For those who work in the field of marketing, Account Manager is a potential and important job position in an agency. This is also a position that receives a lot of attention from job seekers. So what exactly is an Account Manager? What tasks do they perform? What qualities make a talented Account Manager? With no further adieu, let's discover all the information about this position with Navigos Search!
1. Who is an Account Manager?
Account Manager (AM) is an important position in agencies, responsible for all activities related to building relationships with customers and signing contracts to bring revenue to the unit. The person in charge of this position will make the final decision and solution when problems related to customer or project activities arise.
Most importantly, the Account department in general and the Account Manager in particular must always focus and perform different tasks or strategies to create good relationships with customers, bringing sustainable value to the company.
Account Manager is the position that manages the Account department in agencies
2. Scope of work of an Account Manager?
Increase revenue for the agency
An Account Manager acts as the bridge that connects the agency and the client, always working and interacting with the two parties. However, the agency is the place that pays them, so the Account Manager has to find and expand more customers to get a raise. It is the customers that the Account Manager works with that are the source of revenue for the agency.
The more an Account Manager knows how to seize opportunities, be professional and lead the Account team in the right direction, increase productivity and efficiency, the more likely the company will win many projects and increase revenue.
Create good relationship with customers
"Customer is king" is a familiar slogan of people working in the service industry, because it is the person who pays for the services and projects that the company offers. It is not an exaggeration to think that an Account Manager has to please everyone because they not only satisfy customers but also have to know how to work effectively with their agency.
For example: Deadline is missed, or there are unexpected problems arose in the project, how will an Account Manager explain to the customer? Will you blame the team? If you do so, you will become the enemy of the agency you are working at. Not only that, customers will evaluate you as an unprofessional Account Manager and the possibility of the agency not being able to accept the next projects is very high. This means that you have lost a source of revenue for the unit.
To satisfy and create trust from customers, you must build a reputable agency brand, proving to them that everyone in the agency has been working hard to carry out that project. At the same time, you also need to know how to be soft in the right place, firm at the right time with customers so that the project and the agency both work effectively.
Coordinate with other departments to implement the project
When the Account Manager receives project information from the client, it is their responsibility to share all aspects of the project with the execution department. After that, the Account Manager will work with teams in the unit such as planning team, event team, creative team .... and can be an outsourced company to implement until the end of the project to meet the needs of customers.
Manage expenses incurred
As mentioned above, the Account Manager works for both the agency and the client as an employee of the agency unit. Therefore, an Account Manager needs to ensure the successful implementation of the project to bring profit to the company. In order to do this, an Account Manager must control revenue and expenditure during project execution to avoid arising cases in the implementation process that mainly arise from customers. Therefore, the person holding this position must protect the views and ideas of the team against requirements beyond the agreement from the customer.
Account Manager performs a variety of tasks
3. What is the salary of an Account Manager?
The account career has a simple promotion path, but it is equally interesting and full of difficulties and challenges. The main ranks include:
- Account Executive
- Account Manager
- Account Director
After cultivating for 2-3 years at the position of Account Executive, you are fully capable of progressing to the Account Manager position, then Senior Account Manager. Depending on the capacity, effectiveness of the project and valuable contributions, building profits for the business, the position of Account Director can be your goal in just 5-6 years.
The income will vary. Depending on the size of the business, the income level of the Account Manager position varies, but generally ranges from 20-35 million/month.
4. What qualities does an Account Manager need to be successful?
Any job requires certain qualities to be successful and the Account Manager position is no exception. Here are the top factors that help an Account Manager succeed and go further in this profession.
The ability to see the big picture
A professional Account Manager will understand the most important elements of a project, see the problem from the broadest to the most specific. They must know what the strengths of their agency are? What is the change in the market for the industry you are working in? What are the moves and directions of the opponent? Do these have any impact on the ongoing project or not?
Information is always a double-edged sword. A talented Account Manager will know how to see the problem, convey the correct message to customers so that they can take timely actions before problems occur. If you do not know how to communicate or perceive the problem incorrectly, this will cause false information to reach customers.
You must understand where your brand comes from? After this rollout, what must the brand achieve? Only then will you know what you need to support your customers and prove the value your agency will bring.
Excellent listening and communication skills
The Account Manager is the person that connects the client and the creative team, so it takes the ability to communicate skillfully to balance the expectations of both parties. In some situations, the Account Manager must be soft enough to motivate the creative department, or tough enough to convince the client, making them believe that everyone on the team and the company is always trying to deliver best results for the project.
The Account Manager is also the one who sees the errors that the team needs to fix when the project deviates from the customer's original wishes and is the one who is decisive and sees things so as not to be pressed by the customer. So, good listening skills will help you to please both parties.
The ability to communicate is a necessary requirement perform the job well
The ability to maintain the balance between business and customers
To be successful in the Account Manager position, you need to reconcile the expectations and requirements from customers, partners, the management board and human resources team in the business. In which, customers are at the top of the priority list, followed by the management board and members of the agency.
Just a group of people having problems, the Account Manager and the business will struggle. Therefore, an Account Manager always needs to maintain the balance between businesses and customers.
Not afraid of difficulties and challenges
Professional Account Managers are people who have many years of experience in the industry, they are very good at managing clients and are always dedicated to a lot of different projects. Not being afraid of difficulties is an indispensable element of the Account Manager position because it is only through hard work that you can learn many things, and life experience is cultivated. Only then will you have enough knowledge and a solid basis to convince customers to succeed.
Many Account Managers have had their huge success due to their spirit of not being afraid of difficulties, constantly updating new trends and information about industries and projects. They are always ready to accompany everyone in the agency to keep pace with the development of the advertising and marketing industry to implement the project in the best way.
Creative thinking ability
A new project cannot apply the old working methods. You need to have a new perspective, avoid relying on or imposing already existing ideas for many different campaigns that make projects gradually boring. An excellent Account Manager must know how to spend time to research and survey customers, categories, target audiences, messages conveyed,... From which, new ideas were born to help customers and to meet the set goals in the end.
The world of marketing is always changing and never the same, so if you yourself do not consciously learn and improve every day, you will soon be out of the game. Therefore, you must always think promptly and offer innovative and advanced solutions to help customers stand out in the market as well as maintain the agency's reputation.
Credibility
Account Manager jobs require you to convince the customer and the internal team to balance the expectation between the two parties. Therefore, you need to affirm your ability, integrity, build and expand relationships to gain trust, as well as open up more development opportunities for yourself and the company.
Having the trust of everyone is a stepping stone to go far in the career
With the current explosion of advertising and services, the Account Manager jobs are rapidly growing and attracting a lot of attention from young people. Navigos Search hopes that with the above information, you have a better understanding of the position of Account Manager and have a new perspective on the industry to make the right choice for your career path. Thank you readers for always taking the time to follow the article of Navigos Search!
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