GeneralFriend

Account Manager

How to be a good Account Manager

Hi Bravado, I'm back from a bit of a hiatus. I started a new role as the first AM of a series A robotics start-up. I'm tasked with building out our processes and handling our first renewals / upsells starting next year.

My question is simply: if you had a blank slate, how would you structure your playbook knowing what you know now?

TIA

🧠 Advice

❤️ Bravado Community

🚀 Career Goals

19 comments

Sort by:

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

ERP Sales

Not at an account manager but did find this post that might be helpful

https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/tips-for-a-newly-promoted-account-manager

MRK47

Tycoon

Head of Growth

In no particular order (and sure there are many other factors):

# Make sure systems are in place to easily / accurately identify current customers.
# Think about creating health / churn risk scoring for accounts so as to prioritize short - medium term efforts.
# Segment accounts into those that have highest probability of expansion and create appropriate messaging.
# Agree on the cadence and type of account management touches….how often to engage with thought leadership / added-value content vs renewal/ask touches. # Build cross-functional alignment with marketing for assistance on messaging content.
# Medium term - think about what a customer referral program might look like as well as how to capture customer testimonial / use cases (got to be the right timing once value / ROI has been identified).
# Look at how best to support sales (new logo) function - analyze current customer footprint to create more detailed ICP, identify and feedback on any pain points experienced during customer journey that may not be obvious during actual sales cycle….you’re the 1st AM…you need to build support with other teams and be seen to add value. # Review sales process (hand-over from sales to CS / AM team) - any friction in that process?
# Ensure visibility on metrics / performance….again as the 1st AM, there will be scrutiny on your efforts so be proactive and provide as much info/data as possible. Leadership will want some predictability in terms of renewal / up-sell expectations.
# Everything you do should be done with a customer-retention centric perspective. Success of Series A businesses depends on limiting churn and maximizing account expansions so always build & show value first before making the ask (referrals or renew etc).

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Not even going to try and beat this.

Well done!

GeneralFriend

Fire Starter

Account Manager

Wow this is incredible. Thank you for sharing all of this

DollHairs

Good Citizen

Owner

Awesome!

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Amazing response !

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Best piece of advice for this is be proactive to the clients.

DollHairs

Good Citizen

Owner

That will always be key, to know the needs before they come to you!

GeneralFriend

Fire Starter

Account Manager

This is a great point. How do you keep outreach fresh and valuable without just sending a “how’s it going” email once in a while?

Filth

Tycoon

Live Filthy or Die Clean

@GeneralFriend I'm sure someone hit it but as an AM for 4 years now the best piece of advice I can give is to physically visit every account as you start - only do virtual only meets if they really really push back. You can talk to them before you get out there but make sure onsites are on the books with each account.

You have no way to know fact from fiction w/o doing this and you want an honest take from the view of the customer, not your organization, that helps direct you towards future opportunities for 'deeper and wider' like an AM should but also ahead of operational issues that could turn satisfaction to churn.

Additionally, you'll want to let the clients know how you work. Do you respond within in 15m to everything? would you rather they texted or called? Should they hit support first and then you or maybe CC you? Set an expectation you can live. I always say that I will respond same day, but it may be a simple as I got your email/vm and then I say I have updates within 48hrs and it helps me not just play reactive to clients because to your client its always ASAP and that's just not possible for you/your org. But they want to feel that you are prioritizing.

I don't have DMS but if you want to ask specific questions you may have as a reply to this comment I would LOVE to drop all the knowledge I gained from some serious trial and error going from a BDR, to AE, to AM.

GeneralFriend

Fire Starter

Account Manager

This is all great. I’d love to connect and learn more about you’ve learned. I sent you a DM, not sure if you’ll be able to respond or not. But first question revolves around how to add value with each interaction. My role is strictly focused on sales / relationship management and we have a really strong implementation / support team that is with the customer for the first 6months getting them onboarded. I foresee challenges getting the customer to recognize me as their POC after that point. Any advice?

Filth

Tycoon

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Great question and something you'll work against with every interaction. Let's set things straight - you are not the guy to fix things you are the guy that makes sure someone fixes things. You are the guy they talk to about their plans (Check out Bobby "I know a guy" Beans from the movie 2 guns as your template - gif below).

You need to position yourself as a white glove concierge consultant. Sure you make sure their shit works and any pending issues are being prioritized by the right tech people (and when you can keep tech people from talking to the people that sign your deals DO THAT they are tech for a reason and overshare or under customer service - they can talk tech to tech persons). You NEED to align yourselves with the clients overall goals. You would like those goals to be growth, but that's not always the case.

Make sure you listen to where they are from, where they want to go, and basically discover, "For us to look back 6-18months from now, what would have to happen for you to call it successful?" From here, you develop your roadmap. It may be talk to them once a quarter and make sure they know of any updates or industry changes OR you immediately put a project team together to help them win business A or implement a new ERP etc. Your goal is to make sure they know you HELP them make money and aren't the one to get dragged into the minutia of everyday operations (this will kill your ability to build pipeline AND understand true time tables b/c they'll bring everything back to a password they need reset).

TLDR: You have the keys to the castle - both to your org AND to their success. You don't have to push anything, just let them tell you what they want and assume they want to win with you. From there, you can have very candid conversations about what you can do today, can do in the future, and can't do which POCs appreciate more than you would believe. AND when your POC leaves, if you done it right, they'll call you up at the next job b/c you made them look like rockstars.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Filthy dropping some SERIOUS knowledge

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

🤩❤🦊

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

B’leee dis

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Why did they hire you over any other AM/CS Leader?

Trust your skill set and focus on simplicity.

medhardwaredr

Politicker

Director of Sales NA

1. Don’t over complicate things. 2. DO NOT create silos or barriers. 3. Ask trusted advisors in the industry what works what doesn’t and set stages from there

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Figure out your target market - go as niche as you can.
Then figure out who your primary buyer is.
Finally go crazy with the prospecting.

Digital Media Specialist

The biggest thing I have learned is that you are the clients biggest advocate within your company. You need to know the company you are working for and your client better than anyone else.
You should take the things they tell you they need and then find ways to add value by knowing what they need to achieve their goals.
It's about making sure your client is seen and heard. They aren't just a number or a paycheck.