Why Every Company Needs Account Managers

Author: auditorcrossing Are you good with people? Have you always effectively managed your own business affairs? If yes, then account management jobs might just be what you’re looking for. Account management is for organized people with good people skills. Every retail company needs account managers to help organize and take care of all their customers. They need people who can remember to follow up with their customers, deal with their problems, and retain them as happy and loyal customers. There’s a high demand for people who can fill account management positions, so if you fit the bill, you’re only an application away from a job you might thoroughly enjoy! When you apply for an account management job, you’ll find the application process similar to most other careers. You send out your resume, and set up interviews with all interested companies, etc. Most people begin by entering at sales positions for the companies. They go on to prove they can sell the company’s product and can work with their customers. From there, they often get promoted to account manager jobs if they’ve well impressed their bosses and supervisors. So what does it entail? It varies, depending on the company you’re working for. However, there will be some similarities that run through most jobs in this field. If you’ve ever purchased from a major company, you’ll notice that most of them have sales people who are also account managers. When you call that same company again to order something else, they transfer you to your account manager, so you work with the same sales rep as last time. This way, you’re talking with someone who’s familiar with your situation, and can better recommend items and updates that’ll suit your needs. It also helps you develop a more personal relationship with someone in the company, making it more likely for you to deal with them in the future. If you’re always dealing with a new person, and have to explain your situation every time you call, wouldn’t you stop calling and go somewhere else? I actually remember calling a company that was unorganized like that. I had to explain my predicament dozens of times, before I finally found someone who could help me out. It was very frustrating and I almost gave up on the company without even resolving my major issue. But I stayed on the line and continued to go through the motions of my explanation simply because I had to solve this problem. All the while, I was thinking to myself, “I’m never working with this company again. This is ridiculous!” Account managers solve this dilemma. Companies now present a much more organized front by assigning account managers to deal with certain customers. When a customer calls in for the first time, he/she gives in all the information. Now, when the same customer calls again, the system can be looked up to find out who was assigned to be the customer’s sales rep and account manager. In the end, people will be relieved to be talking with you again, and will be in a much better mood throughout the whole transaction. They are also more likely to purchase that update or additional item you recommend, which will improve your commission and standing in the company. If you enjoy sales jobs, account management sales jobs might be a more interesting choice. First of all, a typical sales job could mean just about anything. Many of them are the one and the same as account management jobs, but in some cases, they’re just unorganized sales jobs. Account manager jobs indicate that you’ll be working for a company, with set hours and wages, with benefits, and the whole package. It means you’ll be working with multiple clients on a daily basis that someone else finds for you. It means people will be calling you, instead of you calling them. For anyone who’s ever worked at a referral center, you’ll understand the huge difference between in call and out call jobs. When you’re receiving calls, people want to talk to you. When you call them, they might not, and many of them will make it very obvious that they don’t want to speak with you at that moment. When you’re an account manager, you sit at a desk with others, doing the same thing, with regular hours, and a pretty standard monthly paycheck. You get commission off of the addition items you sell, and that’s your incentive to continue to be a salesperson, but you also have a little more stability than most salespeople. If you have a bad week, you still get paid, whereas most salespeople don’t. You need to know all about the product you’re selling, just like a salesperson, and you get to talk with new customers on a daily basis. So it requires the same people skills, and includes all the personal interaction with new people, as a sales job. Only, you have a constant influx of customers each day, due to the sales department (of course, this is all dependent on how well put together and talented your sales department is). However, sometimes you might be caught up in a few dry spells simply because of the changes being made in the sales department, and all the new people just getting their feet wet. So on the downside you have to rely on the talents of the sales department for you to continually have new customers to sell to. Also, the commission will be much less than the sales department because they will often have already taken care of the sale. However, in some companies, customers are sent directly to account managers. Here, the account managers handle the initial sale as well. Commission is divided between the salesperson who brought in the lead, if there was one, and the account manager who seals the deal. Everybody gets a piece of the pie, it just depends on which piece you want! Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_767322_36.html