What is an account manager?
An account manager is the liaison between an agency and its clients. Their role is to oversee a portfolio of assigned customers, develop new business from existing clients and actively seek new sales opportunities. Tasks may involve project management, strategic planning, sales support, product design, service application, logistics, and marketing.
How to become an account manager?
A successful account manager requires a combination of education, training and advanced skills to help them excel in this position.
You could take a degree before applying to join a company’s management training scheme. Most subjects are accepted but you may have an advantage if you study in business management, financial services, marketing or maths
A successful account manager requires a combination of education, training and advanced skills to help them excel in this position.
Account manager duties:
Account manager duties are diverse and depend on the employer and specialty, but some responsibilities are common to most:
- Acting as a liaison between the client and departments within the company to convey information, ensure understanding, and make certain everything gets done in an accurate, timely manner
- Negotiate contracts and close agreements to maximize profits
- Coordinate with staff members working on the same account to ensure consistent service
- Collaborates with sales team to reach prospective clients
- Monitor and analyze customer’s usage of our product
- Forecast and track key account metrics
- Communicate clearly the progress of monthly/quarterly initiatives to internal and external stakeholders
- Responsible for working with the Sales team to onboard and integrate new clients and developing existing client relationships
Account manager skills:
To be an effective account manager, you’ll need certain skills and competencies. The following are often cited in job vacancies:
- Having strong interpersonal skills
- Display empathy and emotional intelligence
- Keen observer of society and trends
- Excellent listening, negotiation and presentation abilities
- Ability to communicate client needs with staff
- Negotiation skills
- Talent for influencing client management
- Prospecting skills
- Build relationships
- Customer focus
How to find an account manager job
These jobs are advertised online, in local newspapers and at your local jobcentre. To find all the account manager jobs near you, you need to:
- Search for account manager jobs on popular job websites such as; Indeed, Total Jobs and CV Library
- Use the DWP’s Find A Job Service
- Check local newspapers and local Facebook groups, especially groups dedicated to local jobs
Account Manager Job Titles
When you search for account manager jobs online, be aware that the jobs might be advertised using a different job title. Popular job titles for account manager jobs include;
- Key Account Manager
- Sales Account Manager
- Junior Account Manager
- Senior Account Manager
- Account Management
- Technical Account Manager
- Client Account Manager
What does an account manager do?
The day-to-day tasks of an account manager include;
- Growing the original business partnership through upsells and cross-sells
- Managing relationships between the client and sales and customer support, and
- Retaining their long-term business through contract renewals by ensuring client satisfaction
- Forecast and track key account metrics (e.g. quarterly sales results and annual forecasts)
- Prepare reports on account status