Home / Non-Accredited / Sales, Marketing & Customer Care / Key Account Management Training (2 days)
Quick Look Course Summary:Key Account Management Training (2 days)
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Length: 2 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 10,326 EX VAT 3 Person R 7,594 EX VAT 10 Person R 5,537 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Key Account Management Training (2 days)
Your account managers leave with a working plan for each of their most valuable clients – and the habits to grow and defend those relationships year after year.
In most B2B businesses a small group of clients brings in most of the revenue. Lose one of them and the year's numbers change. Yet many account teams give those clients the same reactive service as everyone else, rely on one friendly contact and only hear about a problem when the contract goes to a competitor. Key account management training fixes that by giving your people a deliberate way to manage the accounts that matter most.
Over two practical days, delegates work on their own client list. Day one covers choosing and segmenting key accounts, understanding the client's business and procurement pressures (including B-BBEE preferential procurement where it applies), mapping the people who influence decisions and writing an account plan. Day two moves to growth and defence: increasing share of wallet, spotting competitor activity early, planning renewals well before they fall due and tracking account health.
Delegates leave with a draft plan for at least one real key account and a review rhythm to keep it current.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Less revenue risk from depending on a handful of clients
- Written account plans instead of knowledge locked in one person's head
- Earlier warning when a key client is at risk
- More growth from existing clients through planned cross-selling
- Sales, service and finance teams aligned around each key account
For your delegates
- A simple model to rank and segment your own accounts
- A stakeholder map and account plan for a real client
- Practical ways to raise growth conversations without pressure
- A renewal plan that starts months before expiry
- An account health checklist to use every month
What delegates will be able to do
- Distinguish a key account from a customer who is simply large or demanding
- Rank and segment a client portfolio by value, strategic fit and growth potential
- Analyse a client's industry, goals and pressures and link your offering to them
- Map decision makers, influencers and users and plan who to engage
- Build a key account plan with objectives, actions, owners and dates
- Identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities that genuinely serve the client
- Recognise early signs of competitor activity and respond in proportion
- Plan and lead renewal conversations, including renegotiation
- Track account health and report it clearly inside your own organisation
Who should attend
B2B sales consultants, account managers, key account managers and sales team leaders who look after ongoing client relationships – in manufacturing, distribution, financial services, IT, logistics, professional services and similar sectors. It is written for people who manage clients over years, not for once-off or retail floor sales.
Course outline
Day 1 – Choosing and planning key accounts
What key account management is
- The difference between a customer and a key account
- Why key accounts carry more risk and more opportunity
- How key account management differs from day-to-day selling
- What losing one of your top five clients would really cost
Identifying and segmenting key accounts
- Ranking criteria: revenue, margin, strategic fit and growth potential
- Building a simple segmentation grid for your own portfolio
- Separating genuine key accounts from accounts that only feel important
- Deciding how much time and resource each segment deserves
Understanding the client's business
- Researching the client's industry, competitors and strategy
- Procurement pressures: cost, supplier reduction and B-BBEE preferential procurement
- Linking your offering to the client's own business goals
- Signals of risk and opportunity in the relationship
Stakeholder mapping in the client organisation
- Decision makers, influencers, gatekeepers and users
- Mapping support, neutrality and resistance
- Planning who to engage, when and with what message
- Building relationships at more than one level so you never depend on a single contact
Building the key account plan
- Setting account objectives for the next twelve months
- Turning objectives into actions with owners and dates
- Getting service, operations and finance behind the plan
- Workshop: drafting a plan for one of your own accounts
Day 2 – Growing and protecting key accounts
Growing share of wallet
- Finding needs the client has that you do not yet meet
- Cross-selling and upselling responsibly
- Timing growth conversations around the client's budget and planning cycle
- Building a business case your contact can take to their own management
Protecting the relationship from competitors
- Early warning signs that a competitor is circling
- Building value beyond price: service, access and insight
- Responding to a competitive threat without panic discounting
- Keeping senior relationships warm between deals
Managing renewals and renegotiation
- Starting the renewal conversation months before expiry
- Handling price objections and requests for concessions
- Trading concessions rather than giving them away
- Turning a renewal into a growth opportunity
Measuring account health
- Simple indicators of a healthy account and an at-risk account
- Using client feedback, order patterns and service data as early signals
- Running a quarterly business review with the client
- Reporting account status internally
Pulling it together
- Finalising your account plan
- A personal action plan for your top accounts
- Setting a monthly and quarterly review rhythm
- Evaluation and close
How it is delivered
Two days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20. Delegates bring details of their own accounts so the plans they build are real; client information is treated as confidential and can be anonymised. Workbook, account-planning templates and a stakeholder map included.
What our clients say
“The sessions … were exceptionally well-organized and seamlessly integrated into our schedule. We were highly impressed by the calibre of the training and the deep expertise demonstrated by the facilitator.”
“…the general feedback received was that the course was very informative and participative. The training and the facilitator was of a high quality. We highly recommend BOTI for training services.”
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa. We can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of about 20. In-house groups work especially well because colleagues who share accounts can plan them together.
Is it accredited?
No. It is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Do delegates work on their real accounts?
Yes – that is the intention. Delegates bring their own client list and leave with a draft plan for at least one key account. If confidentiality is a concern, accounts can be anonymised.
How is this different from your sales and negotiation courses?
Sales Skills: Basic Training is about winning new business, and Key Negotiation Skills (1 day) is about the negotiation itself. Key Account Management is about planning, growing and protecting the clients you already have, over years rather than single deals.
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