Develop and manage strategic relationships with major customers
Overview
This standard is about developing and managing business relationships at a strategic level with major customers. This is sometimes referred to as partnership or trusted advisor selling and involves developing a two-way partnership with customers selected for their importance to your organisation. It often involves a team of experienced individuals with responsibility for retaining and developing a profitable business relationship with major customers. This standard is for senior sales professionals with responsibility for developing and managing strategic relationships with major customers.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
1. use relevant criteria to select and manage your organisation’s major customers
2. analyse and evaluate your major customers’ business and their corporate and marketing strategies
3. establish the future strategic and operational business challenges faced by the major customers
4. identify and agree prioritised common business objectives between your organisation and the customers in accordance with both organisations’ financial objectives and business strategies
5. work with the major customers to agree objectives and identify their challenges
6. evaluate how the business objectives are achieved in line with the customers’ strategic options
7. develop a plan and actions towards customers’ challenges and objectives
8. identify the key areas of business expertise required in the team to work with the major customers
9. identify appropriate professionals in the team to build effective business relations with the major customers
10. support strategic relationship development with the major customers
11. ensure the team acts as a focus for all interactions with the major customers
12. create value in influencing the customers’ business direction
13. monitor and evaluate the activities in developing the strategic relationship with the major customers, including the return on investment (ROI)
14. identify and address any concerns regarding the outcomes of activities in accordance with the organisation’s aims and business objectives
15. maintain ongoing relationships with major customers, including succession planning
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
1. the current legal, regulatory and ethical requirements affecting your organisation’s industry or sector and major customers
2. the range of market developments in your organisation’s sector and the major customers
3. the relevant standards of behaviour and performance in the industry or sector, and that of the major customers
4. the vision, values, objectives and plans of your and major customers’ organisations
5. the criteria to use for a customer receiving investment towards its retention and development
6. the principles of strategic management and business planning
7. the objectives and challenges within a strategic business plan with major customers
8. how to reflect corporate social responsibility within the strategy for working with major customers
9. how to identify and assess potential risks in relation to the achievement of objectives
10. how to delegate responsibilities and allocate resources across teams to support working with major customers
11. how to identify and meet the information needs of your colleagues and contacts working for major customers
12. the types of information to provide to your colleagues, including those working for major customers
13. the factors that need to be taken into consideration when working for major customers
14. the importance of taking account the views of your colleagues and major customers, particularly in relation to their priorities and business objectives
15. how to recognise and take account of political issues when working with your colleagues and major customers
16. how to manage the expectations of your colleagues and major customers
17. how to monitor and review the performance of the business relationship with major customers
18. how to identify conflicts of interest with your colleagues and major customers and the actions to overcome these conflicts
19. how to develop measures and methods for monitoring and evaluating the relationship with major customers, including the return on investment (ROI)