The book LEADING KEY ACCOUNT ORGANIZATIONS is designed as a management assessment test offering sales management the opportunity to assess their skills in leading sales with a business systems approach. Special emphasis is placed on leading sales to key accounts, as this is the most challenging sales effort in the present times of expanding global value networks.

  MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT TEST IN SEVEN SECTIONS

Users assess their management skills by working through checklists and scoring tables in seven sections:

• In sections 1-5 users assess management readiness to lead sales with a business systems approach to focus on customers, opportunities and the resolution of constraints which block the achievement of sales goals for individual customers (key accounts).
• In section 6 management assesses readiness to lead key products to success in all accounts. "Leading products across the product abyss" is the metaphor for leading resolution of the constraints which block product success in all markets.
• Finally, in section 7 management assesses readiness to lead "the whole sales system" - consisting of all people, functions, processes, policies both within the company and in its eco-system, who have influence on sales results.

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  SUMMARIZING MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT: SCORING SUMMARY, EXPECTED SALES GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT PLANS

SCORING SUMMARY

After having scored leadership readiness in the seven sections of the test users summarize their results  in a summary graph and calculate their total (average of sections) score:

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EXPECTED SALES GROWTH

Sections and items with low scores indicate areas for improvement. For these, the management assessment test guides users to estimate sales growth as result of increasing scores. A reference group of managers established benchmark data: for the example given here (readiness score of 2,4) this benchmark group would expect about 80% sales growth to be the result of increasing management skills from presently 2.4 to 5. (world champion level)

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IMPROVEMENT PLANS

The test ends with a summary of the improvement actions required to increase the leadership readiness.