If your top 20 accounts asked you today to provide them with a retrospective report on the value you created for them over the past year, would you be able to provide one? Or, would you be in a scramble trying to pull something together?
According to research conducted by The RAIN Group, “most executives believe they are not generating maximum revenue and profit, nor are they maintaining the highest levels of loyalty possible, with their existing accounts.” Strategic accounts are those that are, or have the potential to be the most profitable over a long period of time, and they should be viewed as long-term investments. This means maximum efforts should be exerted by the agency to provide capabilities, resources and (most importantly!) value.
So, how do you develop a strategy that will optimize your opportunities with your top accounts and help you predict and meet your goals?
Here are a few steps to consider:
(1) Include all agency stakeholders in the planning process—producers, account managers and other stakeholders should work together to understand the needs and wants of the client, and to discover new ways to bring value to the relationship.
(2) Analyze, assess and research. Think about past successes and failures in order to determine how to move forward, and become familiar with all aspects of the account (technical and otherwise).
(3) Develop action steps to establish and/or grow a collaborative relationship. Know what you are seeking. Is a goal to cross-sell additional lines of coverage? How will you keep the account growing, and identify problems/opportunities?
(4) Execute enthusiastically and consistently taking into account that your success is linked to their success. It is important to maintain transparency within and outside of the agency to work collaboratively and achieve the best outcomes.
(5) Measure success, and re-evaluate your action steps and goals regularly.
Creating a plan for the client-agency relationship with strategic accounts not only secures business, it also lessens the burden of developing plans close to renewal—or worse yet, when the client asks “what have you done for me lately?”