Client Account Manager
A well-established IT Support company based in Sandton is looking for an experienced Client Account Manager to join their dynamic team.
Duties & Responsibilities
Job purpose
The role of the Account Manager is to:
- Build and maintain client relationships
- Deliver a superior customer experience by proactively managing client needs and expectations
- Partner the technical team to deliver expert technical support & advice
- Drive customer capability building and awareness initiatives across products, services and new technology trends
- Build & grow the company client base through proactive business development in target segments
Key responsibilities
- Generate and act on client leads, calling on clients, conducting audits, generating SLA agreements and presenting proposals
- Convert leads into sales & generate appropriate SLA’s leveraging best practice sales methodology
- Conduct client audits for the purpose of providing quotations as well as with existing clients for SLA renewal / SLA review / IT recommendations
- Build and maintain client relationships post sales
- Develop and implement call cycles, processes and routines to proactively engage & maintain client relationships
- Partner clients strategically by demonstrating exceptional client & IT knowledge and providing business relevant advice & support in advance of need
- Anticipate client needs based on business growth and technical expertise and support their IT infrastructure development including supporting preventative maintenance to ensure business continuity & competitive advantage through IT enablement - long term
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of client business needs, develop proposals for company products and services and communicate how these technical value added solutions will address those needs
- Partner the IT support team leaders in ensuring proactive support of client IT infrastructure and transitioning all clients to stable environments
- Conduct business development and account management ethically ensuring the integrity and reputation of company and or the client is not compromised
- Partner the technical team to create and document innovative, business relevant solution specifications for all clients based on needs analysis and audits
- Act as the point of contact for all key account customers and coordinate technical team response through the appropriate channels
- Partner technical teams on installations & new clients, ensuring client integration is effectively and continuously monitored for the first few months of service provisions
- Generate sales reports and present metrics and critical / key business information to clients for their business decision making
- Actively research and monitor the market and competitive landscape providing recommendations for company differentiation & strategic decision making
- Develop accurate sales forecasts demonstrating strong market and customer specific knowledge
- Meet and exceed sales targets and goals (direct & indirect channels)
- Meet and exceed customer experience goals and objectives
- Actively build partner and supplier relationships that are a source of leads and clients and or enable superior customer service to company clients
Business Development
- Beyond call in’s and web generated leads, proactively identify sales growth opportunities for company across segments and industries and convert into operational sales plans on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis
- Create a business development plan for the active pursuit of new clients through networking, cold calling and other methods identified
- Proactively network and attend relevant forums / events as agreed to generate client sales
- Act as a brand ambassador for company building brand awareness at every opportunity and promoting company products and services
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry trends, technical developments and government regulations that affect target markets
- Research and develop lists of potential customers; regularly follow-up on leads and developing leads, and act to close deals
- Determine sales strategies and goals for each product and service
Key Performance Measures
The Key Performance Indicators of this position are:
- Responsiveness, problem-solving, customer satisfaction, and building long-term relationships that lead to additional revenue.
- Promoting client growth, and bringing in long-term streams of revenue.
- Maintain accurate client records, keeping track of any contract updates and renewals
- Work with sales and other internal teams to develop strategic marketing plans and ensure KPIs are being met
- Develop a thorough understanding of our products and service offerings to better upsell and cross-sell to clients
- Creating referenceable clients and customer lifetime value
- Achieve sales targets (indirect selling)
- Achieve lead generation & proactive selling targets (direct selling)
- Customer & Supplier Satisfaction & service quality
- Retention and Acquisition (through proactive cold calling / lead generation)
- Collaboration & Internal company team satisfaction
- Turnaround times
Desired Experience & Qualification
Qualifications / knowledge
- Minimum Matric qualification with strong background in sales and account management within a technology environment including IT software / hardware knowledge
- Sales / IT or office administration qualification would be an added advantage
Experience
- A minimum of 3-5 years' experience in sales within a technology environment
- Experience in dealing with customers & relationship management
High Level Competencies / Capability requirements
- IT – hardware & software including products, services & advisory
- Networking
- Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills
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