I think it's time you'll make it a bit serious.
I have been pondering one of the age old questions,
one that philosophers have been asking themselves for thousands of years,
and that is - what does it take to be a great account manager?.
Hey team, it's Warwick from Account Manager Tips here now.
I hope you're really well.
I wanted to talk to you today about what does it take to make a really great
account manager. Now it's been on my mind lately,
partly because I'm recruiting so I've been thinking about what kind of qualities
I'm looking for in my candidates and here are my top three things that I think
every account manager needs to be successful. These are acquirable skills.
These are acquirable qualities, right? Great leaders aren't born, they're made.
So that brings me to my first point. Leadership.
Leadership is really just about inspiring other people to join you in achieving
your goal. It's that simple, right?
It's not rocket science and it's not a title bestowed on you by her Majesty or
by your boss. It's a mindset. It's up here. It's in here. Be unique,
be the best you, you can be. As Oscar Wilde said,
be you because everybody else is taken. And I think, you know,
having a unique perspective and having a point of view is something that great
leaders possess and something as an account manager definitely brings great
value to your customers.
Take risks if you do things the way they've always been done,
you'll always get the same results.
So I think it's really important to take chances and encourage your customers to
be brave.
Give them the safety and the security and the freedom to know that they can make
choices that are going to challenge the status quo and the way that they've
always done things. You know, that's your job.
And I think it's really important quality of an account manager. Embrace change.
You know what? Get with the program. Nobody likes a party pooper.
A Debbie-downer. Now that doesn't mean to say you can't have concerns,
questions, feedback,
advice about where your company is going or where your clients are headed.
But certainly you don't want to be the dinosaur that's lagging behind, you know,
try to be at the front of the front of the parade. Not the back.
So quality number two is charisma.
Have a little bit of personality, a little bit of spunk,
a little bit of je ne sais quoi. That, you know, a certain something. Um,
I always,
always respond to that when somebody walks into a room and I just see something
about them, some great energy.
And one of the things that you should really understand is you do not have to be
some great big, outgoing, you know, life of the party kind of person.
You don't need to be the center of attention.
You don't need to hog the spotlight to have charisma.
It's a completely different thing. How do you get charisma? Be happy,
be joyful, just, you know,
be at peace with the world and life or at least fake it till you make it,
you know? Um, that's, that's a really great quality and that's infectious.
Don't you know,
when you're being around people that are really positive and energetic and,
and you know, bubbly and love life, it's, it's, it's contagious. Be confident,
you know?
There's a really big difference between asking questions and questioning
yourself. Do not doubt your own abilities. Don't doubt your experience,
your skills, what you can deliver and what you can do to help your customers.
You can do it right. Believe in yourself. I do. Empathy.
Really do be an active listener. Hear what your customers are saying.
Not just listen, but hear.
Really understand what they're going through and what pains and challenges
they're experiencing and understand and connect with their situation.
There's a really great quote from the Dalai Lama,
which reads something like "When you talk, you are only repeating what you know.
But if you listen, you may learn something." Finally be authentic.
Now I know that word is probably overused these days,
but really it's about building trust and credibility through honesty.
So how do you do that? Be honest. Simple as that.
If it's going to cost you a sale, no big deal.
If there is a solution that's not right for your customers say so.
If you can't do something say so.
If you don't think that something is going to work for your clients, speak up.
That will go a really long way to establishing trust and credibility.
Be optimistic. Be that glass half full kind of account manager, you know,
show them that you believe in success and they will believe in it too.
Show genuine appreciation for your customer's business, right? Don't,
don't take it for granted. They can go anywhere tomorrow.
And I think it's a really under utilized and under expressed,
uh, feature account management. Just say, you know, just say, I appreciate you,
I really enjoy working with you.
This is a great partnership and I'm glad that we're,
we're working on these great solutions together. And mean it, of course.
Be generous with your advice.
Now you probably offer a lot of add ons and upsells and extra bits and pieces
that come and you know, come at a price. But that doesn't mean that you know,
you have to nickel and dime your customers. If they ask you for your feedback,
if they ask you for your opinion,
share with them the benefits of your experience. Be honest,
even if it's going to cost you the sale.
It's so much better to be honest and upfront if,
if your solution is not going to work for them or maybe the timing's wrong or if
you seriously are not going to be able to get them to where they need to go,
say so. It's not going to destroy your relationship,
but it's going to certainly add credibility and add a strong element of trust to
your relationship that may not have been there before.
And finally just say thank you. So rarely do we remember to say just thank you.
Simple.
Here's a couple of really great books that I highly recommend if you want to
pursue these topics a little bit further. The first is Leaders Eat Last. Now,
you may have already seen the famous Ted talk by Simon Sineck,
which is about finding your why, starting with your why. He wrote this book.
And in it he talks about how to inspire cooperation and change and you know how
to wake up, excited about coming to work. Highly recommend this book.
Uh, the other book is called The Charisma Myth.
And this is a fantastic book about, um,
uncovering your personal charisma. Nothing to do with being, as I said,
outgoing, gregarious, you know, life of the party, type of person.
This book really helps you tap into what makes you unique and how to really, um,
you know,
grab hold of that charisma and channel it and demonstrate it and really start to
express it. So there you have it.
They're my top three qualities that I look for in account managers and the ones
that I think make a difference between being a good account manager and a great
account manager. But what do you think? That's what I'm interested in.
So please comment below and let me know.
I'm really keen to find out about what you think makes a great account manager.
As always, I invite you to check out my blog AccountManager.tips.
If you have any questions,
comment below or you can hit me up on the social media channel of your choice
@warwickabrown. I will see you next time. Bye.