Global Account Management: Creating Value

The globalisation of many industries has created a unique opportunity to interact with a client on a coordinated global basis. Traditional markets are saturated, industries have consolidated, customer bases are shrinking, and purchasing processes are changing. Many companies are faced with handling large global customers, and this requires special expertise, systems and organizational alignment to ensure a long-term supplier-buyer relationship.

The practice of global account management (GAM) requires the development of a new structure, which is needed to support the global account manager. Companies are struggling with the components of this new structure as well as with GAM's role providing additional value for the global account, which could not be provided effectively at the local level. Supported by case studies and interviews, this book examines the key aspects of developing and managing global customers.

If you buy a new BMW you may be surprised as much by the owner's manual as by the car itself. Thin, personalized, and containing information only on the features you have selected in the language you speak, it is the result of a year's collaboration with Xerox that has radically improved the product and decimated costs. It is just one example of the new organizational structures and processes being developed at leading companies to serve the global marketplace. As firms realize that dealing with global customers is not simply an extension of key account management, their most common response is to launch a formal global account management initiative. Done well this is powerful and effective; however without proper planning it can spell disaster. Drawing on widely accepted 'key success factors' for global account management as well as new elements revealed by their research, David Hennessy and Jean-Pierre Jeannet redefine the process global account management around the premise that sustainable value springs only from an expert understanding of the customer's industry, its structure and its strategy. The book covers all critical aspects of the topic (the planning process, account selection, team building, executive support, global IT requirements, compensation structures and more) and draws on interviews with top global account managers at leading companies including IBM, Cable and Wireless, Siemens, HP, Guinness, Cisco, and Procter & Gamble.