Professional account managers (a.k.a. professional sales...

Professional account managers (a.k.a. professional sales representatives) are often given accounts that have been previously managed by others. This occurs for reasons such as a colleague leaving the firm, promotion to a management position, territory realignments, and even a miss-match of communication styles between the buyer and the original sales representative. The first part of our project involves territory realignment for NewNet Systems, a Value-Added Reseller that provides B2B network products and services.

To begin, read the company details in Appendix 2 of your textbook. Following are the sections you should read carefully. 

• Introduction to Multiple Account Management Selling
• Introduction to Your New Employer – NewNet Systems
• Introduction to Your New Account Management Position
• Introduction to Your NewNet Systems Account Reports (Contact Screenshots from the CRM Program)

After reviewing and understanding the scenario of your new position at NewNet Systems, go to Chapter 9 in your textbook. At the end of the chapter, you will find the details specific to this part of the Course Project. Read the Chapter 9 details, titled Developing and Qualifying the Account Database carefully.

Assignment Questions

1. Use the 20 new account CRM Contact Screenshots found in Appendix 2 to complete the metrics report (table) for your meeting with your manager Casey. The report should contain the following headings.
2. Anticipated Close Date
3. Account Name
4. Contact Name
5. Communication Style
6. Stage of the Selling Process
7. Anticipated Dollar Amount
8. Likelihood to Close
9. Forecast Sales (Anticipated Dollar Amount X Likelihood to Close)
10. Using your metric report and the details in each case notes section, prepare a written report for Casey regarding your analysis of the accounts.
11. Which contact(s) do you think you should ignore for now? Justify this recommendation.
12. Select accounts that you feel you need to focus on immediately. Justify why you selected these accounts.
13. How many accounts do you have at each stage of the selling process? (i.e., how many at prospecting, rapport, needs discovery, presentation, closed, etc.) Based on the number of accounts in each stage, and the amount of time spent on each account, how would you assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the previous representative’s account flow management (a.k.a. pipeline management)?
14. Which account(s) appear to have some legal or ethical issues to consider further? Describe what these issues might be.
15. From an overall perspective, what was the previous sales representative’s primary sales approach? In what ways does the previous sales representative appear to have been very successful with the accounts? What ways do you think the previous sales representative could have improved upon the effectiveness or efficiency of her pipeline management?

Appendix 2 Regional Accounts Management Case Study Table of Contents Regional
Accounts Management Case Study PART 1 Introduction to the Regional Account
Management Case Study Introduction to Multiple Account Management Selling
Introduction to Your New Employer—NewNet Systems Introduction to Your New Account
Management Position Introduction to Your NewNet Systems Account Reports PART 2
Managing your Accounts Successfully Through the Sales Process Developing and
Qualifying the Account Data Base Chapter 9 Establishing Your Approach Chapter 10
Conducting Needs Assessments Chapter 11 Custom Fitting
Presentations/Demonstrations Chapter 12 Negotiating Buyer Concerns Chapter 13
Closing the Sale Chapter 14 Servicing the Sale Chapter 15 PART 3 Social Media and
Selling Creating Customer Value With Social Media Chapter 1 Ethical Social Networking
Chapter 3 Enhancing your Relationship Strategy with Social Media Chapter 5
Prospecting with Social Media Chapter 9 Team Selling, Buying Committees, and Chatter
Chapter 10 Using Youtube for Presentations/Demonstrations Chapter 12 Introduction to
Multiple Account Management Selling Salespeople and new account managers routinely
take over a set of existing accounts (see pp. 396 to 416). Taking over a set of accounts
and managing the sales process for all these accounts provide a learning experience
di±erent from making a single sale to a single customer. While it is important for a
salesperson to be able to make an e±ective sales presentation, equally important to
sales success is developing the skills to move a large number of accounts through
various stages of the sales process. This is de²nitely a “multitasking” process. You will
be surprised at how similar this sales process of moving accounts successfully is to the
entrepreneur who is starting a business and working closely with clients to achieve
those extremely important sales that provide the capital to enable the company to
survive and become successful. This success is the basic motivating force behind a
growing domestic economy, providing jobs to millions of job seekers. Today, it is
common for the new account manager to take over the previous salesperson’s
electronic database of prospects and customers. Regional account planning, which
means learning to evaluate this data and to plan e±ective value-adding sales e±orts for
each step in the sales process, is a key factor in growing the expertise of regional
account managers. Regional account management is often referred to simply as “RAM.”
We will be using this reference throughout this case study. The exercises in this Regional
Account Management Case Study simulate this important activity by requesting that a
“new account manager” extract, from an existing database, the information needed to
take strategic actions to move the accounts through the sales process. The salesperson
is asked to review the account data and create value-added regional plans designed to
guide the salesperson toward capturing the potential orders that are found within the
database. Introduction to Your New Employer—NewNet Systems Casey Arnold is the
sales manager in the San Jose, California, o³ce of NewNet Systems, which partners and
sells B2B network products and services. NewNet is a certi²ed supplier and has access
to the latest technologies to connect clients with the right network solution. The
productivity and the critical mission of NewNet’s customers can be considerably
enhanced by selecting and using the correct File and Print Servers, wide-area network
(WAN), virtual private network (VPN), or Cabling systems. NewNet is called a value-
added reseller (VAR) because its regional account managers and technical sales support
teams help customers maximize the value of the products bought through NewNet.
Managing a successful sales process e³ciently to solve customer needs and enhance
partnering relationships are the primary value-adding activities of the regional account
manager. Senior NewNet management personnel are frequently brought into the sales
process to add value. The technical needs analysis, product con²gurations,
demonstrations and installations, while managed and overseen by the regional account
managers, are the primary responsibility of the technical sales support team members.