WHAT DOES A KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER DO?

Published: Dec 31, 2025 - The Key Account Manager is responsible for developing complex, high-value relationships with strategic customers, advancing them to preferred partner status before transitioning to account maintenance teams. This role involves crafting mid-range account strategies, leading project and account teams, and gaining influence with senior decision-makers through a deep understanding of client needs. The manager also plans and executes sales activities, conducts solution-focused meetings, and secures automation projects by demonstrating technical excellence.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Key Account Manager

1. Key Account Manager Overview

  • Revenue Growth: Increase revenues with the existing client base through cross-selling activities.
  • Client Needs Analysis: Develop a thorough understanding of the needs and requirements of key clients and prepare customized solutions.
  • Talent Sourcing: Research and source new potential managers.
  • Relationship Management: Develop trust relationships with client managers to ensure they do not turn to the competition.
  • Complaint Resolution: Address and resolve key clients' complaints.
  • Strategic Planning: Think strategically by seeing the bigger picture and setting objectives to develop and improve the business while creating sales opportunities.
  • Product Knowledge: Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of NextLink products and their value proposition.
  • Proposal Development: Draw up client offers.
  • Process Improvement: Seek ways of improving the way the business operates.
  • Issue Escalation: Assist with high-severity requests or issue escalations.

2. Key Account Manager Additional Details

  • eCommerce Strategy Support: Support the eCommerce manager in planning, formulating, and implementing eCommerce sales and promotional strategies.
  • E-Store Management: Responsible for E-Store maintenance on websites.
  • Online Merchandising: Ensure online product displays align with marketing guidelines and promotional messages, and improve the e-shopping experience.
  • Sales Performance Monitoring: Monitor sales and promotion results, and submit proposals for specific marketing activities.
  • Campaign Execution: Operate stores and execute marketing activities on the E-Stores.
  • Agency Coordination: Work closely with third-party agencies to improve operations.
  • Market Analysis: Report and analyze eCommerce market data and trends, and optimize channel operations.
  • Partner Support: Provide support to channel partners and improve customer experience, including customer service levels and inventory management.
  • Reporting Management: Ensure daily, weekly, and monthly reports are delivered on time with expected quality.

3. Key Account Manager Duties and Roles

  • Bidding Strategy: Work with the marketing and sales teams to establish a bidding strategy and action plan.
  • Bid Management: Manage bidding information and bidding policy analysis.
  • Distributor Coordination: Work with the distributor in the bidding process.
  • Price Negotiation: Negotiate with the local authority and try to get an optimal bidding price.
  • Bidding Support: Support for local staff to follow up on the whole bidding process and provide a feasible action plan to accomplish bidding projects with other related departments.
  • Stakeholder Relations: Build and maintain good relationships with professional associations and KOLs.
  • Hospital Listing: Provide guidance and help for the Sales team to get products listed in key individual hospitals.
  • Distributor Management: Develop a distributor management strategy, establish/implement an effective distributor management policy.
  • Territory Control: Establish and implement a policy to confront cross-zone sales activity, maintain the legitimacy of orders within respective sales territories.
  • Government Lobbying: Communicate and lobby with government decision makers at different levels with a specific goal.
  • Central Government Relations: Build up a relationship with the central government to ensure corporate business is well protected and fit with the government development agenda and direction.
  • Reimbursement Access: Get newly-launched or licensed products onto the national reimbursement list.
  • Pricing Advocacy: Accountable for lobbying the government for the new product price application to get the optimal price.
  • Stakeholder Alignment: Establish and build on relationships with key contacts within the company and the government agencies.

4. Key Account Manager Roles

  • Key Account Management: Manage key accounts by showing operational excellence- customer management from day-to-day to annual negotiations.
  • Channel Strategy: Develop channel strategy (DIY/e-commerce) and key account plans.
  • Brand Growth: Ensure growth and development of the Fiskars brand at existing customers, as well as finding new distribution opportunities (acquisition).
  • Joint Business Planning: Build sustainable growth with selected customers using joint business planning tools and commercial excellence.
  • Sales Planning: Prepare tailor-made customer presentations and execute sales planning and forecasting.
  • Business Development: Play an active role in new business sales development.
  • Target Setting: Set annual targets and convert them into actionable strategies at both channel and key account levels.
  • Business Planning: Create and execute a business plan for business development (increase distribution) in a sustainable and profitable way.
  • Financial Accountability: Responsible for delivering financial targets.
  • Customer Relationships: Develop and maintain long-term customer relationships.

5. Key Account Manager Tasks

  • Market Analysis: Analyze market data and be able to translate these into customer presentations.
  • Sales Concepts: Develop sales concepts and promotion plans together with Trade Marketing.
  • Brand Development: Play an active role in the business development of the Fiskars brand in the Benelux (to improve distribution and brand awareness).
  • Distribution Strategy: Develop a strategic plan to increase distribution in DIY and e-commerce channels.
  • Revenue Growth: Revenue growth via new distribution and in-store excellence.
  • Growth Planning: Contribute to the national growth plans with an average of 30% yearly.
  • Business Impact: Deliver measurable business impact across budgets, volumes, and revenues, with direct and indirect responsibility at strategic, tactical, and operational levels.
  • Channel Execution: Drive the development and execution of channel and account plans to increase market footprint.
  • Key Account Acquisition: Win new key accounts in DIY and e-commerce channels in line with the Continental Europe growth strategy.
  • E-Commerce Strategy: Develop an e-commerce strategy at selected partners based on sustainable joint business planning.

6. Key Account Manager Accountabilities

  • Cross-Border Business: Build up business with cross-border platform/customers with selected portfolio.
  • Order Management: Manage the business flow from ordering to delivery to the consumer.
  • Platform Scaling: Work with cross-border platform/customers to maximize the business scale with proper ways to achieve sales and share the target.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Accountable for internal communication with HK and other functional teams and external communication with FTZ/agencies to ensure the business runs smoothly.
  • Marketing Coordination: Communicate with marketing and trade marketing teams for the projects and implementation.
  • Channel Knowledge: Understand the C2C and WeChat business model, communicate with these traders on how they work and how to leverage this channel to build business.
  • Investment Oversight: Monitor and manage the related investment.
  • Market Monitoring: Closely monitor market change and competitor information.

7. Key Account Manager Details

  • Team Leadership: Responsible for line leadership of the KAM team.
  • Policy Compliance: Ensure all global sales policies, processes and guidelines relating to the global account are adhered to.
  • Account Growth: Drive growth of the Global Account by ensuring appropriate collaboration within Sales and across Product functions.
  • Stakeholder Engagement: Strengthen the customer relationship by driving appropriate Panalpina and customer stakeholder engagement in the Region.
  • Solution Selling: Focus on selling end-to-end and value-added solutions across all Products according to the strategic priorities defined in the Account Growth Plan.
  • Executive Engagement: Personally engage with all Regional key decision makers of the Global Account.
  • Plan Execution: Communicate the account growth plan across all Countries in the Region and drive execution personally or through the Key Account management team.
  • Target Setting: Propose account targets for the Global Account per Product on the Regional level to the GHIV and Regional IV Manager for the purpose of yearly target setting.
  • Performance Review: Attend monthly review meetings with GKAM and/or Regional IV Managers.

8. Key Account Manager Duties and Roles

  • Pipeline Review: Review account pipeline (including RFQs), activities and performance using global standard reports and define corrective actions.
  • Trade Lane Analysis: Review up-trading, down-trading, loss-making and newly gained trade lanes on a monthly basis and take corrective actions.
  • Business Reviews: Support GKAM in ensuring monthly, quarterly and yearly business review (strategic business review) meetings take place, are well-prepared and all relevant stakeholders are involved in a timely way.
  • Meeting Follow-Up: Support GKAM in ensuring minutes from monthly, quarterly and yearly business review meetings are distributed to all relevant stakeholders (Products, Regions, Sponsors, CCO) and corrective actions are followed up.
  • Issue Escalation: Ensure any concerns and/or complaints of the Global Account are timely escalated to GKAM and the Regional IV Manager.
  • Cross Selling: Ensure cross-selling across products, end-to-end value-added solutions and up-selling of customs brokerage and transport insurance.
  • Tender Management: Support GKAM in ensuring the Tender Management process is followed, including a timely pre-RFQ strategy and alignment with Product.
  • Bid Analysis: Support GKAM in ensuring RFI and RFQ post-bid analysis is created and shared and corrective actions are aligned and agreed with Sales and Product functions.
  • Business Handover: Support GKAM in ensuring the timely and proper handover of business implementation to BIM.

9. Key Account Manager Roles and Details

  • Account Alignment: Ensure the account growth plan is understood and supported across the Region.
  • CRM Management: Use CRM for all opportunities, including timely entry and assignment of sales cycles (months ahead of receiving the RFQ from the customer), setting correct volumes and flags.
  • Executive Support: Support GKAM in ensuring the account executive sponsor is updated on RFQ, performance and corrective actions.
  • Market Intelligence: Share relevant market intelligence and best practices with GKAM and the regional IV Manager.
  • Process Governance: Ensure SLA's and SOPs are on C-ODP and regularly maintained for all Countries in the Region.
  • Contract Negotiation: Support GKAM in driving contract negotiations to achieve the best terms and conditions in accordance with company policy.
  • Contract Management: Ensure that signed contracts and addenda are properly stored in the contract management system.
  • Reporting Standards: Ensure new global customer reporting standards are implemented and adhered to for all Global Account reports.
  • Data Quality: Drive data quality improvement in CRM.

10. Key Account Manager Details and Accountabilities

  • Issue Escalation: Proactively escalate operational issues to GKAM/Regional IV Manager, ensure resolution.
  • QHSE Compliance: Perform assigned tasks to support Panalpina in meeting its objectives and targets regarding quality, health, safety and environment as documented in IMS and follow all requirements as set out in the QHSE policy.
  • Sustainability Focus: Ensure that day-to-day activities embrace sustainability, health and safety, reducing the impact upon the environment, supporting the communities' work in and reducing incidents in the workplace.
  • Strategic Planning: Apply strategic and planning skills (ability to develop strategy and plan).
  • Execution Excellence: Execute effectively to deliver growth targets.
  • Talent Management: Build a high-performing workforce by identifying and promoting talent, hiring high performers.
  • Root Cause Analysis: Analyze systematically and rationally to identify the root causes of problems.
  • Customer Focus: Focus on the customer's expectations and strategy, and adapt the approach accordingly.
  • Market Awareness: Follow and act on market trends and industry developments.
  • Account Ownership: Take ownership of managing the account (performance, financials, operational excellence).

11. Key Account Manager Accountabilities

  • Relationship Development: Responsible for complex relationship development with the highest value customers, the achievement of sales milestones, often not initially turnover-based and the management of relationships with the high-potential customers designated to him/her.
  • Account Advancement: Take target customers from low-level relationships to the point of handover to sales farmers, i.e., when the company is the preferred automation partner.
  • Decision Maker Insight: Develop a necessary level of knowledge regarding decision makers, decision-making processes and requirements of customers to be able to win respect and gain influence at the highest management levels.
  • Account Strategy: Create detailed, mid-range account strategies in agreement with the customer.
  • Team Leadership: Build-up and management of account and project teams, including operational management of specialists engaged on customer projects.
  • Milestone Achievement: Achieve development milestones with designated customers.
  • Sales Planning: Plan activities necessary to achieve sales objectives.
  • Sales Engagement: Conduct effective sales meetings with customers to identify needs and gain acceptance of products and solutions.
  • Project Acquisition: Identify and win projects based on excellence in automation competence.

12. Key Account Manager Responsibilities

  • Key Account Relations: Build commercial relationships with Key Feed Millers in South Vietnam to increase penetration and sales volume of livestock products, and manage South FM products distributors.
  • Key Account Negotiation: Find out and negotiate with Key Feed Millers.
  • Product Availability: Make sure to maximize the availability and sales volume of Elanco products in the feed mill (nutritional products).
  • Technical Service Development: Propose ideas to build up high-quality tailor-made technical services for each KA feed miller, including training/consultancy, technical materials and lab analysis support.
  • Pricing Strategy: Propose special promotions as well as pricing policies for each key account (KA).
  • Payment Management: Ensure customers' payments are on time and in line with Elanco policy.
  • Market Intelligence: Update market situations as well as competitors' profiles and propose anticipatory actions in a timely manner.
  • Business Reporting: Report business environment changes to the Supervisor.

13. Key Account Manager Details

  • Customer Relationship: Contact for a major grocery customer in NZ, developing strong relationships at the head office with key stakeholders.
  • Joint Business Planning: Build and align Joint Business Plans with customers that are consistent with customer and category strategy, delivering mutual win-win outcomes.
  • Channel Development: Create and implement strategic plans to develop other channels.
  • Performance Tracking: Ensure regular tracking with retail partners, including change/course correction to ensure delivery of primary metrics.
  • Category Review: Lead the Category Review Process, including partnering with the Danone Category Team.
  • Shelf Execution: Ensure favourable outcomes on the shelf, ranging and merchandising across all retail formats.
  • Merchandising Collaboration: Work collaboratively with third-party merchandising agencies to excel in market executions.
  • Stakeholder Engagement: Develop strong relationships with Brand, Category, and Field Management Stakeholders to ensure the highest level of activation in retail customers.

14. Key Account Manager Duties

  • Account Strategy: Develop the strategic plan for the Accounts to drive sales, profit and net revenue capital.
  • Financial Targets: Achieve Net Revenue, Gross Margin and Net Working Capital targets for customers.
  • Marketing Mix: Achieve account 4P targets (product, placement, price and promotion).
  • Relationship Development: Develop multi-level relationships with the accounts.
  • Sales Performance: Achieve account sales and trade investment targets for allocated accounts.
  • Trade Agreements: Secure trading and distribution/promotion agreements in line with the nominated major account's profile (including share of shelf, visibility at POS, distribution penetration across product range, retail pricing, consumer and trade promotions and discounts).
  • Market Insights: Translate the latest market and category insights and trends into growth opportunities for Reckitt and its customers.
  • Commercial Negotiation: Negotiate and design the plan to deliver the targets, including new listings, renovation, and marketing initiatives, to meet top and bottom-line objectives.
  • Range Management: Champion the management and delivery of the range review process to achieve ranging and distribution gains for core and new products.

15. Key Account Manager Functions

  • Account Planning: Develop a detailed account plan with key drivers based on strategy (brand and category strategy).
  • Customer Planning: Develop customer plan, investment plan, category review, and business review.
  • Sales Forecasting: Provide an accurate forecast in sales and stock management.
  • Negotiation Skills: Negotiate and handle objections with customers as well as strengthen relationships with them.
  • Trade Execution: Responsible for monthly trade visits to monitor execution performance and competitors.
  • KPI Management: Ensure to achieve the account KPI, financial target, and market share target.
  • Sales Operations: Effectively manage the Sales activities for existing customers/projects and relevant expenses.
  • New Business Development: Responsible for being proactive in searching and developing new customers and/or projects in the marine segment.
  • Accounts Receivable: Responsible for AR and bad debt collection for customers in charge.
  • Revenue Delivery: Deliver committed Sales and GP target as per allocated budget (SIS).
  • Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate with other relevant functions, including TSD, Finance, and Supply Chain.
  • Compliance Management: Make sure all activities are in compliance with Hempel's corporate governance, operational and compliance policies and procedures, as well as country-specific law.
Relevant Information
What Does A Key Account Director Do?