Account Management: The Dual edged sword

When I started my career as a salesperson I found prospecting new customers as the hardest part of my role. I was an introvert by nature and talking with strangers was not my strength more so face to face. As days went by I learned the tricks of the trade and got better! But amidst all this, I found managing an account to be my mojo! Once the relationship is built I found it very comfortable to take the relationship to the next level!  Being a good listener people got the vibe to talk with me pretty easily.

This made me think that account management is pretty cool. Well, it was cool till things turned awry one day when a customer went irated due to a bad service issue. Being friendly is good – helps you in getting more business easily via reference but it also means you are the man who would be caught first when things go wrong. That’s exactly what happened and unfortunately, it happened on a weekend! Communication in the year 2000 was not as easy as it is today! I didn’t have a mobile phone either. I  was on my way to watch a movie with my friends and on the way met the customer and faced his wrath. Thankfully my boss had a landline at home and I called him up and he somehow arranged a serviceman to reach the location and gave him a spare battery! (I was into UPS sales at that time)

This incident made me realise what seems easy is not so easy. You as a salesperson can commit but to keep up to that commitment level is what will take your relationship further! Yes, problems can happen but how you solve those problems by keeping the customer’s interest in mind will enhance your reputation!

I learned two things that evening (I missed my evening movie too) 

• Don’t overcommit just for the sake of a sale
• Learn to say No
• Whatever I commit I need to match it with my service.

The problem in the service industry is that you can’t really control what your delivery team is going to serve to the client and hence you as an account manager can be sandwiched between the customer and the production team! 

How do you come out of that situation:

Maintain healthy relationships 

• You need to be a great relationship builder if you’re gonna succeed as an account manager. 
• You not only need to keep a great relationship with the client but you also have to have a healthy relationship with your production and delivery team.
• You should first of all be very frank with your team and inform them beforehand of all the commitments you have given during the pre-sales stage! 

Be proactive! Be your client’s spokesperson inside your organisation! This might lead you to face awkward stares from your colleagues but your job is to keep your client happy! When your end goal is client satisfaction then nothing should stop you from ensuring that the goal is achieved!

Customers believe you and give you the order and relationships are built on trust! Now you as the account manager can’t destroy that trust! If you love your job then you will do everything in your capacity to ensure that the client is happy! Businesses are built on trust and once you gain that trust it’s on you to ensure that it’s not broken!

Competition is lurking around and the only way you can grow your business is by word of mouth marketing! Word of mouth marketing can only happen when your clients refer more businesses towards you without you prompting for them! Clients become your brand ambassadors when they are very happy with your services! You as an account manager play a vital role in ensuring that it happens and stays that way!

Account management is always a dual-edged sword because you are basically sandwiched between your production team and the client. It can be stressful but if you love your job and if you love servicing clients and if you want to make your clients happy then you have to accept this as part of your career growth! The best CXOs come through the account management route because this group of people takes care of two important pillars of the company’s success: people and clients! 

A company thrives via PPC

P = People

P = Process

C = Customers

As account managers, you are directly coordinating with P and C and that makes you the ideal candidate to move into the next stage of career growth! Of course, that’s only possible if you do your job well!

As an account manager what gives you maximum happiness and what gets you stressed?

My email is open to questions and I look forward to interacting with you to understand your pain points and I hope to solve some or all of your queries!

Keep firing!

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