Post by sumiseo558899 on Nov 7, 2024 2:18:33 GMT -8
An account manager, or customer service manager, is an ambiguous profession. On the one hand, there are epithets like “face of the company,” “key to success,” “key figure,” and even “one-man band” on recruiting sites. On the other hand, there is the stereotype “What’s so difficult about it? Monitor payments and kick other departments so that tasks are completed on time.”
Account Manager Responsibilities
How to become an account manager
Let's figure out what a person should know and be able to do in order to be the face of the company, the scourge of lazy colleagues, and the best friend of the client.
Account Manager Responsibilities
Account managers are most often needed in content writing service
companies related to the Internet: website development studios, Internet agencies, advertising and branding bureaus - where there are many parallel projects. And since working in IT is fashionable now (open spaces, MacBooks and coffee machines), the work seems to be simple, and the salaries are high - this position is in demand among representatives of generations X&Y.
However, despite the apparent ease, the threshold for entry into the profession of an account manager is quite high, primarily in terms of competencies (probably, that is why hh.ru in Russia has about six hundred open vacancies for account managers and 61 thousand for sales managers). At the same time, it seems that a salesperson can easily handle the functions of an account manager. But there is a difference between these positions: a salesperson works "cold", is responsible for transferring a client from potential to current and, in principle, does not interact with him after that on the substantive part of the services.
But the customer support department comes into play after the sales department and is responsible for the brilliant processing of the first order, converting the client into a regular one and increasing loyalty to the company. These indicators can be measured by economics: average check, increasing volumes and orders, managed risks and results. To put it simply, the contractor brings the client their target audience, helps convert it into sales, and the account manager organizes a comfortable and effective flow of this process.
To do this, the account manager:
regularly communicates with the client and manages his involvement in processes and decision-making, without which it will not be possible to move on to the next milestone of the project;
helps clients formulate goals and understand reports;
understands the development plans of the projects he leads;
coordinates with the client and the agency’s contractors the requirements of both parties (company – customer);
analyzes the results of cooperation, identifies complaints and customer dissatisfaction;
controls payments and prevents debts;
manages the level of customer satisfaction: handles customer objections and complaints so that no one’s interests are harmed;
conducts business meetings and presents additional company services to clients (upsale).
These are global tasks that apply to each account and the entire support department. For a specific project (for example, when you need to “bring” the client’s target audience to the site), the list of tasks is as follows:
fill out a project brief with the client, and sometimes define marketing goals;
develop an initial action plan with the project team;
select relevant tools;
monitor the implementation of the plan and, when necessary (“when”, not “if”), adjust it;
handle client complaints and objections;
maintain relationships after the client's project is completed and offer other possible solutions to improve the business.
news
That is, if we are talking about an ideal account manager, this is practically a superman (or superwoman). This person should understand internet marketing: know the capabilities of different tools, follow innovations and be able to combine these tools depending on the situation. You need to be able to set tasks and work with objections. An account is a team player who can also take responsibility for individual decisions. Due to the large number (sometimes up to 20) of parallel projects, you need to fight burnout and routine (checklists, task managers and time management are our everything).
And the golden rule: "If it's not you who calls the client, but he who calls you, expect problems." Those who are more comfortable working with documents, rather than with a phone to their ear, should not even try to access accounts.
How to become an account manager
If you still think that the job of an account manager is “easy”, I can easily add a few more bonuses (the list is not complete!).
Daily communication with a dozen different people (and on average, the account has up to 15-20 projects in hand at the same time). At the same time, one client is keen on hunting, another is an adherent of a healthy lifestyle, a third studies medieval frescoes, and the tenth calls in the evenings while walking the dog to discuss what was done on his project during the day.
Endless discussions of project tasks with colleagues from other departments. In addition to those 15 people from p.1.
Proving to the client's programming team that yes, this pop-up window needs to be removed, yes, it's important, no, it won't stand for three weeks. And all this with screenshots of statistics, reports and letters "colleagues, we need to discuss this, I'll never come back with an answer."
Phone calls. Phone calls. Phone calls. PHONE CALLS.
Five-minute stand-ups for each project, weekly department meetings, monthly team meetings, Skype calls with clients – and about 20 minutes of silence a day to work.
A special sad bonus for girls: unfortunately, in some cases you will have to additionally prove that you are able to understand the client's tire or construction business.
Of course, these are rather exceptions that an account manager may encounter, rather than established rules of corporate life, but account management is, first and foremost, working with people and communicating. People of different characters, mindsets and requirements, under time pressure and a lack of time and resources, but expecting excellent results for their business. Therefore, the account must be ready for any turn of events, the client's mood and even retrograde Mercury (whatever that phrase means).
And to better prepare for the unexpected, if, of course, this article didn’t scare you and you want to try yourself in accounting, I recommend reading these books:
There is also a large selection of books for account managers from our agency - read to your heart's content and welcome to a nervous, but very interesting profession!
Account Manager Responsibilities
How to become an account manager
Let's figure out what a person should know and be able to do in order to be the face of the company, the scourge of lazy colleagues, and the best friend of the client.
Account Manager Responsibilities
Account managers are most often needed in content writing service
companies related to the Internet: website development studios, Internet agencies, advertising and branding bureaus - where there are many parallel projects. And since working in IT is fashionable now (open spaces, MacBooks and coffee machines), the work seems to be simple, and the salaries are high - this position is in demand among representatives of generations X&Y.
However, despite the apparent ease, the threshold for entry into the profession of an account manager is quite high, primarily in terms of competencies (probably, that is why hh.ru in Russia has about six hundred open vacancies for account managers and 61 thousand for sales managers). At the same time, it seems that a salesperson can easily handle the functions of an account manager. But there is a difference between these positions: a salesperson works "cold", is responsible for transferring a client from potential to current and, in principle, does not interact with him after that on the substantive part of the services.
But the customer support department comes into play after the sales department and is responsible for the brilliant processing of the first order, converting the client into a regular one and increasing loyalty to the company. These indicators can be measured by economics: average check, increasing volumes and orders, managed risks and results. To put it simply, the contractor brings the client their target audience, helps convert it into sales, and the account manager organizes a comfortable and effective flow of this process.
To do this, the account manager:
regularly communicates with the client and manages his involvement in processes and decision-making, without which it will not be possible to move on to the next milestone of the project;
helps clients formulate goals and understand reports;
understands the development plans of the projects he leads;
coordinates with the client and the agency’s contractors the requirements of both parties (company – customer);
analyzes the results of cooperation, identifies complaints and customer dissatisfaction;
controls payments and prevents debts;
manages the level of customer satisfaction: handles customer objections and complaints so that no one’s interests are harmed;
conducts business meetings and presents additional company services to clients (upsale).
These are global tasks that apply to each account and the entire support department. For a specific project (for example, when you need to “bring” the client’s target audience to the site), the list of tasks is as follows:
fill out a project brief with the client, and sometimes define marketing goals;
develop an initial action plan with the project team;
select relevant tools;
monitor the implementation of the plan and, when necessary (“when”, not “if”), adjust it;
handle client complaints and objections;
maintain relationships after the client's project is completed and offer other possible solutions to improve the business.
news
That is, if we are talking about an ideal account manager, this is practically a superman (or superwoman). This person should understand internet marketing: know the capabilities of different tools, follow innovations and be able to combine these tools depending on the situation. You need to be able to set tasks and work with objections. An account is a team player who can also take responsibility for individual decisions. Due to the large number (sometimes up to 20) of parallel projects, you need to fight burnout and routine (checklists, task managers and time management are our everything).
And the golden rule: "If it's not you who calls the client, but he who calls you, expect problems." Those who are more comfortable working with documents, rather than with a phone to their ear, should not even try to access accounts.
How to become an account manager
If you still think that the job of an account manager is “easy”, I can easily add a few more bonuses (the list is not complete!).
Daily communication with a dozen different people (and on average, the account has up to 15-20 projects in hand at the same time). At the same time, one client is keen on hunting, another is an adherent of a healthy lifestyle, a third studies medieval frescoes, and the tenth calls in the evenings while walking the dog to discuss what was done on his project during the day.
Endless discussions of project tasks with colleagues from other departments. In addition to those 15 people from p.1.
Proving to the client's programming team that yes, this pop-up window needs to be removed, yes, it's important, no, it won't stand for three weeks. And all this with screenshots of statistics, reports and letters "colleagues, we need to discuss this, I'll never come back with an answer."
Phone calls. Phone calls. Phone calls. PHONE CALLS.
Five-minute stand-ups for each project, weekly department meetings, monthly team meetings, Skype calls with clients – and about 20 minutes of silence a day to work.
A special sad bonus for girls: unfortunately, in some cases you will have to additionally prove that you are able to understand the client's tire or construction business.
Of course, these are rather exceptions that an account manager may encounter, rather than established rules of corporate life, but account management is, first and foremost, working with people and communicating. People of different characters, mindsets and requirements, under time pressure and a lack of time and resources, but expecting excellent results for their business. Therefore, the account must be ready for any turn of events, the client's mood and even retrograde Mercury (whatever that phrase means).
And to better prepare for the unexpected, if, of course, this article didn’t scare you and you want to try yourself in accounting, I recommend reading these books:
There is also a large selection of books for account managers from our agency - read to your heart's content and welcome to a nervous, but very interesting profession!