You're the new account manager on an old account

March 24, 2012:

One of our top reps left this week.  This was the second company we had worked for together.  Really going to miss him being on our team.  He had about 10 very good buying accounts with lots of deals on the table.

So this weeks blog is about;  What do you do when taking over someone else's account?  How do you establish your brand and your style while keeping a customer happy?

Over the last 20 years there have been literally hundreds of sales reps leave the companies I've been with.  The algorithm that I've learned over those 20 years is:  33% of the customers stay, 33% of the customers leave and 33% of the customers are up for grabs.

What can we do to maximize that 33% that are up for grabs?

First, identify who the flight risks are.  If you're the rep taking over the accounts you need to quickly make appointments with everyone that will meet with you.  You're going to have to dig in.  I like meeting with the field staff first and on very friendly terms.  Happy hour, sporting events, somewhere away from the office.  I need intel and these guys generally have it.

Second, ask the "champion" in the account what they liked about their old rep.  If the departing salesman and the champion went to grade school together, just hope your former co-worker didn't go to a competitor.  What we're looking for here is, if the champion likes our company as much or more than they liked the previous sales person.  Also, we need to refine our intelligence gathered from the field staff.

Third, meet with the decision makers and get your brand established.  Here it is very important to find a new project or continue any current project with military precision.  The execution of this project is, I think, key to keeping this account.

It is also very important that already established relationships with engineers, product managers, executives get revisited during this transition.  It's going to take a team effort.  Don't go down alone.  Make sure that all eyes and hands available touch this account and make them feel important because, THEY ARE.  We all know the old axiom, "it is far easier to keep a customer than to find a new one".

With that, I picked up three of my friends accounts.  Next week looked like a nice leisurely swim into the end of the quarter but, not now.  I'll be on the phone and in the car meeting with my new customers.

Stay persistent my friends.