Champagne and caviar?
Or beer and peanuts? Before you embark on a career in key account management.
Why don't we take a look at how much money a key account manager really makes?
I'll be right back.
Now they say money can't buy happiness,
but it sure does make misery easier to live with.
Hi Heroes, Warwick Brown here,
founder at Account Manager Tips, host of The KAM Club and on a mission
to help busy key account managers get results.
Now, before we start talking money,
let's take a quick look at what a key account manager does.
Basically, you lead the relationship
between your company and your most important clients.
You want to keep them happy, keep them, keep them profitable.
Now, here are some things that you'll be doing.
You deliver your company's strategy and vision.
You manage client risk,
things like defection, competitor threats, issue resolution.
You gather market intelligence and evaluate emerging trends.
You drive client development.
You provide data and insights to help your client make better decisions.
You try to understand your client's
business model and figure out ways to add value.
You develop influential relationships with decision makers.
You grow revenue through upselling,
cross-selling, expansion and renewal, and you ensure cross-functional alignment
and coordinate resources to make sure that your plans happen.
Now, to succeed as an account manager,
you're going to need to be good at a few things.
Strategic thinking, influencing and negotiation skills,innovation, and creativity.
Project management, leadership analysis, empathy, communication,
change management, presentation skills, time management, product knowledge.
I mean, the list goes on.
It's a very skilled role.
It's exciting, but it is demanding and it
adds a lot of value to your company's bottom line.
And you know what? Your salary should reflect that.
Now, how annoying is it that job vacancies never tell you how much they pay?
You know, you go through that whole interview process only to find out
that the money on offer is way below your expectations Aaaargh.
Now, let me save you some time with some research I've done on how much money key
account managers make in the UK, the US, Australia and India.
Oh actually, you know what? One more thing.
Then I will tell you how much they earn.
Like other roles,
the more key account management experience you have, the more you'll earn.
If you're just starting out, it might take up to five years or more,
in fact, to reach the top of the salary range.
And even if you already have a lot of work experience, don't expect to maintain your salary if
you're jumping to a new industry or you're new to key account management.
Now, I used to be an operations manager
many, many, many years ago, and I had led a team of forty-five people.
But when I first moved into
key account management, I had to take a $20,000 Australian dollar pay cut.
Now, no regrets because, you know, four years after that,
I was earning more than I ever had and I was in a job I loved.
So be patient. All right.
Now, on to the good stuff, I looked at average key account manager
salaries in Australia, India, UK and the US.
Then I compared how much key account
managers earn compared to, say, the national average wage in each market.
I used data from LinkedIn and Glassdoor
and they rely on anonymous salary surveys to get their benchmarks.
Now some countries had more respondents and others, so while it is a good
indication it may not be the most statistically valid.
So do LinkedIn and Glassdoor a solid and go fill in a salary survey.
Because you know what? It's going to help your colleagues
from around the world know exactly how much they're worth.
Links are in the description.
The national average wage data was sourced from the respective Bureau of Statistics
from each country except India, where I had to use a global salary study.
Salaries in these countries will vary by profession and location.
But, you know, at least it's going to give you an idea.
Now, also, I've not included employee benefits, health and pension schemes,
because that would be a nightmare to try and figure out.
But don't overlook them when you're
negotiating your salary, because as part of your overall package,
they can actually add a lot, you know, and it could make or break a deal.
All right. Here we go.
Now, in Australia, the average key account
manager earns ninety thousand dollars, which is a little over one per cent higher
than the average wage of 89000 dollars for full-time role.
Now, once you've got over five years experience, there's an opportunity to grow
your salary between 20 per cent to 30 per cent as you approach the higher salary
limits of key account management in Australia.
Now, in India, the average key account
manager salary is six hundred seventeen thousand rupees, which is fifty seven per
cent higher than the average wage of three hundred ninety three thousand rupee.
Key account managers can grow their salary
up to 50 to 60 per cent after they've got about five years experience as they
approach the higher limits of key account management salaries in India.
And in the UK, the average account management salary is
forty almost forty four thousand, which is around 30 per cent higher than
the average UK wage of thirty eight thousand for a full time role.
And you can grow your salary once you've
got more than five years experience between 30 and 40 per cent.
In the United States the average key account manager salary is around
seventy seven thousand dollars, which is fifty nine per cent higher than
the average wage of around forty eight thousand dollars for a full-time role.
Now, this was based on New York figures.
That's what it defaulted to.
So I'm guessing that's the absolute maximum range.
Now, key account managers may grow their
salary between 40 to 50 per cent once they've gained around five years
experience as they approach the higher salary limits.
All right. Now, don't forget about additional
compensation because, you know, there's more.
Key account managers can increase earning
potential through additional incentives and bonuses.
Usually it's like somewhere between, say 10 to 30 per cent of your base.
You're going to be paid extra for things like high retention and renewals,
high client satisfaction, which is measured by NPS and CSAT scores.
Achieving your quotas. Yes, account managers have sales targets
too through product up selling and cross-selling.
You might also get a little bit of money
for, you know, great internal feedback, high performance scores,
keeping the Customer Relationship Management CRM tool updated,
the number of client meetings that you have.
Adhering to policies and procedures.
But watch out, though, because there are penalties as well.
Often incentives are structured so that you get the total amount if you
achieve your targets, and then progressively less as you fall
below them until you kind of get nothing at all.
A bonus payout schedule might look something like this.
If you achieve 100 percent of your target, you get 100 per cent of your bonus.
If you achieve 90 percent of your target, you get 90 percent of your bonus.
If you achieve 70 percent of your target, you get nothing.
So when do I get my hands on the money? I hear you ask.
The payment frequency of your bonus will vary too and it's something to consider.
One former employer of mine paid my bonus
six weeks after the quarter ended and I got paid every quarter.
It was great, but another paid a single payment in March.
Once a year.
So check the fine print for incentives, commissions, bonuses and any other
additional compensation, especially if it's like a big chunk
of your take-home pay because you want to make sure that it's achievable.
Beware that if you leave, you may not get your final bonus.
If you've handed in your notice,
there may be conditions in place that prevent you from collecting what's yours.
Now, don't forget about the non-monetary stuff, too.
I mean, I love key account management
because you're in charge of client relationships and you have the authority
and the autonomy to manage them how you like.
Of course, you have expectations and you
need to operate within a framework of systems and procedures.
But it's exciting.
It's challenging and it's rewarding, you know, and that's worth something right?
Now the best part about account management
is it's not a nine to five office space role.
You do things your way.
You manage clients how you like.
Your boss doesn't breathe down your neck.
You know, people aren't always asking "Where were you" or "What are you doing?"
It's easy to make your schedule work for you and your lifestyle.
You get to work from home a lot, in fact, anywhere, really.
You get to travel around the country and around the world to meet your clients
and colleagues and you're doing creative, strategic work that makes an impact.
Now, the worst part about key account management is?
You guessed it, it's not a nine to five office based role.
Your boss breathes down your neck.
You know, the bigger your client is,
the more opinions there seem to be on how they should be managed.
Sometimes it feels just like you can't make a move without somebody watching.
Ultimately, you're in charge of everything, which also means the buck stops with you.
So you work really, really long hours.
I've often pulled 18 hour days and there's no overtime.
I would say whenever I've knocked off
early, I have paid it back double the very next week.
You've got to go when and where they need you.
Now, that might mean the office.
It could mean a client in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes it can take you longer to get
there than the actual meeting itself.
You rely on your internal teams to help you deliver your creative, strategic work.
But they also make mistakes and sometimes
they don't deliver and your plans are constantly being reworked or under threat.
And you spend a lot of time putting out fires.
There's also lots of tedious admin work, and sometimes you just feel like you're
a slave to your inbox and give some thought to the nature of the work.
And if it's a good fit for you
and the impact it will have, you know, good or bad on your work-life balance out,
there are some things that money can't buy.
Me? I would happily, happily take a pay cut if
it means I can work from home and I can make my own schedule,
even if sometimes the trade-off is long hours and lots of travel.
And there is no amount of money, none, that would convince me to take a job
that needed me to be in the office five days a week, eight hours a day.
That's just me. What about you?
Now what if my salary is below average?
So we've talked about what a key account
manager does, the pros and the cons of the job, and how much you can expect to earn.
Now you may be thinking, "I don't earn that."
These key account manager salary guides are an excellent place to start.
But before you go running to your boss demanding a pay rise or telling
the recruiter to sharpen their pencil, you need to dig a bit deeper.
Do some research on salaries in your industry, location and organisation,
and overlay that with your experience and achievements.
Also, consider what your company is going
through or the company that's potentially hiring you.
If there's budget cuts, hiring freezes,
restructures, you know, things going on in their industry or
with their company - might not be the right time.
But if it is, then build a detailed business case with supporting evidence
that proves that you are underpaid compared to the market,
your performance is above average and that your clients are profitable.
Now be realistic.
You know, somewhere between 5 to 15 per cent increase on your base, I think,
is a reasonable place to start, depending on your business case.
You can also negotiate additional
compensation. For example, at a former employer, I was on a 30 per cent bonus.
I negotiated a higher base and reduced my annual bonus down to ten per cent.
So effectively it was a big increase to my regular take-home pay.
Just know that your boss or your hiring
manager is going to need to get approval for anything that is above budget.
So make it easy for them to plead your case.
Now, by the way,
it's a great habit to regularly benchmark your salary to the market.
Just so you're not left behind. You don't know what you don't know right?
Now, if you'd like help negotiating your salary book a Career Power Hour with me
and we can work out the best strategy together.
Details are in the description below.
So let's wrap it up.
If you're prepared to put in the hard
work, a key account manager makes good money.
The base salary is well above the national
average, and bonus and incentive schemes can really top up your earnings nicely.
Plus, there is generous room to grow your income as you gain more experience.
Key account management is also an exciting and very rewarding career.
You learn transferable and
in-demand skills and you can use those to genuinely make a positive contribution
to the results your clients and your company achieve.
So what's not to love?
Now, if you're hunting for a job in key
account management, then I suggest you check out my video all
about how to create 30,60, 90-day success plans.
This will help you in the recruitment process as well as settle into the new role once you start.
Or check out this video on what it takes to be a great account manager.
It's an oldie but goodie.
That's all Heroes.
You know where to find me if you need me. Until next time. Bye.