Using Innovation to Map our Key Accounts

Most companies fuel growth by creating new products and services. But many repeat the same growth-sapping mistakes in their efforts to innovate. In practise, to innovate successfully you need to have made those mistakes in order to build potent solutions.

Now, we’re all worldly–wise. We know that innovation goes in and out of fashion as a marker for business growth, but just occasionally it provides just the nudge a business needs to resolve a number of inward facing issues.

As an example, one of Idealogy’s key strategic accounts is METTLER TOLEDO, the world-leading manufacturer of scales and analytical instruments. Currently, we work for 5 of their 9 Divisions, in 6 countries, from 11 locations and from a network of almost 50 contacts and associates. And to be frank, it’s a logistical nightmare – so what more persuasion do we need to try a bit of our own innovation.

Enter stage left, Key Account Mapping. Through a combination of collaboration, innovation, communications, programming and key account management expertise we’re coordinating a number of in-house management information systems, adding a sprinkling of public domain, easy access mapping and – hey presto, we’ve started our own journey of enterprise-wide improvement.

Key Account Mapping will allow us to view an account as a marketplace or landscape, providing clear direction on how to build the best communications strategy. It will be a forward looking tool that allows us to develop unforeseen opportunities, providing the personnel, service and international linkage that exists in large B2B account structures. And it will enable us to analyse our current position within an account, understand the relationships between divisions, prioritise where sales or business development effort needs to be applied, provide qualification of key individuals, and paint a clear geographical picture as a way to optimise management expenditure.

Is it ready yet? – NO! But we’re way beyond the ‘proof of concept’ phase. We’ve bolted together our Filemaker MIS and Basecamp systems. We’ve learned how to combine current email comms as live RSS style feeds within that framework and we know how to overlay a Google maps style geographical interface. SO, the pieces are falling into place. Some might say that we should just go out and invest in a CRM system – and they might have a point. But what’s the point of that? A challenge like this brings every part of the business together – from Relationship Managers, to Project Managers, and from Finance to IT.

And how many opportunities does a small business have to demonstrate how good it is at collaborating – especially with itself?

Posted by Idealogy