The Online Capability Assessment

How to use the Capability Assessment

These Capability Scorecards represent best practice for top performing companies.

Completing the Capability Assessment

The Capability Scorecards are divided into a set of requirements for effective implementation of a key account initiative

The aim is for the senior management team to be able to define what is required and to assess their perception of the current state in preparation for a team discussion

As such it is not a test and there are no right answers – the aim is to stimulate debate.

For each core competence there are a number of objective measurable characteristics in the form of statements.

Consider and score each statement using 0 or 3 where:

3 = Complete – we have this now and do this all the time
2 = Nearly complete – we are well on the way to completing this
1 = Currently compiling – we are working on this
0 = we do not have this or do this yet

Then consider if you have evidence to support your claim – if you do not you should aim to get it – enter Y or N into the ‘Evidence’ box (the evidence required is summarised in italics) – you should be able to back up your with evidence in each case.

The Key/Strategic Account Scorecard identifies and measures four aspects of effective account strategy and implementation

The four aspects are:

The corporate environment – do we have the right understanding and support to growth our most important customers?

The Key/Strategic Account Growth Planning process and the Growth Plan itself – this aspect echos the thinking set out by Richard Rumult in his book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy.

The creation of value with the customer – the key to success but also the most difficult  – the close cooperation with the customer to move beyond supplier value identification to mutual value creation.

The capabilities of the Account Manager – success is still strongly dependent upon the abilities and capabilities of the individual managers.

You can use all four aspects of the Scorecard or just select one aspect to assess your current situation and define a common outcome.

In each case you will find a set of core components, each divided into a series of objective statements which represent what we expect to find in the most effective companies.

This allows you to assess your current position with respect to the most successful companies, to identify development areas and to establish clarity about what you need to do next.

You can then design your skills and other development activity to address these measurable criteria for success and measure progress over the course of the programme.

The Scorecard is inevitably generic. It is likely that an individual company will require variations and, if helpful, we can work with you to create a bespoke version for your team.

To discuss the Scorecard and Account Management in general contact.

Richard Ilsley,
Managing Partner, KAM Group
richard.ilsley@smcg.net