Supporting Success – The Key Benefits of Account Management

The world of technology is incredible, but it can be a minefield, and figuring out how to make the most of innovation and revolutionary solutions in order to improve your business can be a difficult task. This is where account management comes into play.

As an Account Director for Elite Group I am a senior member of The Account Management team and I am responsible for handling some of the most prestigious accounts on our books. After over 15 years in the industry and working my way through the ranks, I’ve learned a thing or two on how influential modern technology can be to a business’s success.

I’ve also discovered (and demonstrated) how crucial effective account management is to a company’s digital transformation and allowing our clients to focus on what they do best!

I think the role of an Account Manager is a relatively unsung but crucial role. Often easy to underestimate the value of great account management, particularly when things are running smoothly. ?Account Management, in general, is important when looking for effective technology solutions, but having a dedicated Account Manager is the key to taking the hassle out of this process. However, how can you know what to look out for in an effective Account Manager if you don’t know what they do? By the end of this article you will learn many of the key benefits of great account management, the role of an Account Manager and what to expect from them. I’ll also take you through my career path, so if you’re looking for some career inspiration, you’re in the right place too! So, if you’re ready, let’s explore the Account Manager role and the benefits of account management.

Finding the Right Fit

To start off, I’ll take you on the journey that led me to the role that I have today. I started off in a junior role within the head office of a bank, when I was 18. ?It was a steady and reliable role – the type that your parents say will be good for your career - but I quickly decided that it wasn’t the career for me. I was looking for more of a challenge and something more dynamic in order to push myself and reach my full potential. ?So, looking to do something a bit different, I moved into a telemarketing role for an online marketing agency. Admittedly, it was a mentally-taxing role – having to cold call 100 – 200 people per day to sell products was very demanding and for a teenager not long out of college very challenging – but one thing I am sure about is it was definitely character building and it certainly developed the confidence I would need for later roles! To this day there are still things I do that I learnt in that role and this ?job ?was a really important step in my career. I learnt how to gain trust and build?successful professional relationships with customers, identify opportunities to improve customer experience and deliver value while growing and strengthening partnerships with customers – some of the fundamental skills needed for my current role. This job is also where I discovered and developed my passion for Account Management. However, whilst this role had helped me to find my inner skillset, I knew that it wasn’t a long-term role for me. ?I earnt good money – great money in fact, especially as a young lad from a ‘normal’ background in a working class town. But that wasn’t and never has been my primary motivation. I had more to offer and more potential to unlock. I wasn’t just looking for a job, I was looking for an opportunity that opened doors to a career, so I started my search for my next career move. Not long after I secured a job within telecoms – almost by accident, and never looked back!

Telecoms was an industry that I knew little about, so to a degree it was a daunting step – particularly working alongside some really experienced, successful people, but I have always been confident in my ability and potential and it was a step that immersed me within a sector in which I would build the rest of my career.

I found my role at a local company that was ambitious, growing and had a great culture and vision. Financially it was a backward step in the short term, but I loved everything about the business I was moving to and it felt like a perfect match. ?

I started within a ?service role and I saw that there were plenty of opportunities to carve an exciting career for myself within this sector. This first role provided me with the initial knowledge of how customers should be treated and whilst allowing me to quickly learn how the industry worked and what made it tick. From there, I progressed pretty much every year into a different role with more responsibility and exciting new challenges, which really kept me engaged. I think I’ve worked in pretty much every role within telecoms, except engineering. Working in lots of different departments can sometimes be perceived as a negative thing, but in my opinion this is an outdated perception. Having the opportunity to work in different departments has not only enabled me to enjoy a varied work experience, but I’ve also been able to gain a wealth of knowledge and make great connections within the sector which is vital for my current role. It also meant I had the opportunity to learn how the business worked from a variety of different perspectives and allowed me to find my calling within the industry. So, if you’re on a similar path with your career and you find yourself jumping through different roles and departments, don’t worry! You will have a variety of skills and knowledge to show for it, which you will be able to use when you find your ideal role.

Speaking of my current role, I should really talk about that, considering account management is the focus of this piece! As I mentioned earlier, I’m an Account Director for Elite Group and my journey began with Elite Group in 2019. The first aspect of Elite that appealed to me was the culture – it took me back to that business I joined 15 years prior. They are customer-focused, with the aim of the company being to do whatever they can to help our customers work more profitably and productively. I appreciated the fact that they placed importance on taking the time to build professional relationships and trust with customers, through getting to know them and their businesses, rather than being simply focusing on selling. The values of the company for both their staff and their customers were also very attractive attribute. A company that implements values that ensure the team works together and focuses on helping and looking after each other, creates a very positive working environment and one that I wanted to be a part of. ?Furthermore, after meeting with some of the members of Elite’s Senior Leadership Team, including their Director of Sales, Sarah Whyte, Chief Revenue Officer, Adam Turton, and Group CEO, Rob Sims, I had a clear idea of the business’s vision for the future. Having worked for Rob previously I knew what I was getting into (as did he!) Their plans to grow the company and bring it to the forefront as a company who is not only great to do business with, but great to work for, made me even more excited to be involved in Elite’s journey.?Plenty of scope for progression, a company that cares for both their staff and their customers and a company that is on an exciting journey – it was a no-brainer decision to join the team.

I suppose when you’re writing a piece about your role, saying that you love what you do is to be expected, but I genuinely do. The sector itself is incredibly interesting, ever-changing and consistently presents new challenges. Furthermore, due to the nature of my role, I get to work with a variety of people to sort problems and it’s this teamwork that I really enjoy. One of the main challenges as an Account Manager is to take a customer’s challenge and find a solution. Sometimes you know precisely what the answer is and other times you need to rely on the expertise of others. I’m lucky that I work with a fantastic team of experts who not only help me to find the answers, when needed, but also take the time to help me learn, so I can improve my knowledge and better support my customers. It’s an incredibly rewarding position, as you know that you are helping your clients to change their businesses for the better and enabling them to be more successful.

Furthermore on a personal level, no two days are the same, you are always learning, always progressing and your working day is never monotonous – which is always good! I definitely found the right fit for me with this career path, but how does my role help customers?

Supporting Success

The main role of an Account Manager is to ensure that customers have a dedicated person on hand to assist them with their account and to provide support whenever they need it. When a customer needs assistance with their account or they have a support query, it is the Account Manager’s job to act as the advocate for the customer they represent. In a similar way, it is also the job of the Account Manager to act as a spokesperson for their employer, by being knowledgeable and finding new ways to bring value to the customer . Without an Account Manager, the responsibility of handling the account, ensuring it is always fit for purpose and finding support is solely rested on the shoulders of the customer . Not only is this stressful, but it can take up a lot of valuable time that could be better invested within the business. Having a dedicated account manager enables more freedom for the customer whilst ensuring they always feel supported and their solutions are contributing to the success of their business. We live and breathe our industry and they do theirs. So its crucial we share that knowledge and experience to make sound recommendations.

On a personal level, without an Account Manager, the relationship between the customer and the supplier of their solutions is purely transactional. Having a friendly, reliable face that you know you can contact whenever you need them can be very reassuring and ensures the customer feels that they are in good hands. They know they’re not going to have to wait in a call queue to then be passed around from person to person trying to find an answer for their query. If they have an issue, question or concern, they have that dedicated contact who has built a relationship and rapport with them and who knows exactly how their business works. An Account Manager also provides a face for the company. They embody the values and culture of the business, which can build trust with the customer. It prevents them from viewing the company as a cold, corporate structure and instead as a group of helpful people who want to support their success.

It’s a myth that the only businesses that can benefit from Account Management are big corporations, enterprises and organisations. Before I was in charge of high profile accounts, such as the NHS, large airlines and big construction companies, I managed accounts of smaller businesses and account management is just as important at this level. With smaller companies, obviously the budgets are smaller, so having an effective Account Manager can ensure that they have access to the best solutions for their budget and a dedicated person on hand to ensure they are not overspending whilst still receiving value for money. Particularly in our industry, the services clients take are the lifeblood of their own success. So understanding this and the impact of services you provide are absolutely vital.

?The pressure obviously increases, the bigger the organisation is, for example with the NHS, if their solutions are not working effectively for them, this can, literally, be the difference between life and death. For example if the phone system of a particular hospital is not working efficiently due to a lack of features or even a lack of knowledge - the impact could naturally be incredibly dangerous for patients and staff. With effective account management, customers can ensure the solutions they receive are always fit for purpose and as resilient as required. Any future changes that need to be made are taken care of swiftly, so business processes can continue with little disruption.

Great Expectations

So, now we’ve covered the basics of what an Account Manager is and some of the benefits they can provide for a customer, let’s explore what a customer should expect from an Account Manager. First and foremost, an effective Account Manager should possess great knowledge of the business they represent, the product suite available and, most importantly, their customers. Taking the time to get to know your customers and their business, as an Account Manager, is essential, not only to build trust, but to ensure that you can effectively support their needs.?This means conversations on the phone, meeting customers in person and keeping close contact with them to ensure you know them and they know you. Hiding behind emails (particularly in challenging times), rather than taking the time to get to know your customers can make it difficult to form a professional relationship and instill trust. At the end of the day the customer is paying money towards an account, they should be able to feel that it is in safe hands and that they can approach you with any questions they may have. If they don’t know who you are, this could be difficult!

To me the clue is in the title – be accountable. If the customer needs you, step up. At times you may have to have difficult conversations. Work late. Make tough decisions. But this is what sets you apart, builds that trust and ultimately creates opportunities. Some of my biggest wins have been through getting my hands dirty when the situation needs.

Secondly, proactive is always better than reactive. A dedicated Account Manager, should be keeping their eyes on the customer’s account to ensure they are receiving the best possible value for their money and doing something about it if they’re not. This attitude to the role has obvious benefits for the customer, but it also builds trust due to the customer being able to rely on the fact that they are getting the best possible deal without the hassle of haggling or constantly monitoring their account – it’s all taken care of for them.

Finally, honesty, integrity and transparency are three very important qualities of a good Account Manager – and something I value massively in general. Of course we always want the answers to queries to be instantly available to us, but sometimes this just isn’t possible. It may be a gap in knowledge or the customer may have a query that has never been asked before. The last thing a customer needs is inaccurate information from their Account Manager, just because they wanted to provide an answer quickly. The most professional approach is to tell the customer that they are going to find the answer for them ASAP and take the time to get to the bottom of the situation with someone in their team who knows the answer. This ensures that the information the customer receives is always accurate and beneficial and, again, ensures that the customer can rely on you to provide them with the answers they need.

So there we have it – a whistle-stop tour through the world of account management. Like I said at the very beginning, it is a role that can be overlooked, but it is a really important component of providing the best experience for customers. If you’re wondering how account management can be beneficial for your business or what to expect from a good account manager, I hope this has been helpful. If you clicked on this article for career inspiration, I hope I have provided some insight into a lesser known, but incredibly rewarding and engaging career path. All in all, becoming an Account Manager was definitely the right career path for me and the benefits for both myself and my customers are fantastic.?For me, knowing that I am helping to influence and create positive change for my customers makes every day enjoyable. For my customers, knowing they have a dedicated person who is there, ready and willing to support their success makes a huge difference.?