The four key areas of account management

HRG was the first corporate travel company to adopt a formal approach to travel management. Since the late 1980’s we have led the field in the development of account management and today client management sits at the core of our overall proposition.

This HRG Perspective will share an insight into the development of an effective account management programme. It is based partly on the findings of a recognised independent study, and largely on its practical application in the field - working with clients across many different industries and market sectors.

In 1996 a study was conducted by The Performa Group to gain senior executive opinion about the performance of supplier account management. One of the first major studies of its kind, this research was focused specifically on the role of the account manager and gained executive decision maker feedback from over 50 of the FTSE 100 companies. It tackled a wide range of issues and one of the primary conclusions identified that the majority of major clients wanted their supplier account managers to deliver performance and value in just four key areas:

• Commercial: to manage the contract, review progress and oversee financial performance (savings)
• Service: to ensure that the service is delivered to the required standard and act swiftly if/when problems arise
• Relationship: to manage effective multi-level relationships, influence decisions, and be able “make things happen”
• Development: to identify opportunities, share best practices and be proactive and forthcoming with ideas

The study went on to highlight the extent to which many supplier account managers were either focused on the wrong subjects, or spent their time working on issues that were in the interest of the supplier, more than the interest of the client. Whilst it was recognised that good account managers will always be developing new opportunities, their primary focus should be on satisfying the needs of the client (which if executed well, leads to increased client satisfaction – and ultimately to new business).

Many things have changed over the subsequent years, but the principles of this original study remain very current and applicable today. A skilled account manager, who is focused on the client and manages their time effectively (working in the four key areas above) will generally be very successful for both the client and for the supplier organisation. The performance will increase even further when the decision on where and when to invest time and effort is prioritised and agreed in partnership with the client.

At HRG today, we place great emphasis on business planning and ensuring that we have a clear strategy agreed and in place with each client. We don’t necessarily write this plan in the structure of the original Four Key Areas of Account Management, but the principles of the system are always in the background.

A simple quadrant model can be used to summarise where the account manager’s time and effort is currently spent. This can be compared to where the client would like to see increased investment and the business plan can be adjusted accordingly.

In essence, the account manager will always be active in one of these four quadrants, but the amount of time and effort spent in each area needs to be completely in tune with the client expectation and objectives.

If there is any gap (or variance) between the client perspective and the supplier perspective, the recommendation will always be to make change – either to adjust and re-focus time, or to recommend that different (more specialist) resources are applied to address the issue.