Companies don’t always have a clear idea of their needs. Or, on the contrary, they know what they want, but they need someone to support them in order to be closer to their customers. The function of an Account manager will be to help these companies by being the privileged interlocutor of their customers. He becomes the guarantor of the satisfaction of a customer portfolio.
Not always known by companies, the job of Account Manager is becoming more and more important on the job market. Negotiation and strategy are part of this fashionable profession and companies are more and more interested in these profiles.
How do you define an Account manager? What does he/she do exactly? What tools do they use in their daily work? How to work with an Account manager? Let’s take a closer look at the role of the Account manager.
The definition of the Account Manager
The Account manager is the person who is the interface between a company and one or more of its strategic customers. He manages an existing customer portfolio and brings his expertise to conquer new markets in well-defined sectors of activity.
The Account Manager is very autonomous on his account, he is the main person in charge of his perimeter. He knows the needs of his customers and identifies the product or service that will best meet them. In addition, he is often in contact with the sales teams as he remains the first point of contact between the company and the customer.
The skills of the Account Manager
They have a good sense of organization and know how to prioritize the tasks entrusted to them. The Account Manager has excellent interpersonal skills as he/she communicates with a large number of customers. Their ability to listen is essential in order to understand the expectations and needs of their interlocutor.
The Account manager is therefore the one who manages customer accounts. But as you can imagine, this is not his only role. His tasks are divided into main missions.
The role of the Account Manager
The role of an Account manager is to follow up on the customer relationship to ensure their satisfaction and possibly propose new features. His tasks differ significantly depending on the company.
How does the Account Manager’s role work?
Initially, he/she relies on a commercial strategy to build a prospecting plan. Then, he/she makes an appointment with the customer to better qualify his/her needs. Then, the Account Manager drafts a proposal and presents it to the client. From there, commercial negotiations will arise and once an agreement is reached, the Account Manager can start his mission.
The existence of two categories of Account Manager
The Account manager assumes several missions while maintaining a personalized and continuous follow-up of the customer. Very often, he/she has to specialize in a particular field.
There are therefore two categories of Account managers:
- Those who focus more on the relationship with an existing client. He/she is responsible for maintaining and perpetuating the good relationship between the company and its client. To do this, he supports and directs his client towards the products and services that best suit his situation. He is in direct contact with him. It is a daily job that consists in discussing with the customer his issues, his objectives, his problems.
- Those who focus mainly on finding new customers. They are in charge of commercial prospecting, often through telephone calls, in order to find new customers. Their success lies in knowing the needs and expectations of potential customers.
To go further: Best Practices in B2B Sales Prospecting
What tools does the Account Manager use?
The Account Manager uses different tools that are essential to manage the customer portfolio. Depending on the strategy adopted, the Account Manager may use CRM tools, office automation tools, the telephone, social networks, etc.
The CRM
The Account manager accompanies his client to make him fully benefit from the functionalities of a CRM. He needs an easy and quick access to use this tool, and with automatic updates that will allow him to always have updated information.
To learn more: Why should your company use a CRM?
Phone calls
The Account manager has a range of tools to support his work. Among them, the phone remains an essential means to stay in permanent contact with his customer. Moreover, the account manager is often led to seek new customers by using telephone prospecting.
Digital communication
Today, the Account manager can work on websites, social networks or mobile applications. Companies are asking for more and more digital communication in order to increase their visibility and to create engagement.
To go further: What are the challenges of digitalization for companies?
How to hire an Account Manager?
You would like to hire an Account Manager to develop your company’s performance and benefit from a personalized support? At Finelis, we find you the best profiles that correspond to your business sector.
Our Account Managers work around 4 main axes:
- Strategy: they define with the client the areas of work, the objectives and the strategy to achieve them
- The client relationship: the account manager is entirely responsible for his client. He keeps him informed and follows up regularly with him.
- The follow-up of the results: Every strategy has results that must be measured. The account manager analyzes all the evolution of the performances and makes a regular reporting to his client.
- Timing and organization of the work: he plans the different tasks, makes sure that there are no delays and if this happens, he always looks for solutions.
Working with an Account manager is to ensure the development and retention of a customer portfolio.