Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Atricle Dump - National Accounts -- How Do You Create a Program That Really Works?
The New York Times was once the epitome of an advanced civilizations newspaper and yet today they have lost much of their luster. So many things have happened that have tarnished its once strong brand for truthful journalism. It seems the cheating that goes on in High School and college with plagiarism and cheating on tests has indeed permeated the journalistic ethics of the once great New York Times.Reporters have used false news items, made up quotes and plagiarized material in New York Times articles. Reporters have given away secrets of our nation in the newspaper and aided our enemies. There have been firings and resignations at all levels of the New York Times and some wonder what will be the next scandal there?It took decades for the New York Times to build up its brand name and yet today it seems they will do anything to attack President Bush or spin the news to a liberal biased skew even if they have to make up stories to do it. Does this truly help their liberal audience or does it detract from truth in journalism?This is a great Branding case study in that it shows that if you live by the sword and do so in falsehood and without honor or integrity then you will most likely die by the sword into a sea of blood.The Un-Branding of the New York Times is almost completed and yet it is amazing how they were able to throw that much goodwill down the drain so quickly simple due to their Hate of President Bush. Too bad really, but indeed if they will not write with integrity then they need not be the top respected newspaper of this Nation or of the World. Consider this in 2006.
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution ind
Many new freelancers who start out in their first projects have the unfortunate tendency to go in over their heads. I know for sure since it happened to yours truly. Im sure most freelancers can agree that when first starting out, they worry more about how you will find your next projects instead of focusing on the one they already have. Well, I happened to have found a quick project and upon looking at my qualifications, my employer thought it would be good to hire me for a different, longer term project. A freelancers dream, right? At least I thought so. It was my very first project and I thought I hit a home run at my very first at bat. Now, Im a computer programmer/web developer, but Ill spare the gory techie details for those of you not in this field. I started out being given usernames, passwords and my project assignment, uploading and installing certain website components. There were no other instructions and only the expectation of me to have them installed within a week. I didnt ask too many questions nor were many asked of me when I went to work. After all, it seemed straightforward. Plus, I had the best working situation: I was told to keep track of my hours and record them since I was being paid by my own rate. I have to admit, it did cross my mind to pad the hours a little, however, I was more interested in making a good impression, so I kept track of it to the exact minute. The week passed and I had worked approximately thirty hours on this very project. It turned out to be quite a challenge from what I had expected until my project manager had a look at the work that I had done over the course of the week. Then came the unexpected. Not only had I installed the wrong components, but I deleted existing components that were needed. To make matters worse, I took too much time to finish and it should have been done in a third of the time (especially given that I was charging a fairly high rate). I wasnt given much of a notice, but I had been terminated from the project and had been told to submit my hours and I would be paid f
Regain Power by Offering Competitive Advantage
National accounts, by definition, have significant size and buying power which provide leverage in demanding lower prices. In addition, because of their complexity and demographics, they are often more difficult and expensive to service. Consequently, most national accounts are the least profitable.
In response, you need to make a concentrated effort to effectively rebalance the shift of power by offering significant competitive advantages that make your products and services more critical to your national accounts. Without creating competitive advantage, you will be tied to the downward price spiral that eats margin and effectively negates any understanding by your customers that "price is not the same as cost." A structured national accounts program with definitive guidelines is the first step toward gaining competitive advantage. There are four basic broad categories of added value that create competitive advantage:
1. Processes that streamline your customers' productivity, improve quality, take transaction costs out of the supply chain and provide measurable savings (unrelated to price).
2. Administrative and technical support that can reduce your customers' internal costs enough to affect bottom line operating costs.
3. Sales and marketing support that can increase your customers' top line.
4. Technology that is core to your customers' business results, yet is beyond their internal capabilities. Your national accounts program should refocus your efforts on all of these issues.
Four Fundamentals
The ultimate success of a national accounts program depends on the hard work and team participation of all company employees involved in the process. There are four basic fundamentals of success in any national accounts program:
1. Knowledge - Study the internal processes of your company and/or the internal workings of your national accounts program if you already have one in place.
2. Understanding - Research the business environment in which your company operates and the resulting defined objectives for a national accounts program.
3. Clarity - Identify the big picture of market and customer demand and direction. This should be a true understanding of what your corporation is trying to accomplish in total.
4. Commitment - Secure the commitment of your entire company.
Knowledge
It is essential to outline the objectives of your program, the process involved, and the direction to take in order to receive help and support when necessary. If you have no program in effect, it is critical to develop this process.
Second, activity measurement and open communication (both up and down the chain of command) are absolutely critical for success. Accountability is an absolute necessity and it must be clearly defined. Support from your company's information management system can provide the fundamental elements of success for the national accounts program. A weak information system could leave dangerous voids or even misrepresent the true picture of the national accounts program.
Understanding
Understanding brings the field view (external view) closer to corporate headquarters. An internal company survey may provide the necessary clarity as to how a national accounts program is perceived. Input from local account representatives and branch managers is very important. Your company needs to explore how things are being done and how an existing program is perceived. Most importantly, input from the field with recommendations is essential. If you currently have no program, the survey is even more critical to the initial development stage of a new program. Understanding actual needs of the national account is also critical to the success of your program. To get a better understanding, ask the following questions:
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution indu
Gimmicks are cute but they do not give you the aura of professionalism. Of course, it depends on what you are planning to do with your business. If you are selling Clown services, then use all the gimmicks you can find. If you are a serious accountant, then the gimmicks should go or at least be downplayed. By gimmicks, I mean the one liners that follow you company name and logo. For example I saw a sign outside a pet store that was trying to sell pet spiders. They had to find a way to get people interested and therefore came up with a gimmick to get attention. Their sign read, Divorces $5000, Tarantula's $19.95. It certainly caught everyone's attention but in the long run they did not sell too many spiders. I wonder if they sold any divorces? The point is, the gimmick attrated attention but did not turn gazers into customers. Another company I worked with wanted to use a gimmick to get attention and hopefully that would translate into sales. After much thought, they decided that they would use a chili cook-off at their location to catch attention. All of their marketing materials were based around being hot. The company was a food manufacturer for bean products. If you are planning to use a gimmick, make sure it fits with the image you are trying to portray. If it does not, change it to fit. If you want a truly professional image, choose the gimmicks carefully. They will need to attract attention in the way you want to attract it.
1. Processes that streamline your customers' productivity, improve quality, take transaction costs out of the supply chain and provide measurable savings (unrelated to price).
2. Administrative and technical support that can reduce your customers' internal costs enough to affect bottom line operating costs.
3. Sales and marketing support that can increase your customers' top line.
4. Technology that is core to your customers' business results, yet is beyond their internal capabilities. Your national accounts program should refocus your efforts on all of these issues.
Four Fundamentals
The ultimate success of a national accounts program depends on the hard work and team participation of all company employees involved in the process. There are four basic fundamentals of success in any national accounts program:
1. Knowledge - Study the internal processes of your company and/or the internal workings of your national accounts program if you already have one in place.
2. Understanding - Research the business environment in which your company operates and the resulting defined objectives for a national accounts program.
3. Clarity - Identify the big picture of market and customer demand and direction. This should be a true understanding of what your corporation is trying to accomplish in total.
4. Commitment - Secure the commitment of your entire company.
Knowledge
It is essential to outline the objectives of your program, the process involved, and the direction to take in order to receive help and support when necessary. If you have no program in effect, it is critical to develop this process.
Second, activity measurement and open communication (both up and down the chain of command) are absolutely critical for success. Accountability is an absolute necessity and it must be clearly defined. Support from your company's information management system can provide the fundamental elements of success for the national accounts program. A weak information system could leave dangerous voids or even misrepresent the true picture of the national accounts program.
Understanding
Understanding brings the field view (external view) closer to corporate headquarters. An internal company survey may provide the necessary clarity as to how a national accounts program is perceived. Input from local account representatives and branch managers is very important. Your company needs to explore how things are being done and how an existing program is perceived. Most importantly, input from the field with recommendations is essential. If you currently have no program, the survey is even more critical to the initial development stage of a new program. Understanding actual needs of the national account is also critical to the success of your program. To get a better understanding, ask the following questions:
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution ind
If you are a small business owner and have finally come to the decision that you company needs a letterhead then you are definitely going in the right direction. However, there are some things to consider before you make your letterhead. After all first impressions are important and you dont want to send the wrong one. So what are some technique and design considerations for creating a professional letterhead that makes your company look like a thousand bucks! The guides, ideas and tips below will help you learn what goes into a great letterhead. You can use this if you are planning on making the letterhead on your own or even if you want to hire a designer to do your ltter head for you. Either way the tips will help build your knowledge and you will know what to look for.KISS of Keep It Simple (Stupid) Sorry dont meant o insult anyone on this one but one of the most important factors of a letterhead is to keep it simple. Many companies fall into the glamour and glitz trap as they add lots of bling, flashing text, and fancy lettering to their letterhead. However, just a little bit goes a long way and you do not want to overdo it on the embellishment. Typically a more professional technique is to go for a subdue or understated look. Thing classic when you are considering your letterhead design. You want to keep all extra elements off the page.Where is your Focus? Next you will want to consider what is the most important part of your business and make sure the design will provide enough interest and focus to hold the viewrs attention. It is important to plan how you want a view to look at your letterhead. Where to you want their gaze to fall first? How will their eyes move around the design and where do you want them to look last. Typically your business name is the most important branding piece of your letterhead and therefore it should be the focus. So you want to create some design elements that will draw the view into the area where you have your business name. Typically your business name should go in the center of the design with some type of lines or design eleme
Four Fundamentals
The ultimate success of a national accounts program depends on the hard work and team participation of all company employees involved in the process. There are four basic fundamentals of success in any national accounts program:
1. Knowledge - Study the internal processes of your company and/or the internal workings of your national accounts program if you already have one in place.
2. Understanding - Research the business environment in which your company operates and the resulting defined objectives for a national accounts program.
3. Clarity - Identify the big picture of market and customer demand and direction. This should be a true understanding of what your corporation is trying to accomplish in total.
4. Commitment - Secure the commitment of your entire company.
Knowledge
It is essential to outline the objectives of your program, the process involved, and the direction to take in order to receive help and support when necessary. If you have no program in effect, it is critical to develop this process.
Second, activity measurement and open communication (both up and down the chain of command) are absolutely critical for success. Accountability is an absolute necessity and it must be clearly defined. Support from your company's information management system can provide the fundamental elements of success for the national accounts program. A weak information system could leave dangerous voids or even misrepresent the true picture of the national accounts program.
Understanding
Understanding brings the field view (external view) closer to corporate headquarters. An internal company survey may provide the necessary clarity as to how a national accounts program is perceived. Input from local account representatives and branch managers is very important. Your company needs to explore how things are being done and how an existing program is perceived. Most importantly, input from the field with recommendations is essential. If you currently have no program, the survey is even more critical to the initial development stage of a new program. Understanding actual needs of the national account is also critical to the success of your program. To get a better understanding, ask the following questions:
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution ind
Baby boomer, have you started writing your business or professional memoirs? Writing a memoir about a business or company history is something that does not always cross the mind of a busy professional person. Maybe you havent even thought of recording your business or professional story? Here you are, working hard all of your life to build a business, reach certain levels in your company, or become a successful entrepreneur. What youve learned over the years wont be found in any bookshelf, right? So why will you let all of that wisdom be lost to future generations forever?If you dont write your business story, who will? My husband and I recently saw a movie staring Jack Nicholson called About Schmidt. In it, Schmidt retires from a insurance company thinking others will surely want to carry on and implement the good ideas he started. On the way to the garage, Schmidt passes the loading bin for trash pick-up and notices his box full of good ideas in line to be dumped.Thats what can happen when you dont take the time to record some of the important parts of your professional life. It can be totally forgotten. What you learned and accomplished in life has great merit. Write it down. If you wonder what to write about here are just a few ideas to get you thinking: Tell the story of your company, business, or practice Turn your professional skills and expertise into exciting lessons Use professional experiences to tell others the success of your business Share your management or leadership tips Present your expert knowledge on marketing professional services Share other unique business storiesYou can do this by taking the time to get your memoirs about your professional life on paper. Two misconceptions about memoirs usually keep a professional person from thinking of a memoir as a way to express him or herself. These are1. Memoirs take too long. Actually, a memoir is only on every focused presentation of one event, situation, memory, etc. The autobiography is a chronological presentation of an entire life, a very different type
It is essential to outline the objectives of your program, the process involved, and the direction to take in order to receive help and support when necessary. If you have no program in effect, it is critical to develop this process.
Second, activity measurement and open communication (both up and down the chain of command) are absolutely critical for success. Accountability is an absolute necessity and it must be clearly defined. Support from your company's information management system can provide the fundamental elements of success for the national accounts program. A weak information system could leave dangerous voids or even misrepresent the true picture of the national accounts program.
Understanding
Understanding brings the field view (external view) closer to corporate headquarters. An internal company survey may provide the necessary clarity as to how a national accounts program is perceived. Input from local account representatives and branch managers is very important. Your company needs to explore how things are being done and how an existing program is perceived. Most importantly, input from the field with recommendations is essential. If you currently have no program, the survey is even more critical to the initial development stage of a new program. Understanding actual needs of the national account is also critical to the success of your program. To get a better understanding, ask the following questions:
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution ind
Canvas printing is one of the most widely used methods for publicity. Publicity and promotion methods have undergone huge changes and today business owners and people who are in the promotion business look for means that are the most innovative and have the power to reach out to a wider audience. Canvas printing is not only a wonderful publicity method, but is also just the right platform where one can display their personal art work and photographs. All one needs to do is make sure that they are dealing with the right people to get the work done efficiently. Canvas printing can be done in any size, color and feel depending on hoe you would like your canvas printing to be. So if you are really serious about promoting something or simply want to show to the work your artistic talents, you can do this very easily through canvas printing.Finding out a firm that works efficiently in making canvas printing can get really tough on if you do not make good efforts for this. Well there are numerous firms that work in this area, and it is certain that you will find one that suits your requirements. You just have to be cautious about certain things and you can get the best canvas printing for your cause. If you want to promote any cause through canvas printing, this is an excellent choice you have made. There are several things which you can accomplish through canvas printing. First you can get huge publicity for the cause that you are supporting and second you can add your personal touch in making the proportion through canvas printing.Ideally canvas printing means an image which has been printed on a canvas. Reproduction of original art work can be done on canvas with inkjet printers or dry sublimation. Earlier only offset printing was use for this and the results were also not too encouraging. With the use of the latest technology for canvas printing, the picture quality has improved to a great extent. That is not all, professionals those who are working for canvas printing can easily incorporate different features in the picture depending on client preference. This is a great means through which one can
What do national account types really value?
What motivates our suppliers to negotiate special terms for these accounts?
Do these accounts view our company as partners?
What do we know about their business?
Are we truly the primary source of supply?
Can we create a win-win situation?
Clarity
Everyone must have a clear understanding of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Recognizing the volatility of the environment is a valuable piece of the puzzle. Your company needs to catch up to the pace of change within the distribution industry to maintain competitive advantage. Remember, "Perceived value drives expectations" and "Performance value drives customer satisfaction."
Raise your customers' perceived value high enough and you create "competitive advantage" which is the first step towards rebalancing the shift of power inherent in any national accounts program.
While the knowledge aspect of the national accounts program is heavily weighted toward internal perspective, clarity needs to be weighted toward your external environment. You must be clearly aware of market dynamics, including technology and other external forces shaping your particular industry and driving behavior of the national accounts customers. You must evaluate events and trends using an anticipatory perspective in relationship to your competition. You need to ask yourself these questions:
How is the industry different today regarding what is expected from a national accounts program?
What will be considered by 2007?
What are our competitors doing in serving national accounts?
What technologies offer the most potential, both as products and tools?
What actions are our competitors taking to gain advantage?
How will our suppliers react to our strategy?
Commitment
A National Accounts Program cannot be treated like a member of the "flavor of the month" club. Everyone needs to take it seriously. Commitment is required by everyone. This is not something you dabble in. That is why it is important to put the time and attention into the planning process before getting wet. Understand your objectives.
The only reason a company should embark on a national accounts program is to obtain sales and market share that in total is profitable for the company and meets the criteria of corporate strategic objectives.
The corporate objectives of the national accounts program may be outlined as follows:
Develop a national presence in the marketplace
Enhance the company image and credibility
Develop impressive client references
Support growth with preferred vendors
Create synergy with the corporate mission statement
Rebalance the shift of power and profitability in the national account program
One of the core problems facing many national accounts programs is the need to overlay a centralized sales function on an established decentralized sales force. In the past, your processes and systems may not have enabled customers, prospects, or even your own field sales representatives to make informed, favorable decisions.
How Do We Get Started?
Step 1: Define the Players
Clearly define independent responsibilities of each player contributing to the success of the national accounts program.
Director of National Accounts
Serves as liaison with national account at corporate level.
Approves and helps establish "Rules of Engagement.
Provides support to local management.
Monitors the activity between national account representatives and local branches.
Determines qualification criteria. Reviews qualification process.
National Account Manager
Supports/initiates implementation of national account program.
Calls on national account corporate purchasing.
Responds to issues and requests from the customer and company personnel.
Meets and interacts with your customers' top decision makers.
Helps customers, even in areas unrelated to company products and service. Communicates effectively with local branch management and local account representatives.
Branch Manager
Manages activity of local account representatives.
Supports both corporate and local national account sales efforts
Monitors national account activity, service level, and provides guidance to local account representative
Reports progress.
Interacts with Director of National Accounts on any and all national account issues.
Local Account Manager
Manages consigned inventory
Grows sales of non-contract items
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.articledump.net/article/38762/articledump-National-Accounts--How-Do-You-Create-a-Program-That-Really-Works.html">National Accounts -- How Do You Create a Program That Really Works?</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.articledump.net/article/38762/articledump-National-Accounts--How-Do-You-Create-a-Program-That-Really-Works.html]National Accounts -- How Do You Create a Program That Really Works?[/url]
Related Articles:
Top Ten Oscar Nominees Who Got Their Start on TV
A Neglected Challenge of Business
Culture As A Barrier To Communication
Bookmark it:
|