KAM Leader Series: Delivering for Customers

By Tania Lennon, Global Space Lead, Talent Assessment and Leadership at ZS and Denise Juliano, Vice President, Life Sciences Premier Inc. 

SAMA is proud to offer this 2nd article in the 4-part series on the importance of SAM / KAM leadership. In this series we explore the key capabilities that drive the success of great KAMs and KAM Leaders. Using the experiences of four amazing KAM leaders underpinned by research into KAM leader capabilities for success from ZS, this series of four articles illuminates the foundations of high performance in KAM leadership roles. In addition, this panel of four leaders will be featured at our Annual Conference, May 23-25 in New Orleans. Register here to join us.

Customer expectations are rising. According to salesforce.com, 73% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and 62% expect them to adapt based on this insight (1). For KAMs, this often means co-creating solutions with customers as an approach to radically refocus the business around customer value creation (2). Denise Juliano shares her approach to creating solutions that deliver mutual value for customers and clients.

“I’m an athlete by background – I’m really competitive. And that translates into business intensity. I give 120% to everything I do.” Throughout her career, Denise has successfully channeled this drive into delivering outstanding performance, whether as a sales leader, marketing leader or key account manager. Denise’s performance orientation has propelled her to take on new challenges and overcome obstacles by channeling a desire to continuously learn and adapt.
While leveraging her intensity was a core foundation for her success, Denise also had to learn to utilize it confidently. “Women sometimes struggle with intensity – they are often expected to be more passive and less assertive. That means the same behavior can be perceived differently.” Denise’s experience aligns with the research, which suggest that assertive behavior from women can be perceived negatively (3), even while it is key to driving successful outcomes. However, Denise describes a strong sense of mission in finding a way to deliver for customers. “I always try to find a way to yes – there always has to be a way to figure out a solution. I use my intensity as a way to push things forward.”

Harnessing the power of others
When it came to her role in strategic accounts, Denise learned to harness and modulate this drive. “In strategic accounts, the level of complexity and diversity increases. That requires balance: leveraging your own strengths while tapping into the strengths of others to create something that is more than the sum of all parts.” According to Harvard Business Review, the number of people involved in B2B solutions has increased from 5.4 two years ago to 6.8 today (4). “In today’s environment, the secret of being a great KAM is being patient and adaptable. You need to put yourself in others’ shoes and communicate using the client’s language, so they can really see the solution.”
From Denise’s perspective, getting the balance right also means giving others the space they need to step up. “I try to encourage everyone to lead, to see themselves as a leader. This means cultivating an environment where everyone can be themselves and where it is okay to take risks. That’s especially important for women, as they have a tendency to wait until everything is absolutely perfect, whereas men are more likely to step forward even when it is not 100%.” Creating the conditions that enables people to be themselves and take more risks is proven to be good for business. A climate that fosters inclusion generates improved well-being amongst the team, higher profitability, greater sales revenue and bigger market share (5).

Finding your superpower
Denise’s willingness to seek input and ideas also extends to her own development. “I’ve always sought out mentors and sponsors – I try to be open to coaching and feedback, both from those who know me and those who don’t.” This openness has enabled Denise to develop a strong sense of self-knowledge. “To be successful as a KAM leader, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses: you need to know your superpower and capitalize on it. And the things I don’t love to do or am not so great at are opportunities to bring others to the table. I try and surround myself with people who really complement you. Finding talent that is different to you can be a way to expand possibilities.”
There is accumulating evidence that playing to your strengths is an effective strategy for success. Strengths-based leadership has been linked to positive business outcomes such as profitability, customer satisfaction and leader confidence (6). The starting point for leveraging your strengths is identifying those outstanding capabilities and characteristics that define you, then owning them and investing in the additional knowledge and skills necessary to fully capitalize on them (7). This is especially important for women, as research tells us that female leaders tend to underestimate their strengths (8). Female leaders tend to show less confidence in their strengths and abilities, even when other raters see them as being as effective or even more effective than others (9).

Compassion enables risk-taking
In addition to self-knowledge, Denise also highlights the importance of being kind to yourself. “My intensity means I apply high standards to myself. I’ve had to learn to allow myself space to make mistakes in the same way as I extend that to others.” Kindness to yourself – known as self-compassion – can be a further tool in the armory of high performing KAMs. Self-compassion facilitates calculated risk-taking and innovation because it reduces fear of failure (8): it also increases levels of engagement and connectedness with others (9).
From Denise’s perspective, compassion and empathy for self and others has been even more important in the context of hybrid and remote working. “While we’ve always been remote, we’ve put a lot more focus on culture lately. We’ve worked hard to make sure people have a voice as it can easily be lost when everyone is behind a camera. It is easy for louder voices to drown out the others and we can lose vital insights that way. You need to actively seek out input from everyone to make sure that you’ve enabled everyone to contribute their ideas. You may be surprised to find out who has all the answers!”

Tania Lennon is Global Space Lead, Talent Assessment and Leadership at ZS. You can find her on LinkedIn.Denise Juliano Group is Vice President, Life Sciences Premier, Inc. You can find her on LinkedIn. You can hear from this panel of four leaders at our Annual Conference, May 23-25 in New Orleans.