A strategic account manager develops short and long-term goals with a company’s most important clients in order to improve the company’s standing in a particular business or industry. He or she is an expert at cultivating, maintaining, and growing business relationships. The majority of strategic account managers have a college diploma, but some do not. Individuals in this position must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Those who work in this field are usually highly motivated and have access to whatever resources are required to meet a company’s strategic development goals.
A strategic account manager may be required some employers to have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Those with a master’s degree in business administration or management, on the other hand, are more likely to advance in a company’s ranks. Strategic account managers with less education but a lot of experience are available. The majority of them have around ten years of experience in business-to-business sales. Knowing how to build productive, professional relationships with key personnel and ensuring that a client’s needs are met while meeting all designated sales quotas within assigned accounts is the key to this job.
Strategic account managers are usually assigned to a small number of clients to work closely with. A strategic account manager will represent a company’s entire collection of products and services to their clients, relying on their ability to communicate effectively at the highest levels. One of the most important responsibilities of this position is to ensure that the needs and expectations of clients are met. In order to meet established account performance objectives and expectations of their clients, a strategic account manager may organize the involvement and support of company personnel. This position may require a lot of travel, especially if the company or organization does business all over the world.
Managers, who usually report to the vice president of strategic accounts, can enlist the help of other qualified salespeople, request service resources, and use any other management resources as needed. A strategic account manager may also be expected to lead a combined company-strategic account planning operation in order to establish financial targets and performance goals. In order to meet these planned objectives, managers may be required to train their own or a client’s personnel. Working closely with customer service representatives to ensure customer satisfaction, developing any problem resolution strategies, and supervising any support staff assigned to work within a client’s company are among the other responsibilities.