Key Account Managment
Transforming From Reactive Relationships to Strategic Growth
The challenge
A large life sciences company faced a critical growth problem. Despite deep product knowledge and solid customer relationships, growth had stalled. The root cause wasn't effort or expertise: it was oversimplification. The company's model treated complex healthcare ecosystems as single-entity buyers. Account managers cultivated relationships with familiar contacts, usually mid-level administrators, so they were out maneuvered by competitors who had engaged actual decision-makers across formulary committees, pharmacy operations, and executive leadership.
Our approach
We applied a data-driven method to develop a new customer model for PBM and payer account management.
Step 1: Understand Decision-Maker Networks. Through expert interviews and customer analysis, we mapped the complete decision-making structure for each account type, identifying decision influencers and approvers, how P&T committees use data, and what drove final coverage decisions. This revealed how to best apply sales coverage to actual buying outcomes.
Step 2: Mapping the Customer Journey. We charted the customer journey from all decision-maker perspectives, identifying when different people enter the process, common roadblocks, and the value of indirect engagement such as thought leadership and events.
Step 3: Prioritizing Accounts and data submissions. We created a framework that classified accounts by growth potential and the company’s current strength. We also identified general data priorities to support submission processes. Given the limited number of people, it helped the team allocate resources effectively and define tailored engagement approaches.
Step 4: Building Execution Capabilities. We applied the findings into a new organization structure, incentive plans, and ideal sales profiles. We also activated sales enablement opportunities.
The outcome
These insights and recommendations enabled the pharma company to restructure its customer organization and more effectively engage with its managed care colleagues. It created a blue print for customer engagment as well as account team assignments and infrastructure across the business to increase the effectiveness across entire decision-making networks. This approach built repeatable processes and institutional knowledge, freeing up sales time to focus on activities that drive customer decisions.