Strategic Account Management Association*

Strategic Account Manager
Critical Skills Profile

* formerly NAMA - National Account Management Association

Contents:

1. Purpose and Overview
2. Research Summary
3. Strategic Account Manager Skills
4. Characteristics of Strategic Account Manager Top Performers
5. Job Survey Items that Correlate with Strategic Account Manager Performance 

Purpose and Overview

Chally designed this research to help the Consortium Partners accomplish one primary objective:

To improve the Consortium Partners' ability to hire and develop Strategic Account Managers with greater potential for success.

This objective required Chally to identify the attributes and characteristics of Strategic Account Managers who have shown the ability to consistently ensure customer satisfaction.

A Chally Position Profile Study was designed to enhance predictability of performance by more clearly identifying critical skills and characteristics than is possible with more subjective techniques such as interviewing.

Research Summary

Criteria

Manager ratings contributed by the Consortium Partners were used as the criterion for performance. Each partner was asked to identify and test at least five top performers and five weaker Strategic Account Managers.

People Included In the Sample

The sample on which prediction results for the National Account Manager position are based included incumbents from ACDelco, Boise Cascade Office Products, Lennox Industries, Marriott Lodging Group, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pitney-Bowes of Canada, Reynolds & Reynolds, The Trane Company, and WMX Technologies.

Sampling Variance

Statistical tests indicate that all predictions are made at better than 0.05 chance levels. In addition, the results are congruent with similar results found with other sales organizations, and the data indicate that the predictability achieved is, practically speaking, an important improvement over the usual interview or recommendation and related procedures.

Technical Results

The following table shows the scales that predict top performance for the Strategic Account Manager position. These predictor scales are listed in the left hand column. The second and third columns provide some descriptive information about each of the scales. The second column is the mean or average score achieved on the scale by your sample. The third column shows the standard deviation of the scale. A low standard deviation indicates that individual scores are more similar and they cluster around the average score. A large standard deviation indicates that individual scores are in a wide range above and below average. The last column shows the correlation or the strength of the scale in predicting top performance. The closer the correlation is to 1.00, the stronger the prediction power of the scale. Conversely, the closer the correlation is to 0.00, the weaker the scale.

Statistical Results for Strategic Account Manager
Correlation with Success Criteria

* The overall score would improve the accuracy of selection by 31%; with all other factors equal the test results will be accurate more than 8 times out of 10.

Glossary of Terms

Correlation: The predictive effectiveness of a scale. A higher correlation (closer to 1.00) has stronger predictive power of performance.

Mean: The average score achieved on the scale by the sample group.

Predictor Scale: A scale that predicts the performance of a candidate.

Standard Deviation: Usually examined in conjunction with the mean. The amount of clustering of individual scores around the mean (average). Lower standard deviations indicate more clustering of individual scores around the average, indicating that there is less difference in scores across the sample of individual testers, and thus more similarity over the group as a whole. Higher scores indicate greater differences and thus a wider spread between top, average, and poor performers.

Lack of Discriminatory Impact of Strategic Account Manager
Profile Success Probability Scales

Comparison of the means of those above the cut off score for each population is cited below. This sample of data was obtained from applicants for sales positions throughout the United States.

All minority groups clear EEOC guidelines by meeting the 4/5 rule.

Discussions and
Conclusions

If this study is to be updated in the future, changes in work content and supervisory or company differences between the various positions included in the study should be investigated.

The cautious manager will note that successful implementation of these results is dependent upon a stable working environment, stable economic conditions, and the capacity to absorb new employees into the job function.

These test results were developed carefully and represent the most modern, scientifically advanced method of assessment. They should be used as a significant tool in the decision process, in conjunction with interviewing, background data, and other selection tools. Where test information contradicts other sources, neither the tests nor the other sources should be automatically relied on without further investigation. The results are valid only for the position noted. The Success Probability Key can be applied only to the Strategic Account Manager position for the evaluation of probable achievement as a top performer.

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