What makes a good account manager? There are many key features that you should look for in your account manager. They are normally outgoing and easy to talk to. Their job is to build a relationship with you as a client to ultimately help you achieve your business goals. This requires certain skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking. It is a two-way relationship that requires collaboration to ensure success. These are some of the main qualities to look for in your account manager.
1. Has good interpersonal skills
A key feature that most account managers have is interpersonal skills. They are usually very easy to talk to and listen to what you have to say. They ask you questions in order to better understand your business. Knowing certain trends such as your busy seasons to better assess results. Knowing information such as a typical price of a sale for you helps them determine what a reasonable cost per lead price is for your business. Having general knowledge of your business will only help us make appropriate recommendations that make sense for you.
There is the aspect of getting to know your business, however, there is also the aspect of getting to know you personally. Now I will start by saying not everyone works like this from a client perspective and that is okay. With that being said, building a client account manager relationship helps build a level of trust, which ultimately benefits both parties involved. Now, this doesn't mean you will be chit-chatting with your account manager all the time. Having a good client account manager relationship also includes knowing they like short and sweet meetings because they are busy. Having repour between client and account manager ultimately leads to better communication and helps us achieve our goals.
2. Consistently meets with you
Meetings are a crucial part of your client account manager relationship. Here at TechWyse, we ensure to meet with our clients on a monthly basis at least. We meet with the client as much as both we and the client think is necessary for the best results. Meetings will allow you to have the best results possible because they ensure we continue to provide recommendations and adjust our strategy alignment in order to better the business and get the results that both parties want.
You can also tell whether an account manager is prepared for your meeting or not. With that being said, they don’t always have all the answers, so there are definitely times when our other team members need to be consulted in order to provide you with the best answer possible. If your account manager has proactive thinking, keep them around.
3. Gives educational recommendations
You can tell a good account manager when their recommendations are backed up by educational reasoning. Some account managers will want to sell you all and any services. A good account manager will only sell you what they believe your business truly needs. If it doesn’t make sense for your company to do social media marketing or email marketing, for example, they will not suggest that. Not every service makes sense for every business. We provide a thoughtful strategy based on research and analysis of your account.
4. Has critical thinking and problem-solving skills
As mentioned before, there are times when other team members need to be consulted, especially when it comes to strategy because account managers are not experts in everything. However, in the world of internet marketing, things happen. A good account manager is able to problem-solve and assess situations in order to solve any issues that may occur. Critical thinking skill is used in the day-to-day of analyzing your account to provide unique recommendations to continue to improve your account.
5. Good communication
Communication is base of any healthy relationship. It is the key element to success. In the world of internet marketing, we are constantly making updates to better your business and gain the results you want. This would be very difficult without proper communication between the client and the account manager. Your account manager should update you on projects and tasks that are on the go, do their best to respond to emails as soon as possible, and follow up if they haven’t heard from you. Communication is a two-way street, so continue to be open and respond to your account manager to the best you can.
6. Is respectful of your time
Being respectful of you and your time is a crucial attribute of a good account manager. They have to be willing to accommodate your schedule within reason to be able to ensure the monthly meetings occur. We understand that things come up and you might need to reschedule. It is ideal in our eyes to meet monthly to ensure the best success for your account, however, a good account manager understands things happen and is flexible to be able to reschedule. Another aspect of being respectful of time is showing up to meetings on time. These both contribute to a healthy relationship with trust between client and account manager.
7. Collaborates with you
As I’ve mentioned, this is a two-way relationship. That means we need to work together in order to get the best results. Account managers have their expertise and you know your business. That is why working together and having the knowledge from both sides ensures the best results. You might not always agree with what your account manager suggests. In that situation, you can push back and we will come to a happy medium that ensures all parties' happiness. It is a collaborative relationship that relies on effort from both sides to be able to achieve our goals.
In the end, knowing whether you have a good account manager comes down to a couple of simple things. Your relationship matters because it is the foundation on which your success stands. Constant communication through email, phone, and meetings will ensure the best results. As much as your account manager should have critical thinking and problem-solving skills, it ultimately comes down to trust, respect, and the collaboration of both parties that result in the achievement of our goals.
