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Key Account Management And Critical Suggestions For Going The Distance
Clients of a typical pharmaceutical company often have a choice when it comes to selection of business partners and may look for a distinct type of relationship in return for further patronage. The pharmaceutical company itself must therefore understand that if it values the business of a strategic account, designation of the ”key account” status should carry tangible results and be a trigger to the implementation of certain quality control levels.
Key account management must be dynamic and not something that can be assessed and reviewed at some point in the future. Much attention must be paid to this management and while different staff members may approach their engagement from different points of view, the overall goal must always be kept in perspective – ensuring that the client and its senior management are happy with what they receive.
It is a shame, but clients are often disappointed by what they see as a failure to embrace the importance of key account management and by the organisation’s inability to cross the line. For example, the key account wants the pharmaceutical company to be impactive and not just to be visible, to be proactive and not reactive. Clients must be able to see that the company has its best interests at heart and when it comes to the gathering of intelligence and dissemination of information, is on top of its game.
In certain circumstances, the client will be looking to the pharmaceutical company to help it develop its strategies. While there can be many different levels of key account designation and there can and should be variations across client levels, the pharmaceutical company must ensure that its staff at all levels are trained to recognise particular needs. The company must intimately know the client and this does not necessarily mean socially. For example, the company may want to send some of its appropriate staff into the field to work directly with the client and should remember that this can also help to provide an element of in-depth knowledge about the client, intelligence which could be used in the future.
In certain circumstances, the pharmaceutical company may want to perform some work for the client at no charge and this should be assessed at individual level, again showing the need for each client to be treated separately. The moral is that there should be no such thing as a textbook approach to key account management and pharmaceutical consulting firms fully realise this and can help to educate all staff levels in the intricacies of such an approach.
Pharmaceutical companies can often be in a delicate position when it comes to the dissemination of any information seen as being proprietary. It is certainly true that information at these levels can be very powerful and while the client may expect to be given some additional “value” in this respect, the most senior levels of the pharmaceutical company management should discuss this issue with the company’s pharma consulting firm to be sure of the best approach.
The pharmaceutical consultants will help ensure that the company is going above and beyond, over-delivering its part of the equation. If the key account truly is key, all the way down to the bottom line, then a fruitful relationship for the future can be assured.
Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.
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