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 with 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 with 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 (strategically partner clients proactively).
- Partner with 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 the company and/or the client is not compromised.
- Partner with the technical team to create and document innovative, business-relevant solution specifications for all clients (new and existing) 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 with 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 (sales cycles, market potential, competitor activity, industry trends) 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-ins and web-generated leads, proactively identify sales growth opportunities for the 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 (e.g., small business forums, industry forums, technical conferences, etc.).
- Act as a brand ambassador for the 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, Acquisition, Attrition, Collaboration & Internal company team satisfaction, Turnaround times.
Desired Experience & Qualification
Qualifications / knowledge:
- Minimum Matric qualification with a 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr