ISP’s recent Sales Leader Network event brought together sales leaders and industry practitioners to explore the evolving challenges and opportunities in Major Account Management (MAM). The sessions explored how we can build sustainable frameworks for finding and developing talent, maintaining trust in key relationships and ensuring resilience as incumbents in increasingly competitive landscapes.
With increasing pressure from AI-driven commoditisation, greater buyer expectations and the complexity of managing high-value accounts, the event prompted honest conversations about what needs to change. Through structured dialogue and shared insights, participants explored how to professionalise the MAM function, blending systems with the human touch to future-proof strategic account engagement.
Key questions explored:
How can organisations define and attract the right talent for Major Account Management roles?
- What capabilities and behaviours distinguish a high-performing Major Account Manager from a glorified administrator?
- How can trust be built and maintained across multi-level, multi-disciplinary relationships within major accounts?
- What role should AI play in Major Account Management and where must the human element remain irreplaceable?
- How should MAM be structured – do we rely on individual excellence (“superheroes”) or scalable systems?
- How can feedback mechanisms like surveys be evolved to truly deepen account understanding?
Key observations
1. Defining and developing MAM talent
- There is a lack of clarity and consistency when defining what “good” looks like in Major Account Management. Some view MAMs as relationship stewards; others expect strategic revenue drivers.
- Transitioning salespeople into MAM roles without re-skilling often fails due to gaps in competencies like strategic thinking, customer-centricity and internal navigation.
- Discussions highlighted the importance of clearly defined success metrics, including both quantitative (revenue, retention) and qualitative (relationship depth, strategic alignment) measures.
- The concept of salary versus commission structures emerged as a way to incentivise long-term, buyer-centric behaviours, though implementation must include strong performance management to avoid mediocrity.
2. Building long-term trust in major accounts
- Trust is complex to build and quick to lose. It is increasingly clear that buyers value credibility, consistency, empathy and the ability of sellers to say no when needed.
- Relationships must span across departments and personas, not just procurement, to create resilience during stakeholder changes or contract renewals.
- Trust also grows when sellers demonstrate shared purpose by showing vulnerability, transparency and emotional intelligence, and are even willing to recommend competitors when appropriate.
3. Fending off competitors as the incumbent
- Incumbents must continue to communicate value and avoid complacency. Often, value is being delivered but not perceived due to weak communication.
- Defensive strategies must focus on multi-level advocacy, executive alignment and visibility of strategic impact across the client organisation.
- Relationship ladders must be maintained even in long-term, mature accounts. Buyers expect continuous demonstration of value.
4. Navigating AI while keeping a personal touch
- AI can accelerate failure just as easily as success if misused. Used without purpose, it can lead to generic, uninspiring communication that erodes buyer trust.
- The efficiency that AI can drive is no longer a differentiator but a baseline expectation from buyers. Human judgement, insight and personalisation remain the differentiating factors.
- There is potential for AI to support training (e.g. objection handling simulations), but human empathy and expertise must lead strategy and execution.
- Attendees raised the need for internal governance and a code of conduct around AI use within MAM teams to protect data integrity and buyer relationships.
5. Systems vs. superheroes: Organising for MAM at scale
- Organisations face tension between depending on “superhero” individuals who can make things happen and drive innovation, with implementing structured systems for sustainable delivery.
- Scalability demands dedicated resources, cross-functional collaboration and shared visibility into account plans and activity.
- Attendees noted that overreliance on individuals can limit scale and consistency, especially when those individuals move on.
- Trust and internal accountability improve when MAM teams are supported with systems that facilitate coordination, clarity and continuity.
6. Rethinking surveys and customer understanding
- Standard feedback surveys are often too shallow or too long, delivering limited value or poor engagement.
- Attendees challenged the status quo: what if customers wrote the surveys themselves?
- True account understanding demands listening to a range of personas, not just decision-makers, and moving beyond static surveys toward dynamic, two-way insight gathering.
Conclusion
The Sales Leader Network event reinforced that Major Account Management is at an inflection point. It is no longer enough to rely on historic relationships or sales instincts alone. MAM must evolve into a disciplined, scalable and buyer-centric function that balances data, systems and human connection.
“Are we structuring Major Account Management to protect relationships or strategically grow them?”
The consensus: while the problems felt by attendees are consistent across industries, the solutions require intentional design and a commitment to cultural change. Trust is the bedrock, but it must be actively built through credibility, communication and strategic alignment.
The “Trusted Advisor Equation”: Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy)
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Self-Orientation
AI should be harnessed to support, not replace, human insight and account structures must move beyond heroic individuals to robust, systemic approaches.
“Superheroes don’t scale. Systems do. But systems alone don’t build trust.”
The path forward lies in a thoughtful combination of both. As customer expectations rise, the role of Major Account Managers must become clearer, more valued and better supported. And as competitors accelerate with AI, the differentiator will not be capability, it will be character.
About the Speaker
Richard Vincent spent over 35 years in the high-tech sector, including nearly three decades with Hewlett Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. With deep expertise in sales, profitability and managing strategic customer relationships, Richard has been instrumental in shaping sales education at a postgraduate level, including partnerships with Cranfield University. He is a regular contributor to The International Journal of Sales Transformation and a recognised thought leader in Key Account Management.
Host
We were proud to be hosted by Avanade Inc, a global professional services company providing IT consulting and services focused on the Microsoft platform and also an ISP Corporate Partner committed to advancing sales excellence.
Why attend the next Sales Leader Network?
Events like this are rare opportunities to step outside the day-to-day and reflect with peers who share the same challenges. The insights are real, the discussions honest and the outcomes actionable.