The coordination strategies of high-performing account managers: Internal working relationships that drive success

The execution of sales strategy for high-technology markets requires coordinated action from a diverse array of specialists who are assembled to create a superior customer solution. The purpose of this study is to examine the internal working relationships that surround high-opportunity customer engagements in the business market and isolate the coordination strategies used by high- versus low-performing account managers in crafting customer solutions. This study fills a gap in the relationship marketing research tradition by giving explicit attention to the internal coordination strategies that drive sales performance in complex selling situations. The research rests on the premise that high-performing account managers are more adept at diagnosing customer requirements and priorities, assembling the appropriate set of internal experts, and choreographing the actions of this group in a manner that creates distinctive value for the customer organization.; The study, funded by a Fortune-100 high-technology company, centers on a sample of account managers who are responsible for securing and managing large customer accounts. Performance data made available by the firm provides the basis for selecting high-, medium-, and low-performing account managers. The research explores the degree to which the coordination of expertise differentiate the performance of account managers. Multiple methods (depth interviews with 60 account managers and an associated interview of the sales managers of each account manager) were used to test the relationships among coordination strategies and account manager performance.; Overall, the results of the data showed strong support for the conceptual model presented. The positive influence of the coordination of expertise upon performance was illustrated, and key relational variables shown to influence this coordination. Higher performers possessed a more diverse social network and a social network with a stronger reputation than did lower performers. Both the diversity of the social network and the reputation of the account manager's social network positively influenced the ability of the account manager to coordinate expertise. The account manager's ties with members of the ad hoc team positively influenced the coordination of expertise and differentiated higher performers from lower performers. Overall, the results of this study highlight core relational distinctions between high- and low-performing account managers.