What is Account Management? Definition

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The team OfAccount Managers has a twofold approach: maintaining existing relationships And in encourage new. You have to be careful never to neglect one of the two goals at the risk of losing everything. Many Akimbo Alumni become Account Managers after their experience at Akimbo, in the rest of their careers.

What is Account Management?

Account management: definition

Account management is a commercial function that consists in managing relationships between a company and its customers. Les Account managers come after salespeople who have already identified, recruited and converted leads into customers.

Once theAgreement concluded, they take over as brand representatives and privileged interlocutors. The aim is to make the collaboration even more qualitative but above all sustainable.

The Account Management professions provide a listening service and personalized advice for build loyalty customers and incite to renew a purchase. At this stage, discipline is based much more on the availability and listening of the employee than on their purely technical skills.

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Why do Account Management?

Thanks to Account Management, selling to prospects is no longer the only way to increase sales. The customer base, which has already been transformed, represents a real business opportunity.

The signing of the contract does not mean the loss of interest. Relationships are transformed but not without benefits. If the transaction went well, the customer is familiar with the company, its sales team and its products.

Buyer satisfaction is decisive both for Sales but also for the repute of the company. Each individual wishes to be considered and listened to throughout the duration of the application of their contract. Account Management multiplies the chances of leaving a Good impression to the customer so that he renews its sales experience.

What are account management best practices?

• Support and protect the interests of its customers

Account Management takes responsibility for customer relationship And requisitions. If the customer has a problem with the use or operation of a product or service, the department seeks a solution. Each follow-up is personalized and stepless, customer satisfaction is the source that fuels their loyalty to the company.

• Promote communication in all circumstances

Account Management is a profession of contact human. Create a relationship of trust Request for involvement and communication. Without exchange, it is impossible to understand emerging needs and to take advantage of them. A bad one information flow freeze the process. This can prevent sales teams from working and generate degradations In theAgreement with customers.

• Be responsive and listen to your customers

In B2B, it is essential to master the business sector of the company's target customers. Account Management jobs must be available and know how to set up active listening of their customers. They must respect the continuity of the nature of the contract and the wishes of consumers. Learning about their needs, activities and expectations is mastering information necessary for the choice of best solution. Each failure to provide this service may lead to conflicts Or disappointments Who could harm the business and in his image.

• Be an expert in your business and the products it offers

Like junior salespeople, Account Management requires its members to have a knowledge Particular of products and services sold. They remain specialists in their field and maintain the image ofexpertise of the company. The challenge of mastering such a subject is to be able to responder quickly to all customer questions. For comparison, he can also find out about thecompetitive environment to adapt your strategy.

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How to ensure customer satisfaction?

• Why place customer satisfaction at the center of its actions?

Promoting customer satisfaction is a great way to prove performance of a company. It highlights several points: its expertise, the quality of its offer, its commercial team and its ability to respond to disputes.

Account Management has a global vision of the business plan from customer prospecting to closing. These salespeople ensure thesuitability And of Good use of the product or service offered.

The feedback given to them allows them to report these remarks to coworkers. There is no better frame of reference than customers. Any observation allows the company to Correct yourself And ofimprove its global offer. This is how the company Upscale. She provides adapted support and is constantly improving herself with the observations made to her.

• How do you satisfy your customers?

The company must invest in its Account Management service as much as in the first commercial phases. Each employee involved in it must have a Relational ease And a good expertise in its field. They will then be competent to understand and respond to needs.

The key to successful support lies in the availability And thelistens of the commercial. For each client, he establishes personalized and adapted solutions to his expectations. Its objective is not to sell at all costs but to sell smartly. Each established proposal meets a real need and answers a problem posed by the client. The latter is more prone to Remain faithful to the services of the company if he felt considered and listened to throughout the sales process.

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The main commercial levers of Account Management

• Cross-selling

Cross-selling Is a cross-selling technique widely used in B2B Saas marketing and B2C e-commerce. It is about offering, in addition to the main sale, complementary products or services.

This may come from the customer who requires additional elements to take advantage of his property (follow-up, maintenance, insurance). But it can also be the result of the initiative of the company, which can offer complementary offers (gifts, samples, cumulative offers, recommendations).

These strategies are carried out in order to encourage customers to Increase their average basket to develop the turnover. All proposals have a logical link to the original purchase but respond to a desire or need that the latter does not satisfy.

The challenge is to bring it up and present it in a subtle way. This technique goes almost unnoticed because it intervenes naturally in The buying process. This is generally a small additionality that increases the cost of sale and extends the contract. It is also A service that pleases. Consumers appreciate that the brand thinks of them and offers them additional, consistent, and related items. Accessible to complete their experience. This gives visibility to the brand and to its range of items, it encourages consumption.

• Up-selling

Up-selling is a sales technique that relies on The upscale. That is to say, the salesperson will offer an equivalent of the product or service originally intended. Obviously, this proposal corresponds to an article in a greatest value.

This is a more difficult method to implement than cross-selling. The price is often a Obstacle to buying. The seller must then find theargumentation necessary to convince him that it is a way toimprove your experience and satisfaction.

He will present the advantages and technical superiority of this possibility to increase his interest in the customer. If this type of operation is successful, the average basket explodes and the result is very profitable.

It is an effective way to ensure a better customer retention. It increases the portfolio value over the long term, without incurring too many costs since they are already qualified. Up-selling effectively shows theexpertise And the brand diversification.

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Account Management - FAQs

What is Key Account Management?

The Key Account Management (KAM) has a role similar to Account Management but does not apply to the same types of customers. The Key Account Manager is specialized in the support of major accounts, customers with high added value Called the Key Accounts. They represent the largest part of the company's turnover.

These major accounts require particular attention and benefit from certain specific treatments due to their position. The Key Account Manager develops a personalized approach and follow-up to each customer in the portfolio.

The aim is the same, support and retain customers by maintaining a good commercial relationship. Here the challenge is even more important because the profitability is much higher if successful.

What is Account-Based?

L'Account-Based Is a marketing strategy particular. It differs from Account Management on a simple principle: its training Concentrated its action on some prospects with high conversion potential. Instead of spreading across a portfolio of customers, most of whom will not be interested, this method aims to retain strategic accounts.

These contracts are not necessarily the most important as for Key Account Management, they are “traditional” customers who are more receptive than average.

It is a powerful strategy to improve the growth of the B2B company. Agents develop personalized follow-up of customer relationships considered as opportunities. This core target is more susceptible of Engage And of deliver results.

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What is the role of an Account Manager?

The Account Manager (AM) takes over from theAccount Executive (AE). Its action focuses on the End of sales cycle but that doesn't mean it's any less important. On the contrary, his work must be particularly careful so as not to hinder everything that has been done beforehand.

His intervention is also aimed at contract renewals. It has a double objective of upshot And of satisfaction that he achieves by following the contracts and continuing tosupporting customers in their efforts.

Account Manager roles and missions

The AM is responsible for management of new accounts once the sale has been made. He maintains the commercial relationships and seeks to Renew them in order to achieve business goals (turnover and customer satisfaction) on the longterm.

He is responsible for overseeing all after-sales service and for build loyalty direct and indirect accounts. He must be available, relevant and of good advice throughout the duration of the contract. His ultimate quest is the looking for opportunities, to renew new contracts when they are satisfied with the offer and the support service.

The AM has several missions:

• Identify and respond to customer expectations;
• Find business solutions innovative to the problems encountered;
• Know the technical characteristics of the offer;
• Retain The customers to do Evolve purchases;
• Advise additional products or services adapted to changing needs;‍
• Follow contracts and goals.

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What are the qualities and skills of an Account Manager?

• Master sales and prospecting techniques

The AM must demonstrate a certain Relational ease. Renewing contracts requiresargumentation And a Knowledge of its sector. The AM must master your offer and your target. He makes sure to address the right profile, then presents his proposal to convince him to join. It is a long-term job that requires oddity And of the readiness.

• Have the ability to organize and analyze

In order to ensure the follow-up of its missions, the AM must have good synthesis and analysis skills. It uses some tools like The CRM of the company or LinkedIn that allow him to managing relationships and gain in productivity. He should know Organize your work and time. Each missed action can have the consequences of fractures in the relationship and the contract.

• Managing stress and conflicts

It may happen that the AM must manage differences between the customer and the company. Faced with this kind of pressure, he must be able to keep your cool and demonstrate benevolence. When he encounters complex situations, he redoubles hisinventiveness And of creativity For the solve without interfering with the work done.

• Adapt and take initiatives

The AM does not wait for the customer to make requests or comments, he does anticipates. By succeeding in adapt your speech and approach, every consumer feels listened to and considered. By following the desires of customers and changes in the environment, he can always find the right one. jumpsuit Who makes the fruitful relationship.

• Know how to listen and communicate

An AM's ability to listen is essential. It is this patience And this Information taking which provides the elements necessary for the decision. By succeeding in identify expectations of each interlocutor, he manages to set up the right ones strategies. Likewise, feedback on the product and on the support services are ways to Advance the sales team and the company.

• Have a good language level

In French as in foreign languages, the AM must have good oral and written abilities. He must be careful to formulate all his Copywriting without mistakes. He may have to communicate with international contact persons, which is why it is important to master theEnglish or even other languages.

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