“Yeah, yeah, yeah… save the talk about the value proposition. What’s the cheapest price you can give me?”

If that line sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Across almost every industry, the buying process has devolved into a race to the bottom where “value” is measured only in dollars and cents, and where differentiation feels impossible because the customer believes all quality is equal.

But let’s pause and think about that for a moment.

The Kia EV9 Analogy
Take the Kia EV9. In 2025, this electric SUV, priced around $54,000, is packed with features: a long-range battery, advanced safety systems, and technology that would’ve seemed futuristic in 2000. Back then, a car with that level of performance and sophistication would have cost more than $60,000 in year-2000 dollars, and even then, wouldn’t have come close to the quality, reliability, and efficiency of today’s Kia.

The only thing it lacks? A BMW or Mercedes badge on the grille.

In other words, the world has changed. Quality is everywhere. Differentiation is harder to see. And yet, customers are more demanding than ever.

Your dinosaur key account managers won’t understand what hit them; much in the same way the dinosaurs roaming the earth didn’t know the 8-mile-long asteroid was about to hit the planet 66 million years ago.

Today’s key account managers will tell you they’ve seen it all, they know it all, and most importantly, they have the 30-year relationships of martinis and steak dinners to prove it.

But things in the business universe are changing quickly, and the impact will be devastating for companies that don’t insist their key account managers get with the times. The next era of customer management requires a seismic shift from relationships built on loyalty to partnerships focused on business outcomes.

We are entering the era of Strategic Account Management, where success comes from insight, agility, and measurable value creation, not just because you bought the customer a steak dinner.

Some of you read that headline and thought, “That would never happen here.” Others read it and immediately thought of an example from your own organization where it happens every day, and know exactly what I am talking about. Unfortunately, the second group is right; this dynamic is more common than leaders care to admit.

A few years ago, I worked with a global manufacturing company where two managers took very different paths. One, a brilliant but insecure leader, quietly undermined one of his top-performing direct reports, assigning impossible deadlines, blocking access to resources, and even taking credit for her ideas. Eventually, her performance slipped, and he seemed vindicated: “See? She wasn’t as good as people thought.” But she left the company, joined a competitor, and within two years was leading a major business unit, directly against her old employer. He, meanwhile, fizzled out and will be remembered more for the talent he chased away than the results he delivered.

The other manager in the same company did the opposite. He actively built up his direct reports, gave them stretch assignments, and advocated for their success. Within five years, three of his protégés had moved into senior leadership roles across the enterprise. His reward? He was promoted to an executive vice president level not just for his results, but for the leadership legacy he created.

That contrast captures the issue perfectly. Over the past several months, as I’ve been conducting dozens of executive interviews while designing and delivering business simulations, I’ve heard an unsettling theme emerge: senior leaders are seeing managers who actually want their direct reports to fail.

Why? The motivations are rarely stated out loud, but they are painfully human:

• Fear that a talented direct report could “take their job.”
• Anxiety that a strong performer will raise the bar and force others to work harder.
• Discomfort with disruptive ideas that challenge the status quo.

Whatever the root cause, the outcome is the same: subtle sabotage, withheld support, and a toxic culture where high-potential talent is stifled rather than developed. Left unchecked, this behavior doesn’t just hurt individuals; it corrodes trust, slows innovation, and ultimately weakens the organization’s ability to compete.

Last week, we conducted an intensive business acumen program for a group of new hires. The goal
was simple but powerful: build a foundation in strategic thinking and financial management so they can deliver more value to their clients and accelerate their own careers.

At the center of the learning journey was a customized business simulation. In small teams of five, participants ran their own simulated companies, literally walking a mile in their clients' shoes. Over three “years” of running their businesses, they faced the same real-world challenges leaders confront every day: pricing pressures, cost decisions, investments in innovation, and the constant balancing act between short-term wins and long-term sustainability.

Sometimes the best blog ideas emerge during the process of designing and developing new business simulations. Earlier today, I was interviewing a senior finance subject matter expert as part of the process of designing a new business simulation, and I asked him about the single biggest business skills challenge he thinks the organization faces. Before I even finished asking the question, he blurted out...“Without a doubt, forecasting! It is our Achilles heel, and if you can help our company develop better forecasting skills, that would be amazing. Think of it this way. If we were just 1% better in forecasting, we would create over $50 million of free cash flow every quarter. That’s a significant number.”

We had a great 10-minute conversation about it, which prompted me to do some research and review years of notes I’ve accumulated on forecasting skills. Based on that work, here are five quick skills that make business forecasting more effective: