Building successful global account coverage models is really dependent on your sales organization approach and how you enable delivery to serve and meet your customer’s expectations at the headquarter level, region and local markets.
Some key approaches to consider:
• The sales organization (Global Account Managers, Pre-Sales, Post Sales Support, and Channel) is functionally designed such that is it “easy” for customers to do business with your company within any given market from where the customer operates. For example, ease of doing business means: consistent pricing globally; level of service/support; product availability; and training.
• In some cases, the sales organization may appoint Global Client Directors (or Headquartered Global Account Managers) who manage the customer at the headquarter level, with dedicated or shared local account teams at the region or geographic level. These teams would have shared account revenue and customer satisfaction goals. This drives customer focus across the account globally, ultimately delivering a seamless experience for the customer of the supplier’s products and services.
• The organization is cohesive and “unified” – regardless whether resources are dedicated or shared in that the whole of the team delivers products and services efficiently, effectively and is responsive to customer needs. This is particularly important in post-sales support activities that can have global impact on customer satisfaction levels.
• The organization delivers a consistent and high level of customer interaction globally – through customer quarterly business reviews; executive sponsorship programs and building inter-division relationships.
As you develop your coverage strategy; key questions to ask within your current model:
- Is your current coverage a direct sales model (e.g. your sales teams sell direct to the customer, from pre sales, contract and services delivery)?
- Do you have a mixed model, where you engage high tough account teams but service the customer through local channels or partners?
- What is your competition doing? How are they serving the global account customer? Investigate the various approaches by asking your customer and how they would like to be ideally served.
- Are your services for delivery to the customer aligned to the sales team goals and objectives? Are there common goals?
What has worked well or not so well for your company’s sales approach?