 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.8 MBIN THIS EPISODE How well have your client relationships faired against the almighty test that was 2020? With research suggesting that 68% of customers citing ‘perceived indifference’ as their top reason for leaving a supplier - have you lost customers by not remaining close enough to them? Or, by not fully understanding what they really needed from you, during the stormy waters of the pandemic. Perhaps you were led by political rhetoric and generalisations, which suggested that EVERYONE w...
#007 Be a Value Creator, not a Cost Generator
December 17, 2020 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBIN THIS EPISODE: In today’s world we could categorise organisations into two camps: those that add value, and those that add COST. Why type of organisation are you? What is your definition of value? How will you know when you are adding and creating value for your customers? Do your most important clients know the extra lengths you go to provide them with unexpected, relevant and personalised value that is ultimately useful to them? With value being undefinable to many and different to...
#006 How can our systems support KAM success?
December 03, 2020 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MB𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 Picture the scene… You have just asked one of your top account managers to meet you and walk you through their account plan for your most important customer. You want to know what we know, what we don’t know, what we are planning to do and how we are going to achieve it. Sounds like a simple ask right? And now you stand back and watch as your account manager battles with half a dozen spreadsheets, a PowerPoint slide deck, an under utilised CRM System and overwhelmed emai...
#005 Why most KAM plans don’t work
November 26, 2020 09:00 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBIN THIS EPISODE: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States “By Failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” – Thomas Edison, Inventor & businessman Even the creative genius Pablo Picasso knew that planning was key when he said: “Our goals can ...
#004 Using Video to Maximise Sales
November 19, 2020 09:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBIn this episode… In a world where the vast majority of internet traffic is video content, how can we leverage the creation, production and value of video to maximise sales return? In this episode I’ll talk to video marketer Ed Lawrence, the co-founder of , a video production and editing business based in Hertfordshire, UK. Having shot and produced more than 10,000 videos for businesses, he is a great resource to talk to about some global issues facing key account management professionals...
#003 The Marketing & Sales Divide – The Value in the GAP
November 12, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MB𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘: In many organisations, the divide between the sales and marketing teams cause real problems. Silo working, a blame culture and all while the business is missing the opportunity to close the gap and add more value for customers and prospects, …ultimately increasing the chances of winning more business. I talk to Grant Leboff from Sticky Marketing, one the UK’s leading Sales and Marketing experts. With his 4th book, Digital Selling, debuting at number 1 on the Amazon charts...
#002 Creating Personal Relationships in an Impersonal Environment
November 05, 2020 13:45 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBIn this episode… Relationship building has always been a key ingredient to becoming the trusted partner to your most important customers. The age-old question is whether a salesperson needs to be naturally good at it or whether relationship and rapport building is a skill that can be taught. Today’s guest on KAMCast is Master NLP Trainer, Performance Coach and Equine Learning Specialist - Lisa Brice. Highlights from this episode: I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with Li...
#001 Importance of a KAM Culture in today's modern marketplace
October 29, 2020 09:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBIn this episode David Ventura, your host, explores the following BIG question: What is a KAM culture and why is it so important in today’s market? But first: what is KAM? We all know that businesses love a TLA (Three Letter Acronyms) and KAM is just another one of those. It stands for Key Account Management. Many businesses we meet are naturally familiar with KAM whilst others will say “we don’t have key accounts” or “KAM is for bigger companies; we are too small for that”. For us, the ...