Pharmaceutical companies understand how tough life can be. Just think how many different bosses they have to answer to, some of whom have very little to do with a bottom-line result. While they are trying to generate and develop meaningful relationships with the most important clients while determining how best to handle key account management, they also have to address the demands and whines of regulators, auditors and other forces.

The pharmaceutical company must understand that key account management tactics are very important, while also requiring a dynamic approach, flexible positions and creativity. There are several layers of communication within a pharmaceutical company responsible for dealing with the key account and this must be clearly delineated or confusion will result. However, it is also true to say that these individual “points” could view the key account from different perspectives, depending upon the job level and/or driving force.

Most pharma consulting experts advise us that a sales executive on the front line, if he or she is motivated by revenues, could not ultimately have the best interests of the client or the company in focus. This is often not a cut and dried situation but rather very subtle, and can nevertheless have an effect on the overall relationship between the two organisations.

Key accounts provide a level of cash flow-based stability to a pharmaceutical company that is difficult to replicate. However, the designation of “key account” status should not be given lightly. While the scale of the potential business is important, a number of other critical factors must be applied. It is possible that a high-volume could result in a low bottom-line return, due to the cost of servicing the needs of the client and razor thin margins.

A well-known metric is applied in most business situations, telling us that 80% of the value is often supplied by only 20% of the clients. As such, once an account is designated as potentially “key,” it should be segmented and categorised to determine the best approach. It is perfectly feasible to have several different layers of key account management, and middle management and those who interact with clients on a regular basis must be properly trained in a variety of ways to handle each level.

There are several ways to look at whether a client qualifies as a key account or not including total volume of sales, percentage allocation of profits, the rate at which the company is growing compared to average and by comparison to others across the board.

A pharmaceutical consulting firm fully understands that not all clients are created alike and further, that not all key accounts are alike, either. In most cases, pharmaceutical consultants have seen how to handle these different levels of accounts successfully and can help to tutor the company’s various staffing elements accordingly. It is best if the pharmaceutical company develops a critical statement outlining the terms of the relationship with each and every client. The company should never possess a standard description of any kind, fully recognising that the key account is so important to the company’s long-term viability, thereby resulting in all staff members being fully trained to recognise the significant difference between an “orange and an apple,” so to speak.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

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