Key account managers are required to bring different parts of the business together and, as such, must have a broad working knowledge of how the business works. If you feel you need to brush up on your listening skills, check out Mark Goulston’s book Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone. In other words, key customers typically don’t buy “off the shelf” products. Because KAMs touch so many parts of the business, they should be confident and command respect from both their clients and co-workers. Marcus Cauchi, London’s top Sandler sales trainer reiterates this point in this video where he talks about why your credibility comes from the questions you ask and not the information you give. In order to build the strongest possible relationships with their key accounts, KAMs must become more than just an account manager; they need to become a strategic partner. Me in my mission as account manger and links this information with my industry Read? says Erv Raasch. When you are in the process of writing your manager resume, one of the hard to build sections is the key skills list section for the managerial position your work in and looking for.. SAMA training and certification , Strategic account manager skills and competencies , Technology But the only challenge I’m facing is ” need on templates over my stakeholder and Therefore, they will be expected to lead both customers and internal executives and managers on key initiatives. Glad it was useful 🙂. No matter where you're currently at in your career, these proven tips will help you level up. Learn the essential key account management skills and competencies you need to succeed as a B2B account manager. KEY SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES. With many thanks to the contributions of Taskforce members from Alcatel BP Mark is a clinical psychiatrist and FBI/police hostage negotiation trainer. Although there is overlap between the skills and responsibilities of traditional account managers and KAMs, the two roles are distinct. All of your recommendations should be with said goals in mind. These are just a few traits of a reputable account manager. Barry Phillips adds. With such a broad range of responsibilities and skills, KAMs need the right tools to stay organized and get the job done. However, AMs are not specifically focused on key accounts (i.e., top-value customers). An account manager will be dealing with multiple clients at the same time. Here’s a great story from Relationship Audits about why putting yourself in your client’s shoes is so important. Want to become a sales manager? As I collated the results it struck me that while it was acknowledged by many that the role and skills required of an Account Manager vary from industry to industry and job to job, the group were fairly unanimous in what they believed the most important skills were. Hello Jenny! The 4 Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle. “If you can’t ask the right questions, you cannot listen very well and will not be able to respond to the needs of the customer. Transparency builds trust and trust is the foundation of a good client relationship. Learn how your comment data is processed. Like KAMs, account managers (AMs) work on building the post-sales relationship with their customers. So do you agree with these skills? Transparency – Be it your customer or internal teams, transparency helps build trust. Some customer accounts are simply more valuable than others. Whereas traditional account management treats every customer relationship approximately the same, key account management reorganizes the business’s teams and culture to develop different approaches to their biggest clients across the company. In account management, you need to love people and the dynamics of relationships. Are they even looking for account managers? Did you know you can create a free account and start diagramming with just an email address? Developing relationship with key decision makers and stakeholders. I’m sorry your manager isn’t giving you the encouragement, training and guidance you may benefit from. That though we might have win-win business relationship, Hi Sherif, thanks for the positive feedback. Companies are 25% more likely to be the primary suppliers of large accounts if they can sell on value. Tom Osborne gets specific “Questioning should always be geared to understand two key things; 1. issues or objectives being experienced and/or 2. key results that to be achieved i.e.