Webinar

Selling to major accounts: a specific type of sale 

What is key account selling? 

Selling to major accounts differs from traditional transactional sales in several ways: 

• Many stakeholders
• Major stakes with significant impacts for the seller and the buyer
• Driver of performance

How to sell to major accounts? 

Selling to major accounts is not done in the same way as in traditional transactional sales. The relational aspect will be paramount. It will be essential to find someone within the buying company who will be an ambassador or a sponsor.

Why sell to key accounts?

Selling to major accounts has significant benefits for a company. 

• It provides references that give credibility to the company.
• For the same revenue, major account sales are much less time-consuming than sales to multiple smaller clients.
• It allows to finance the fixed costs of the company and to invest thanks to sustainable and important volumes of turnover.

The 4 rules of balance for selling to major accounts

Rule 1: Choose your battles

Before launching, it is essential to know the real sponsors and opponents. 

It is also important to ensure that the project is not a "non-project" and that it therefore brings together these 4 elements: 

• Challenges and a trigger
• Decision-makers and a sponsor
• Money
• Timing

Rule 2: Recover objective data

It is also essential to collect objective data in order to not miss any major events.

In practice, it's important to note as many verbatim quotes as possible to gain the most accurate understanding of the client's needs, rather than working from an interpretation of those needs.

Rule 3: Optimize your resources

It is important to allocate a salesperson's time optimally based on the value of the prospects.

Therefore, you must use all available resources across multiple channels: CRM, marketing channels (LinkedIn), etc.

Rule 4: Facilitate co-construction

Selling to major accounts also involves collaboratively building a solution in an agile manner. 

This happens in 3 stages: 

• Understanding the situation and the challenges
• The salesperson's recommendation 
• Setting up the next steps in detail (timing, actions, people)

Pour aller plus loin sur le sujet de la Méthode l’échiquier©, nous vous conseillons ce webinar, animé par Fabien Comtet, CEO de KESTIO : https://www.kestio.com/webinar-vente-complexe