SALES & MARKETING - ACCOUNT MANAGER ACCOUNT MANAGER - SALES & MARKETING 3 4 managers might track is sales growth, a metric that measures the average sales volume of a company’s products or services has grown, typically from year to year. This metric allows an account manager to determine if a client is gaining this profit in the long term. Overall, by monitoring metrics, account managers determine how well relationships are going and the revenue a company is generating and assess their performances. 7. Account Managers Conduct Presentations One of the most difficult parts about being an account manager is developing new relationships with potential clients. One technique account managers use to influence prospects to purchase from them is presentations. These presentations translate and communicate information such as new products available at their company, project updates or customer reviews. Therefore, effective account managers need to be comfortable presenting in front of others. 8. Account Managers are Good Listeners, Creative, and Self-Starters Being an account manager requires a wide range of skills. However, there are a few which are more essential than others. These skills include: • Listening – Being able to listen is the key to all effective communication. Account managers listen to the concerns of their clients and ask a lot of questions. Active listening involves reading individuals’ body language, maintaining eye contact and mirroring a speaker’s language to show interest. • Self-Starter – Effective account managers are self-starters and are motivated to start new tasks without the help of others. Account managers demonstrate this by developing good productivity habits, using the right tools and setting structured goals. Overall, account managers know what the client needs without upper management instructing them to do so. • Creative – Creativity is an important skill for any account manager who would like to stand out from the crowd. Each client is unique, meaning that the same playbook cannot be used for every clients. Account managers use their experience and knowledge of the client to come up with creative ideas. Becoming an account manager in the food industry is unique compared to other industries such as technology. The food industry allows for a greater range in education, allowing for a larger scope of educational backgrounds to be considered. 3. Account Managers Understand Their Clients Having strong relationships with clients is the heart of an account manager’s job. Account managers truly listen to their clients because they want to understand their client’s needs and find the best solutions to satisfy them. They have a intimate understanding of their client’s strategy, finances, products and market position. Using this knowledge the account manager can use their expertise to provide different product offerings and pricing. Overall, the have exceptional customer service abilities and always look at things from the perspective of the customer. 4. Account Managers Have Intuition Account managers always look to identify new business channels to achieve customer revenue and profit targets. They proactively keep abreast in all news, speculations and emerging strategic objectives related to each customer. They get this information through industry news, conferences, reports and market research. Effective account managers can sort out all of the information they have collected and understand where it fits in the big picture. Account managers think two steps ahead. They demonstrate this skill by creating presentations for clients presenting well-suited product offerings or simply sitting down and having a good phone call. 5. Account Managers Negotiate Account managers are skilled negotiators, matching their company objectives with client needs. The objective of negotiation for account managers is to ensure that their client is happy and the company they work is experiencing business success. They negotiate with a customer’s headquarters and category buyers on pricing, new items and promotions to grow their business. They always negotiate in accordance with the company’s budget and profitability plan to ensure all business deals are profitable on both sides. The objective of negotiating with key accounts is to use strategic selling and negotiating skills to match your company objectives with a key account’s needs, strategies and opportunities, and to increase the overall level of your business with the account. 6. Account Managers Monitor Customer Performance Account management focuses on building long-term beneficial partnerships with clients. To know if these partnerships are beneficial, account managers must monitor a client’s performance both in the short and long term. For example, one metric that account Account managers need a broad network to gather information as well as generate leads. As a student (or recent grad) we highly recommend you grow your professional network! There are several ways you can do this: • Grow your LinkedIn network. • Attend tradeshows and conferences. • Join associations. Here are a few networking blog posts to help students: • How to Survive a Tradeshow or Conference as a Student. • Why You Should be Attending Food Shows & Expos. • Networking 101 – Part 1. • Start Networking Now, While You’re Still At School! • Navigating Digital Networking as a Student. Conestoga College is an Education Partner of ours, check them out on FoodGrads! Click their logo below! Available Programs: Administrative Business, Business, Business – Finance, Business- Supply Chain and Operations, Business Fundamentals, Business Development and Sales, Business Administration – Management Conestoga College Taylor McNerney, Marketing Manager at Griffith Foods. Industry Exp: 8yrs Name the top 3 characteristics you need to be good at your job: • Team Player • Strategic Thinker • Creativity Top 3 advice tips for students and new grads coming into the industry: It doesn’t matter where you get your start. Sometimes this means taking a lower level position than you feel you deserve. Get in, then your hard work and intelligence will get you to the next level. Love what you do and the people you work with. Life is too long to dread Mondays. Never stop learning. Always think about the next degree, or certification, that will keep you relevant and set you apart from your peers. Tell us why your FoodJobRocks? Its all about the people. Not only amazing people within Griffith, but we have amazing customers too. Each one has their own unique challenges, as well as opportunities to help shape the future of food in Canada. Read the full interviewHERE Career Profile Photo by courtneyk/E+/GettyImages
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