A client for 5 years and 6 months. And yet, no one really saw it coming.
The key account has just announced a series of decisions:
- Leadership reorganization
- A shift in the group’s priorities
- Decision-making moving from one geography to another, and from one business entity to another
- Procurement rationalization and supplier consolidation
This news comes as a surprise to you.
Your main contact within the key account, responsible for the technical department using your solutions, didn’t see it coming either.
He had been at the heart of the relationship for several years.
But he himself was outside the decision-making circles.
And yet, there were plenty of signals.
- In the annual report.
- In business news related to the account and its industry.
- And even in the practices observed within companies with a similar structure.
In cases like this, I usually see three situations:
- These signals weren’t known because the KAM was focused on technical delivery.
- They were known, but ignored.
- They weren’t ignored, but no conclusions were drawn from them.
What are the consequences for your company?
There are many:
- The contract coming up for renewal in 6 months will not be renewed. You won’t even receive the RFP. And your competitor will probably win the business.
- You will remain a supplier for commodity products, outside the multi-year contract and with no volume commitment, and you will be put into competition for these products.
- Your competitor will take the entire business for the high-value-added solutions and therefore the high-margin business.
And you will be politely informed that, from now on, your sole point of contact will be Procurement, reachable by email only.
Finance is now the decision-maker for any contract, regardless of value.
A real shock within the company!
How could a client you thought was loyal leave you?
- You had made optimistic financial projections.
- Feedback on the quality of your technical services had consistently been positive.
- Your KAM seemed confident about the upcoming RFP.
In response, the first actions taken are:
- Emergency meetings.
- Demands for action plans within 24 hours.
- Your C-level executives, who had been absent until then, suddenly demanding to be involved.
- And, frankly, a KAM overwhelmed by events.
So, what happened?
I’ve been managing KAM teams for 25 years, and I can summarize it simply:
Your key account compared you with your competitor.
And the comparison probably wasn’t only about the quality of your technical services.
🔺 You have a long-standing relationship with the person responsible for your solutions on the client side, and the respective Senior Execs meet when there is a “fire” to put out or when it’s time to negotiate a final price.
🔹 Your competitor established a structured governance model to create connections across multiple levels of the organization, from the signatory to the influencer.
🔺 Your KAM is a technical expert. He knows how to describe the products.
🔹 The competing KAM has read the annual report and the news affecting the company and its industry. He knows how to connect their value to the client’s hot topics. He acts as a business peer rather than a salesperson looking for orders.
🔺 Your KAM waits for the RFP and reacts.
🔹 The competing KAM has a plan to stay Top of Mind. He has organized seminars and co-developed with the key account.
🔺 Your products and solutions are used across the key account’s 3 European business entities.
🔹 Your competitor systematically built connections across all 7 business units, including the ones where you are already present.
🔺 Your numerous technical reports for the client never mention value or alignment with the key account’s business priorities. As a result, they are never passed on to the next level.
🔹 Your competitor communicates value. They produce information that is accessible to C-level executives.
🔺 You work on the account in a fragmented way: ad hoc meetings, responses to RFPs. The KAM is one member of the team.
🔹 Your competitor has a dedicated account team, with clearly defined roles and real synergy. The KAM is in the driver’s seat.
🔺 Your KAM “reappeared” on the account 6 months before the contract renewal, having left his technical teams to manage the day-to-day relationship throughout the contract.
🔹 The competing KAM has been systematic about prospecting and engaging with the account.
🔺 Communication with your management is based on a monthly update focused on financial performance and pipeline.
🔹 The competing company has set up bi-monthly account planning sessions where they discuss and challenge strategy, approach, opportunities and risks, beyond financial performance.
In short:
Your competitor positioned themselves and their company as a business partner.
You never really moved beyond being a supplier.
Generating revenue from a key account is not a guarantee of security.
You can have an excellent relationship with your contact.
Recognized technical services.
A multi-year track record.
A pipeline that looks solid.
And still lose the account.
Because a competitor has gradually built a different kind of relationship with the company.
This case, based on a real experience, is common.
And it raises a question I find useful to ask before the next renewal:
If your key account compared you with your best competitor today, what position would they give you?
Your key account trusted you enough to become one of its suppliers.
It’s never too late to earn the position of partner rather than supplier, the position you want to occupy.
👉 Great results don’t require major transformations. A few targeted actions can generate immediate ROI.
