Account management is another important aspect of business that can either increase or decrease sales. Account managers (AMs) are in charge of taking care of a client’s account in a company. Simply put, they are a company’s representative to clients.
Getting new customers is great, but retaining these customers afterward is very essential; visit here to learn more about this. Most companies know this and know that effective AMs are necessary to achieve customer retention. This is because AMs are the ones the clients have the most direct interaction with regarding the daily and routine tasks of their accounts.
An effective account manager needs to be able to change their service to fit the client’s peculiar situation at a particular time. Therefore, their duty can be a mixture of several roles including a salesperson, technical specialist, financial advisor, and customer service representative.
If you already serve in this capacity, or you are looking to start a career on this path, then you need all the training you can get to ensure you become proficient in it.
Hence, we will talk about some key traits that you need to possess to be considered as an effective AM.
1. Know the Needs of All the Involved Parties
Account managers need to be well aware of those that are interested in the service they offer. Yes, they are there to serve clients; this may very well be their most important charge, but there are other people they need to pay mind to.
They also need to meet their agency’s senior management expectations. Team members in the agency are another set of people whose expectations have to be met. The people, needs, and expectations an AM has to balance are quite a lot.
You may be wondering why all these matters. The truth is, even if you are efficient at meeting the needs and expectations of one party (let us say the clients), without meeting the expectations of the other (the team members and senior management) your effectiveness with the other party will be meaningless.
The reason we mentioned this trait first is that every other trait that will be listed subsequently has to be applied to all parties. If you fail at doing this, you will not be considered an effective AM.
2. See Both the Big and Small Pictures
You need to be able to see both the bigger picture as well as the smaller ones. Effective AMs understand their clients’ goals. They know how these goals are being executed and the progress being made down to the last detail. They are usually able to measure the value being offered to their client by their agency, and even the value the client is providing the agency.
Productive AMs can notice leading metrics so that potential challenges can be handled way before they even become problems.
3. Properly Communicate
Communication is not just about talking but also listening. Good AMs are aware of the importance of listening to their clients, so rather than doing all the talking, they also ask their clients questions and listen to them. You can visit https://theimportantsite.com/ to learn more about the importance of listening when communicating.
They also do not wait until someone initiates a conversation with them. They are usually genuinely interested in the success of everyone, so they always like to find out issues by getting their clients to share the issues with them.
In addition to listening, they talk to share important information, campaign updates, insights gotten from clients with the team members so they can be used in campaigns, and even the account condition with the senior management.
Constant communication will reduce the chances of surprises getting sprung upon any party. Effective AMs know this and do their best to communicate properly with everyone.
4. Do Not Take Shortcuts
To be considered an effective AM, you must have enough experience and expertise in the field. Therefore, you will not take shortcuts to the end. You must ensure that you learn about your clients individually including their pain points, goals, industry, messages, and even personas.
You also need to maintain your expertise by learning the current trends and changes in the marketing world.
5. Earn Respect
An effective AM knows that one key factor of account management is creating a great relationship with the clients and everyone they have to work with. Therefore, to generate action from people, they take their time to first know them personally.
By building a strong and genuine relationship with those they work with, they can protect the interest and needs of everyone. They can stop the team from becoming committed beyond their capacity. They will also understand the client’s concerns and needs.
Conclusion
Account management is an important aspect of business, and most agencies know this. This is why the need for effective account managers will always be constant but becoming an effective account manager isn’t something that is done in a day. You would need to get proper training and then groom yourself to get to that point.