Jonathan Farrington over at the "Sales and Sales Management" blog writes about the importance of having relationship objectives for large accounts:

"Everyone in the account team needs to know what we want the relationship to feel like."

Accounts, both large and small are all about relationships. Before relationships can be built and sustained, it is important to have clear and well defined relationship goals. These goals need to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Result oriented and Timely and most importantly, they need to be consistent with your larger account plan. 
 

Figure out where the money is headed:  You will have a much easier time selling if you know where the money is headed - even if you are a super confident, super smart, gunslinger salesman. So, talk to your coaches and figure out where the spending is headed- which lines of business (of the client), what buying centers, which technologies and whether the spending is discretionary or non-discretionary. Knowing these details is the first step towards "SMARTNESS". It is the foundation needed to make your relationship plan Specific (Which clients to target), Measurable (How to tangibly measure relationship success), Actionable (Having an operational plan to 'actionize'), Result oriented (Ensuring relationship goals translate into revenue), Timely (Your targets are time bound, can your relationship plan be otherwise?).

Map out your relationship value chain: Now that you are done playing Sherlock Holmes, it's time to dive deeper. Knowing where the money is headed allows you to break down your overall revenue target into more detailed sub-account level numbers. It also lets you know how much can possibly be "mined" from existing buying centers and how much needs to be "hunted" from new areas. 

A single line of business might have multiple, distinct buying centers. This distinction is important as your relationship plan for a given line of business needs to align with these specific and distinct buying centers. The way the IT division that servers the treasury department of a bank ("Treasury" line of business for you) buys a consulting project might be completely different from the way it buys production support. You need to map out the relationship value chain for each buying centre that you need to engage with. By "relationship value chain" I mean mapping out the user buyer, the economic buyer, the technical buyer, influencers and gatekeepers. You can have the same person on the client side playing multiple roles, but knowing who is wearing which hat is critical. A very basic relationship value chain could look like this:

Seth blogs about the importance of intagibles- those things that have no numerical value but are priceless- enthusiasm, speed, peer pressure and generosity.

One of the intangibles in selling software services especially within an account (farming as oppossed to hunting) is 'image'. What does the customer think about you? At one end, he can think of you as a thought leader who can be relied on for ideas. At the other end, you might be seen as a great executor who can get things done. He can see you as a flexible partner who understands him and is willing to work through problems patiently. Or does your customer see you as an able and strong willed "Rottweiler" type personality? No one image works for all situations and neither can one be a chameleon, switching colors at the drop of a hat. It is however helpful to know one's natural style and then be prepared to flex depending on the context. You can even choose people in your team who can complement your natural image! Here are my thoughts:

What image works in your situation? I'd love to hear.

Brad Trnavsky drives home the importance of expecting to win in every interaction you have with the customer. "If you are picking up the phone and saying to yourself 'I hope this works out' or 'all these leads suck there is no way I am going to schedule an appointment' guess what??? You WON’T schedule an appointment!"

I can't agree more. Selling is tough especially in these times. The fact is you are likely to loose more interactions than you will win. But you never know at the outset how an interaction will end up. This means you need to play to win every time. That can be hard. Here are some ways to motivate yourself to always play to win.

Make relationships an end in itself: We all focus on building relationships. You can't be in sales in this industry if you don't. But we often end up seeing relationships as a means to an end. 'Let me build a great relationship so that I can get more business'. Sounds great, but you end up building only those relationships that you think will lead to business and the fact is you don't. People get transferred, budgets and priorities change and yes, even the Cowboys can get beaten. Build relationships does not have to be a chore. Guy has a great post on building relationships. Making relationships an end in itself will not only improve your numbers, but also keep you pepped up because you get that 'Yeees!' feeling even when you don't sign an SOW.

Examine your own negative thoughts: Next time you think "This is not going to work. She's not going to give me any business", go a level deeper and ask yourself why exactly you think so. You'll be pleasantly surprised that you often have preconceived notions or mental projections that are holding you back- projections that have little to do with reality on the ground.

Think non linear: Before you condemn an upcoming interaction as a 'waste of time', think of what good can possibly come from the interaction. In what ways besides you immediate goal can you leverage the relationship? This could be work related or it might just be plain fun. But thinking non linear can surely enrich your interaction and make it more fun. That way even when you don't get business you will still be having fun. Catching a football game with a client who cannot give you business is a good example.

Think lifetime value: View the folks you sell to as 'clients' and not as 'customers'. Paul McCord has a great post on the difference. Think of what value you can leverage from the relationship five years from now, ten years from now. Not convinced? If you are age thirty or above, make a list of five people who were your peers when you started your career. See where they are now and how they could have helped you today. The fact is you can never predict the lifetime value of a relationship, but you can rest assured that lifetime value in many of your immediate relationships is immense. Think long term and you won't be flustered or beaten down by short term setbacks. 

Does your customer make you feel like you are Derek Anderson up against the Dallas Cowboy's Defensive line?  Those who watched last week's royal thumping of the Browns would know what I mean.

Delivery is failing-repeatedly. Resourcing is pathetic- universal problem eh? All the "salesy" commitments you made to get the deal are coming back to haunt you. The customer has stopped a payment and the whole world is baying for your blood. What do you do?

Don't react but validate: It's Monday morning and you are getting ready to go to work. Your cell phone rings and it is the customer.
You: "Hi Laks, How are you ?"
Customer: " I can be better. I just got a call from your project manager that he needs one more week to complete the system testing. The worst thing is that he is blaming it on our SME's! You know how much is at stake here? The business will kill me."
You: "Let me explain Laks. Actually, what happened was that John, your SME went on leave and this lead to…"
Customer, cutting in: "This is RIDICULOUS! I am calling the CIO right now".  

What went wrong? You were actually right. The SME did go on leave and the requirements review did not happen. That indeed was the root cause. On top of it, your offshore team has been working weekends. An escalation is an escalation even if it is unfair.

When you get a complaint, especially when it is on the phone. Don't react or explain. First validate the feelings the customer is experiencing and ask for a meeting. This is not the same as agreeing that you are at fault. Saying something like.."I understand what you are saying. The delivery has slipped and this situation is not acceptable. If I were in your place, I would be just as upset. Can we meet first thing in the morning, at say 8 am and talk about this? I want to make sure this is resolved immediately." By validating the customer's feelings and by giving a commitment to solve the problem you are a). Making sure the relationship is intact - at least for now. b). Ensuring that the buck stops with you. c). Have given the emotional customer the psychological air that he so deperately needs at that time. However, if you had stayed the course of pure logic, you could end up winning the argument but spoiling the relationship. 

Meet the customer face to face: Go into the meeting with an attitude that this is "my" problem to solve. Set the tone of the meeting by showing that you are ready to own the problem, no matter what you think is the root cause. You might be a small cog in a billion dollar company. But act like you own the place. Once you have set the right tone with your openess, ask the right questions. Focus the questions on identifying the root of the problem from the customer's perspective - not your perspective. Continue to validate what the customer is feeling. You will see him opening up and becoming more receptive to you. Once you see this happening, ask the questions that will help you find the root cause from your company's perspective. Armed with this information, end the meeting with a promise to come back with a solution.

Do a deep dive: Call a meeting with all the key people from your team. Set the tone that this is a problem that the team needs to own. Ensure that the team understands that while they need to own the problem, the solution can be a joint one with the customer. Before sharing the customer's perspective, ask the team for their own perspective. Don't forget to give them the psychological air that you gave the customer. You might end up uncovering hidden issues and problems. Encourage the team to come up with creative solution options that not only solve the immediate problem, but address the root cause. Ensure that any actions are documented and owned by the project manager and not by anyone else.

Circle back with the customer: Go back and share the solution options with the customer. Always project the solution as a joint one. This is because almost always there is something that the customer can do to help you do your work better. Share your action plan and ask for feedback. Document the actions in a mail and always follow up to check if the actions have had the desired result. 

Note of thanks: Drop a note of thanks to the customer for giving you this chance to improve the service. Ensure that all actions and commitments - on both sides are documented.   

BTW, If you are a Browns fan you can take solace that you have me for company. Let's hope they do something better when they visit the Steelers.

Account management is all about relationships. You can deliver all you want, but if relationships are messed up, it's time to polish the resume- guaranteed. You will get big time escalations over little things. Well ? Did someone say that the little things are the big things when it comes to relationships ?

In some ways it is funny. Relationships, something essentially emotional, should play such an important part in selling something that is thought to be a product of logic. In any type of a complex sale, relationships play a key factor. In account management; it's everything.

OK. Relationships are everything. So how does one go about building them ? One of the keys to building lasting customer relationships is to be the first to give value and to keep giving value without expecting anything in return. Find out what matters to your customer and think of small, incremental and creative ways to deliver the same. Your delivery style should be open, friendly and engaging. Do this, and you are well on your way to building lasting relationships.

Stephen Lane blogs about outsourcing maturity and talks about creating strategic partnerships with a select group of vendors. From a vendor perspective, what does it mean to be a 'strategic partner'?  'We are your partners' is a much bandied about phrase in software services circles. Short of giving their right arm, vendors would do anything to get the client to call them 'partners'. Believe me, the word 'partner' can be a loaded one. It can mean anything from being a whipping boy to a trusted advisor. Here's are ten questions that could help you figure out where you stand on the partnership continuum.   

-How good is your price realization ? Do your fixed price contracts often run into trouble with payments in spite of decent delivery ?

-Do you get to shape needs or do you get resource requirements conveyed to you ?

-Does the client ask for your opinion in matters that concern outsourcing ?

-Are you executing around well defined SLA's ?

-When you make a mistake, does the client show you the contract, or does he work for a win-win solution ? When the client slips up, is it a negotiated win-win or are contracts conveniently forgotten ?

-Does the CIO and her direct reports give you access ?

-Do you know what the forward looking twelve month business plan for your customer looks like ?

-Can you name the top five strategic initiatives in your client's business ? Have you met the executives who run these programs in the last one month ?

-How good is the demand pipeline visibility ? Do you know with a fair amount of confidence what your revenue run rate will be at the start of a quarter ?

-What is your share of wallet compared to the competition ?

The fact is that not every client wants you to be a 'strategic partner'. But it does help to know where you figure. 

A salesman's job is to shape needs and generate demand. With the economy in recession, many clients are cutting budgets. Prabhu says there is evidence that budgets are getting halved in several industries. Demand seems to be either stagnant or is taking a nosedive.
     Talking of demand, there have been very different times too. Most people of my generation (read oldies!) have seen the Y2K boom followed by the rollercoaster dot com era - dog food selling websites getting valued at billions and then getting dumped at values lower than even their tiny dog food inventories would command. The dot com era also saw the demand for skills like 'digital strategy'. You could download a few articles on B2B and B2C and take a month rehashing them into a nice looking ppt titled 'Monetizing Eyeballs', replete with clouds and arrows and bill at $250/hr while you are at it. Oh! Did I mention fat perdiems ?
      Most attempts to understand demand are done from a vendor's perspective. Starting with staff aug and ending with consulting. Co-sourcing and managed services bring up the middle. Makes perfect sense. The only problem I have is that this is a very inward way of looking at demand, it's demand from a vendor perspective. The client simply does not think on these lines. From a client's perspective, there are two broad classes of demand a). Steady state demand (SSD)-The keep-the-lights-on part that is responsible for keeping the business running and b). Transformational demand (TD) that seeks to change the business. Steady state demand, while being unglamorous, provides much the needed revenue stability that comes with an annuity business. It allows you to meet your numbers, build operational relationships and acts as a backbone during tough times. Transformational demand has peaks and troughs, is sometimes based on the whim and fancy of client execs. Tapping into transformational demand needs a different style of engagement, centered on thought leadership and the business domain. It demands that you take a point of view when you talk to customers instead of just asking them "I have great people with me. How can I help ? ". What makes transformational demand most critical is that today's TD is tommorrow's SSD. Here are some key differences between the two streams of demand and some thoughts on how to engage.