If the pharmaceutical company designates one of its clients as a key account, what criteria is it using to determine this? If this decision is based simply on financial data, then it is likely that the company’s entire account management philosophy is flawed. Why not look at this from the opposite view, as if you were a designated key account? What if the client looks at the association on the basis of dollar values alone and believes that it is not based on the provision of high-quality services and on the establishment of strategic importance? It’s not possible to mask the true meaning of the relationship, as designated by the pharmaceutical company, regardless of the levels of interpersonal relationships at the executive levels.

Understand that a key client knows why it should be designated as key and that this should not be only related to revenue levels, but be viewed from a position of strategic positioning as well. As such, it will be looking for a special level of attention from the company and an element of leadership in the industry.

Always maintain a two way association between the company and the client. Remember that there are always options available and as such, therefore, the company must go above and beyond what would ordinarily be expected. This requires a philosophical integration through all staff levels and this can be sometimes difficult to achieve. A pharmaceutical consulting firm can be worth its weight in gold in these situations. Due to the amount of experience that they have built up, pharmaceutical consultants can be really knowledgeable and can even understand a client’s requirements better than the company itself. Consultants should be engaged to help train staff at all levels, to bring them up to speed with the necessary intricacies of dealing with clients.

A typical client these days is looking for a pro active company engagement, interested in any ways possible to improve a relationship and will be looking for privileged information and data to help them in their day-to-day business. This will not necessarily directly result in an increase in revenues, and if the front-line executives are only motivated by bonuses according to revenue figures, then they may not be correctly incentivised to handle the client the right way.

Remember that these situations are often far more subtle than this would suggest, and even the most sophisticated incentivisation schemes can fail to meet their targets. A lot of experience is called for in this situation and each key account must be handled carefully and with precision.

The pharmaceutical company must understand that there are sometimes hidden costs involved in handling these accounts and the designation of “key” should not be given easily. Senior management must be able to read between the lines and see the strategic importance of the relationship, over and above pure revenue and cost line items. These days, pharma consulting firms can help reveal these points of reason and can in certain circumstances help the company to understand that a particular client may not in fact represent the company’s best interests.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.