Account Manager

Oh My Job is a web series that helps you learn about specific roles from the people who carry them out every day. In this episode, Benjamin, an Account Manager, shares his professional insights and talks about his daily life at Doctolib.

Account Managers are in charge of managing company-client relationships. They essentially facilitate communication between all parties.

Responsibilities:

Account Managers take over from the sales team, which is often the first point of contact for clients. They ensure client satisfaction and loyalty to a company’s product or service. As a result, Account Managers must often respond to incoming client requests, such as questions about the product and service installation, operation, bugs, or other issues. They must also be proactive and contact clients for any potential developments related to the product, including redesigning, updates, maintenance, and downtime. As a preferred contact for clients, they are the company’s voice. Moreover, Account Managers must be capable of analyzing and understanding the operation and challenges of each client. While they are product specialists first and foremost, they must also know their clients well and listen attentively in order to meet client expectations.

“Account Managers will normally spend 95% of their time in the office so that they can contact clients, either responding to the latter’s inbound requests or being proactive about a new product feature.”

Career path:

Account Managers often go to business school after getting a bachelor’s degree in business or marketing. Professional training opportunities are also widely available.

Skills:

Account Managers need to show solid organizational skills in order to respond to a large number of incoming requests effectively and efficiently. They must know how to prioritize, and should be willing to delegate and divide their tasks among various departments within the company.

Account management is a client-facing profession: Account Managers need to be good with people as they spend considerable amounts of time communicating with a large number of clients.

Besides having good interpersonal skills, they need to be attentive listeners so that they are able to understand the expectations and needs of their customers. Furthermore, the role can sometimes be challenging if a client is not satisfied. Knowing how to keep your cool and manage conflict is therefore an essential part of maintaining a successful client portfolio.

Finally, contract management or accounting skills, especially billing, are always an asset.

“As soon as the client enters into an ongoing relationship with the company, an Account Manager is required to develop and sustain the portfolio, ensure client satisfaction, offer new functionalities, and more.” 

Collaborative relationships:

Account Managers are frequently in contact with members of the sales team since the latter is the first point of contact between a company and its clients.

Often in contact with the tech department as well, Account Managers relay feedback from clients—whether about a website, application, or another topic—to the Product Manager. 

“An Account Manager is a bit like the company’s product expert…they can give clients advice about the product.” 

Salary:

In the United States, you can expect somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 gross per month.

Career progression:

Account Managers who have a good performance record will most likely go on to become Senior Account Managers. Depending on the company, it is also possible to become a Key Account Manager. Finally, it is common to be promoted to roles within the sales department or business development unit. 

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