Almost all the organizations in the world operate with a profit motive. An organization’s profit earning capabilities depend upon various factors such as, how strong is the relationship of the company with its customers, connection with its stakeholders, sales of the company, and its market share. An account manager is a responsible and highly coveted position that revolves around the customers and the sales of the company.
Job Profile
An account manager is entrusted to create long-term relationships with the existing customers of the company. Also, they have designated an area, and are responsible to handle client queries, providing resolution to the customers, and find opportunities to extend the customer base of the company. Achieving the targets assigned by the superiors is the sole responsibility of an account manager in collaboration with the sales team.
An account manager has to prepare several reports post conducting a thorough and meaningful survey of market intelligence. The reports thus prepared are than presented before the management and stakeholders, which further formulates strategies and actions to be followed.
Duties To Be Performed
An accounts manager is a key personnel of the company and has to a perform a variety of duties as mentioned below:
- Maintain a smooth and cordial relation with the sales team of the company
- Become the first point of contact for all the problems related to the management of the customers of the company
- Continuously evaluate the strategies and proposals to increase a company’s customer base
- Maintain strong relationship with the existing customers of the company
- Cover the accounts present in the area assigned to him
- Be the nodal point for all the business development activities
- Manage the existing leads generated by the company and engage in the role of lead management
- Designing, framing, and running the programs related to the acquisition of clients
- Ensure that the clients of the company are retained and are satisfied with the services of the company
- Conduct various analyses related to market intelligence, which would help the sales team to launch appropriate advertisement campaigns and formulate awareness strategies
- Ensure that all the targets assigned are fully met
- Achieving revenue targets of the company
- Ensure that the data of the company is confidential and its access is available only to the management and stakeholders along with key personnel of the company.
- Conduct a deep study and forecast the quarterly and annual sales of the company
- Perform standard deviation techniques and identify reasons for variance from the standard sales
Skills
We live in a dynamic world and hence we must strive to constantly evolve ourselves. Nowadays it is highly recommendable to keep oneself ever vigilant and develop a feeling of openness to learning new skills and technologies. Some of the key skills, to be learned, if you are at the post of an account manager are mentioned below:
| Name of the course | Duration |
| CRM Software such as Zoho, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc ) | 3 months |
| MS Office (especially MS Excel and MS Word) | 2 to 3 months |
| Complete Presentation and Public speaking course | 3 to 6 months |
| Advance Excel | 3 to 6 months |
| Complete communication skills course | 3 months |
| Decision making and emotional intelligence management | 3 months |
Salary
The entire business of a company revolves around the customers or clients of the company. If a company has a strong customer base, that will ultimately lead to higher profit and thus increased market presence. Since the primary objective of an account manager is to increase the sales of the company, this position enjoys high salaries, respect, and social recognition. In addition to the salary, an account manager is also entitled to various perquisites and bonuses. They are also offered incentives, upon completion of a predefined target. The salary of an account manager depends upon the following factors:
| Factors influencing salary | Outcome |
| Territory/Jurisdiction | If an account manager is employed at a place, having a high cost of living, then a company would normally pay him dearly. Whereas, on the opposite, an account manager employed in some semi-urban or rural areas, will be given less salary. |
| Profitability of the company | A company with a superior market presence and strong customer base is profitable and hence, are in a better position to compensate their employees. An account manager, employed at such companies would fetch fat paychecks, as compared to the employees working with organizations with poor financials. |
| Experience | The salary and experience of the employee have a direct relationship. The higher the experience, the higher would be the salary and vice versa. Hence, it is always advisable to join an organization at lower pay in the beginning and then slowly negotiate and settle for a higher salary as your experience and grasp in that particular field increases. |
| Skills | An account manager with extensive knowledge of CRM software, superior presentation skills, effective communication skills will always get a higher salary. As these are some crucial things that a company is looking for. |
Education
To become an account manager, you need to have at least a bachelor’s degree (preferably sales). It has been observed that students related to the field of sales are preferable. Further, it is the experience that matters a lot in this field.
Conclusion
The role of an account manager requires responsibility, a positive attitude, and an ability to work in stressful and hectic conditions. With an objective to achieve the targets assigned by the company, the role becomes even more challenging and demanding. But, the salary of an account manager mostly features in the top ten lists and with experience, this increases leaps and bounds. Hence, if you are willing to opt in as a profession and have relevant skills, education, and background then most probably you are on the right track. If you like our articles then don’t forget to share them with your family and friends. Also, do let us know in the comments section below, how much you like our articles and how helpful they are for you.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850118301159
- http://www.impgroup.org/uploads/papers/7141.pdf
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
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