Cranfield KAM Forum (Reports from Q2 2022)

30th September 2022 |   Richard Vincent

Cranfield KAM Forum has now restarted face-to-face sessions in parallel with its online seminars. The success and popularity of the online seminars has demonstrated that there is benefit from them continuing in parallel with the face-to-face sessions. As always, the speakers and subject were chosen to be particularly relevant to key account managers building and maintaining business in the current rapidly changing environment.

“Putting the customer at the heart” by Mark Bailey

Rolls-Royce plc is a company that deals with power and propulsion and should not be confused with the motor-car company, which is entirely separate. Rolls-Royce plc provides power and propulsion systems for land, sea, and air, including nuclear submarines, military and civil aircraft, and major data centres. All of its systems provide mission-critical power and, for all of them, safety is paramount. Pre-pandemic, an aircraft powered by Rolls Royce took off every 2.5 seconds, and the expected on-time despatch rate for every Rolls Royce engine was 99.9%.

Increasing customer focus

Rolls Royce has always been a very high-tech organisation where innovation is the norm, but the innovation that made recent changes possible is more to do with innovation in management, organisation and people than in technology. However, the underlying technology has been an enabler. All of the technology and the machines are ultimately only there to serve people; this applies in B2B just as much as in B2C. In the past, the dedication to technology sometimes allowed people to be forgotten, but it is paramount now.

Richard Vincent

Fellow at Cranfield University | + posts

Richard Vincent spent nearly 29 years at HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise where he specialised in Strategic Business Operations and Key Account Management. He is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University where he has been an active member of the Key Account Management and Strategic Sales forum, since its early days. He is also a self-employed consultant, helping companies build long-term profitable relationships with complex and demanding customers.