September heralds the end of Summer and the start of Autumn. In the business world it is also a time of significant change – it links together retailers, creating their strategies (if their accounting year is January to December) and suppliers, planning their innovation and investment plans for the coming year.
As Account Teams it is vital that you understand your customers strategies and then match your innovation and investment to support those plans. There are many events available to you to attend that will help you understand in more detail your customers’ strategies but don’t underestimate the power of conversation. Many suppliers request significant customer time to explain their plans. However best practice, before suppliers share their plans is to ask their customers to explain in detail, their strategy.
Why is this important? It enables suppliers to match their plans directly with the customer strategy, which in turn makes it easier for the customer to accept and support our proposals.
It is also a time for Account Team to review their skills and capabilities so that they can create meaningful personal development plans. If you are an account manager and a line manager of an account teams. Does your team have all of the skills they need? Two areas that are often overlooked are GSCOP training, if your account team is working with any of the top 14 UK retailers, and Legal Compliance training. You might feel that you do not have the scale to upskill your Account Teams!
This is where the British Brands Group can help. We have open training courses so other suppliers will be in the (virtual) room too, adding to the training experience while being fully compliant with competition rules. Check out the range of skills building available, and sign up your teams now.
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