Job description - Key Account Manager (KAM): missions & salary

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In a sales team, the Key Account Manager's mission is to build long-term strategic partnerships with key account customers.

Did you know that on average 80% of a company's activity comes from 20% of its customers? While this average may vary from one structure to another, the principle remains the same.

The loss of a key account affects profits and long-term profitability. Moreover, in Tech, the development potential of a newly signed account is higher than in other sectors. It is very common to sign an account with a call product and then multiply your sales by 10 in 12 months.

By definition, key accounts represent an important part of a company's activity. It is therefore necessary to invest in their satisfaction and the relationship that binds them to your company. That's where these salespeople come in.

What does this position actually consist of? How do I become a Key Account Manager? Discover the answers to all your questions in this job sheet (missions, training, salary, necessary skills and qualities, etc.).

Key Account Manager: the definition

Meaning of the word and translation

The Key Account Manager, Key Account Manager, Commercial Key Accounts or Key Account Manager Has the function to manage the most important customer accounts of a company. These accounts represent the highest percentage of business revenue and the person in charge of these key accounts must establish and maintain a solid customer relationship.

He is the main point of contact of any important customer and must offer them an irreproachable service.

What is Account Management?

Although the skills and responsibilities of Account Managers (AMs) and Key Account Managers (KAMs) overlap, the two roles remain distinct.

Like KAMs, AMs work to establish after-sales relationships with their customers. However, AMs do not focus specifically on key accounts, customers with high added value, but on all types of customers. As such, the KAMs have a bigger, more practical role and a longer-term perspective.

Key account management or Account Management is, above all, a business strategy that represents organizational change rather than a sales tactic. Indeed, while traditional account management treats each customer relationship in much the same way, the Key Account Manager reorganize and develop different approaches for each.

Therefore, KAMs have a greater responsibility to manage both the customer and the customer's interactions with the other members of their team in order to perpetuate the relationship and ensure a strong foothold within the client company. By being in contact with various people in his client company, he sets up a complex sales organization and insures his career thanks to Multi-threading.

What are the role and missions of a Key Account Manager?

The main role of a Key Account Manager is to take care of a portfolio of customers and to maintain these relationships over time while succeeding them by setting up Up-selling and/or ofthe Cross-selling. Ideally, he becomes a partner and a strategic advisor to the client, discovering new opportunities for collaboration for mutual benefit.

This department, when establishing an effective business strategy, can be more profitable than new sales. The aim is to provide significant value over time. In fact, it is much easier to sell to loyal customers than to find new customers.

The roles, missions and responsibilities of this profession within companies are diverse. Among other things, we find its functions:

• The development of a relationship of trust between the main existing customers;
• Understand and solve the problems encountered by its customers, in terms of the product or service offered;
• Develop a complete understanding of needs in order to better meet them;
• Anticipate changes in the business environment and its customers;
• Manage communications between customers and the internal team;
• Manage the team in charge of one or more client portfolio (s);
• Plan a strategic plan to improve client results by analyzing relevant data;
• Negotiate contracts and establish a performance schedule;
• Establish and supervise the company's internal budgets and the external budgets of its customers;
• Collaborate with the Sales team to maximize profits throughUp-selling Or the Cross-selling.

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What are the qualities of a good Key Account Manager?

What is a good Key Account Manager?

To succeed as a Key Account Manager, the manager must not only have excellent sales skills, but also strong skills such as leadership, communication, and management. They are essential to offer the right services to each client.

We have listed the skills expected of a good Key Account Manager:

• An expert in the field and its customers

One of the main objectives of KAM is to maintain strategic relationships with key accounts. This involves a thorough knowledge of the company and its customers and therefore. It analyzes and identifies the best growth opportunities.

This expertise is particularly important because these salespeople must be able to develop personalized offers adapted to the specific needs of each account. It manages the commercial strategy, market positioning, budget and customer goals, it can develop better offers that provide greater value to the customer and the company. Hence the need to be able to communicate effectively.

• A relational professional

A confirmed Account Manager can become a KAM if the opportunities present themselves to him. During this first position, he learned how to manage a long-term client relationship. He must become an ally of his customers, their preferred contact. He is a relational expert, he likes to spend time with his customers and try to simplify their lives.

• Always keep strategic perspectives in mind

Key Account Managers must have a strategic perspective that goes beyond short-term benefits. He must be able to juggle numerous levers and long-term plans that align with a mutually beneficial business strategy.

Being an excellent salesperson does not mean being a good customer account manager, the focus is not the same: short term vs long term.

• Have a sense of leadership

The Key Account Manager is a leader. He supports the client and manages the team at all levels of the company. Since he touches on so many aspects, he must have confidence in them and inspire respect both in their customers and in their colleagues.

In addition, the strategic nature of KAM's role leads it to act as a visionary by identifying future opportunities. Therefore, he must lead key account management and internal teams on specific initiatives.

• The ability to negotiate

One of the goals is to increase added value over time. To do this, he must not only sell to the customer, but also negotiate conditions that will satisfy both parties (his company and his interlocutor).

It requires a keen sense of timing, presentation skills, and the confidence to hold on and push boundaries if they exist.

• Base selling on the value it brings

Long-term success depends on its ability to provide value to customers. As a KAM, it is important to be communicative about the strategic and financial value of its offers. It is an effective sales lever!

Understanding the challenges and needs of its client companies is essential. These salespeople are able to create personalized offers that add more value to the accounts they manage.

How to be a good KAM with your team and customers?

To fulfill the various responsibilities they are given to him, it is essential that a good KAM has the following qualities:

• Communication

As an intermediary between customers and the rest of the business, these salespeople need to excel at communicating in person, whether on the phone, by email, and between teams.

Being in contact with the various departments of a company, account management is a strategic program that encompasses the entire organization, not just Sales. The KAM will therefore have privileged contacts with each level to ensure that the needs and expectations of the customer are properly met. It establishes healthy coordination between customers and its internal teams.

• Develop your Acumen Business

Many salespeople are too focused on closing and don't understand business issues. This approach is fatal when it comes to managing key accounts. This salesperson must be able to see these issues and help them solve them by offering concrete solutions.

• Be results-oriented

Today, KAM is focused on achieving results for the customer. This means being proactive and not waiting for the customer to notice that they are not on track to achieve a particular goal. He must have a conquering mindset by mobilizing multiple resources to achieve the result. They don't hesitate to take risks, recover from failures, and credit the team for their successes. The latter is motivated by results.

All of these qualities require a mix between hunter and breeder. There are things that need to be addressed with a focus on the short term and that need to be done while understanding how they integrate and accelerate long-term goals. To do this, he is particularly methodical, present on all fronts, persuasive, visionary and attentive.

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How do I become a Key Account Manager?

Key customer management skills

This job requires good business skills. Indeed, he is required to be present both on the commercial pitch, negotiation and customer loyalty during the exercise of his functions.

This highly responsible position requires management skills. Thanks to his leadership and communication skills, he takes charge of his team and mobilizes many departments of the company to manage and manage a given account but also to ensure that the objectives are achieved. Through its services, it is the intermediary par excellence between the company and its customers.

Finally, it is important that he has a good oral fluency, and a strong ability to Transition to action. He must be able to face his customers and reassure them while doing his utmost to answer their requests.

Degrees and training required

KAM profiles are mostly frombusiness or engineering school and have followed higher education courses such as Bac+3 or Bac+5 in sales. Graduates in 3 years or 5 years, aspiring KAM candidates then integrate into a company by occupying first positions and then by climbing the ranks.

It is also possible to follow short courses that lead directly to a permanent contract such as Bootcamps. These short and intensive programs prepare candidates for Sales and Business Development jobs.

At Akimbo, we train several profiles each so that they are operational as soon as they arrive on the workstation. The training is free for candidates who choose to join one of our partner start-ups on a permanent contract.

In a few words, the Akimbo Bootcamp covers the entire sales cycle and the required skills to become a Business Developer, or learn how to develop your startup:

• Go-to-Market
• Commercial data
• Design and execution of prospecting sequences
• Cold calls
• Customer appointment
• Account Management
• Complex sale

Of Sales Coaches (with 5 to 10 years of startup experience) share their knowledge, tips, and expertise, in order to support you throughout the training.

The Bootcamp is oriented to 70% towards practice : under the supervision of Sales Coaches, the Akimbers put into practice what they have learned through projects on behalf of real startups.

The training is available at distance as in person and recommended by 98% of our Alumni. To date, we have trained over 500 people.

The people most likely to become a Key Account Manager have a few years of experience in account management or at least knowledge of business sectors and their challenges. These are considerable advantages.

This position is also very oriented Mindset and soft-skills. If you have easy contact, you have a pleasant exchange with you, you have a winning spirit, project management skills and one or more professional experiences with similar missions, you can start with Account Management and evolve into KAM friends.

What career developments are there for this position?

Being a Key Account Manager in a startup means occupying one of the highest positions in the hierarchy. To evolve is to have the desire to face new challenges.

Several options may be available:

• Continue to evolve towards management positions, such as sales manager ;
• Integrate companies offering account management with international customers, beautiful multinationals. Often offering the possibility of Expatriate internationally and become Global Account Manager.

Mastering English and even being trilingual is a real asset in order to successfully land a Global Account Manager position.

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What is the salary for a Key Account Manager?

How much does a Key Account Manager earn?

As for Business Developers and other positions found in startups, the salary for Key Account Managers also respects the package system, with a fixed portion and a variable portion.

These shares are calculated by the sales manager to ensure that the 20-25% of the best performing employees receive 100% of the variable granted. The part of the variable in the salary can reach between 30% and 50%.

The salary also takes into account several factors : the business model, experience, fundraising, your ability to negotiate salary, sector of activity, languages mastered, etc.

Junior Key Account Manager Salary

For Junior Key Account Managers, at the beginning of their career, the annual gross remuneration revolves around €40k for the fixed portion, and €15k for the variable portion.

Senior Key Account Manager Salary

For Senior Key Account Managers, who are more experienced than Juniors, this is an average gross annual package of 45-50k € for the fixed portion, and €20k for the variable portion.

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The different Account Management jobs

The titles you need to know

• Key Account Manager H-F;
• H-F Key Account Manager;
• H-F Key Account Development Manager;
• H-F Key Account Manager;
• Key Account Director H-F;
• Global Account Manager H-F;
• H-F agri-food key account manager;
• International key account manager H-F;
• Sales Account Manager H-F.

What is a Global Account Manager (GAM)

The mission of a Global Account Manager is to Watch to the achievement of global sales revenue goals and Take care international and more demanding customer accounts. He manages and interprets also all the new opportunities that lie beyond the national border of the company for which he works.

What is a Sales Account Manager (SAM)

In constant contact with the Sales, Product and Marketing team, the Sales Account Manager is responsible for To attract potential customers, supervises sales activities and undertakes the first exchanges with customers. He eve to satisfaction and generates new opportunities.

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Recruiting: our advice for finding the right job offers

To find the right Key Account Manager job offer, start by choosing recognized job search sites to post ads that are checked in advance like JobTeaser or Welcome To The Jungle.

This will prevent you from wasting time with offers that are not clear and do not provide enough information about the position.

Precisely, check the presentation of the offer and its content. These are enough to be able to assess at a glance the relevance and credibility of the position and the company. The offer must follow a logical thread, with numerical data with a minimum of care taken in the presentation.

Regarding information, the main ones to look for are:

• The team and the management style : vision, values and ambitions;
• The sector of activity : marketplace, health, food industry, home delivery service, finance,...;
• Business size : number of employees, possible fundraising,...;
• Personal support : onboarding, internal training,...;
• Company culture : afterworks, Team Buildings, etc...

However, they are not the only ones. It is now important to ensure that you have the information useful for the job directly. In particular, we are thinking of:

• The responsibilities of the position;
• The missions;
• The tools used;
• The sales cycle.

Having the answers to these questions will allow you to better understand what is expected of you and to be sure whether or not you correspond to the profile sought for this job. Even if you don't check all the boxes, your determination, your professional project or even your soft-skills will be able to make a difference. In some cases, they take precedence over a lack of professional experience.

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How do you recruit a good Key Account Manager?

Recruiting a good KAM is a responsibility and a real challenge. Good profiles are rare and are highly sought after, your competitors are definitely looking for the same profile as you.

And this profile is the one who has the skills, techniques and character where, when combined, results in a customer experience and results that are more than satisfactory.

To be successful in your recruitment, make sure you understand if the candidate knows or is aware of the sector of activity of your startup. Does he follow the news in order to be aware of trends? It is the minimum requirement to have an idea of where the sector is headed and what their competitors could follow.

The right candidate also includes the dynamics of the individual activity of their customers. They have a sense of how they like to do things and what challenges their business faces both internally and externally. The solutions they offer are customized and are not universally applicable to any structure.

Here is a selection of questions to ask yourself when you are in the recruitment process with a potential Key Account Manager:

• How can it bring more value to your customers? Is it based on what it has acquired?

• Will it be a good intermediary between your business and your customers?
• Is it proactive? Methodical? Rigorous? Do you have a good relationship?
• Is it results-oriented? Is he responsible?
• Is he able to give and receive feedback?
• Is it looking to evolve? Is he trying to improve?
• Does he have an inquisitive mind? Is it looking to improve its approaches, to have a real impact?

In addition, as with any position in a structure, it is difficult to find the rare pearl. Draw up a typical KAM profile that would correspond to your expectations and the challenges you face. It will be easier to tell the good profiles from the bad ones..

To help you in this process, integrate into your recruitment process the Business Game. A practical case adapted to your expectations and your sector in order to challenge the candidate more. As a result, you will have an overview of what the candidate could be in the field: application of their knowledge, sense of thinking, ability to react to a particular situation, degree of motivation, understanding of issues and risks, etc.

It is a complex process, especially when looking for a candidate for a position with high responsibilities. So, don't hesitate to call on your team to gather valuable feedback. Opt for The interviews Team Fit to complete the recruitment of your future collaborator. They will allow you to get to know your candidate from a different perspective. But also to forge constructive opinions on the part of the other members of the team, with whom the candidate will have to exchange regularly. Also take some references from its former managers.

Once all this has been applied, you will be able to conclude whether or not the candidate is made to perform this job and take charge of his duties. With all these steps, you drastically reduce the chances of poor recruitment.

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Webinar: 10 skills to master to become a Business Developer

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