Fantastic Suggestions On The Real Metric Behind Customer Contribution
Customer contribution must become a more important metric, when key account management designation is under consideration. A pharmaceutical consultant must impress upon senior management that traditional measures used to define a client's contribution are no longer adequate. In the days when money seemed to flow a lot more freely and the business world was far less complex, management decision-makers could often refer to the monthly sales volume, or market share when considering how important the particular client was to the overall mix. At that time, calculations were relatively simple and were based on how much money came through the pipeline from a particular client and how much was spent in terms of time and effort by the pharmaceutical company in order to ensure that the client was relatively happy.
Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical marketing training teaches us that key account management is only one part of several major components, when customer relationship marketing and management is considered. While considering the management of key accounts, it's important to analyse the customer portfolio, consider the lifetime value potential, an increasingly more important metric that should determine whether the life cycle is likely linked to a particular product, trend or other value. A pharmaceutical consultancy knows only too well that key account management can only be successful if an "appropriate" relationship is developed and that in this particular field, one size most certainly does not fit all.
The customer's contribution can often be very difficult to calculate and determine. Can we assume that the customer is a strategic ally of some kind in the marketplace? This is far from a straightforward analysis, as industrial politics could determine that a particular customer be designated as "key," even though they may be far from one of the leading contributors to the overall financial pot. In terms of lobbying or other methods of tangible or intangible support, it could be well worthwhile for the company to elevate this particular client to a pedestal, alongside those who may be contributing a great deal more in financial terms.
Pharmaceutical marketing training must be able to recognise the diverse contributions that each and every client makes and how rather subtle elements could translate into potential benefits for the company. The pharmaceutical consultant might even have to engage in a certain amount of psychological analysis, training those who are on the front-line to adequately interpret the finer details associated with these accounts.
It appears that almost 2/3 of pharmaceutical companies are not really aware of this approach and consider that key account management is dictated almost exclusively by sales volume alone. This is where a good pharmaceutical consultancy will step in, bringing education to the line and helping to educate representatives for the task ahead. As it becomes ever more difficult to adequately communicate with the end user, it follows that the company should become ever more strategic in the way that it micromanages its existing client base. It's no longer acceptable to use a broad brush when it comes to pharmaceutical marketing training, as specific attention has to be paid to colouring in the finer detail, as the world of key account management is reborn.
Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.
