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What is Customer Account Management?

Aastha Dogra
It is impossible for organizations today to survive the cut throat competition without undertaking effective customer account management. Explained here is the same, along with job descriptions of account co-coordinators, executives and managers.
"It is not enough to give the customer excellent service. You must subtly make him aware of the great service he is getting" - Anonymous
This quote precisely sums up what customer account management is all about. It involves retaining the old clients, maintaining the existing ones and acquiring some new ones. This makes customer relationship management as well as sales, an integral part of account management. Let us know a bit more about customer account management.

Hierarchy

Today, when businesses are facing so much competition in the market, customer account management has become very important in all sectors, be it service firms, manufacturing firms or high-tech firms.
By paying special attention to it, organizations ensure that the clients of the business feel valued, and that all their needs are properly met by the company's products and services as this greatly helps in customer retention.
To carry on the customer account management process, most organizations have a hierarchy. At the bottom are the account coordinators, who provide administrative support to the account management department.
They have no direct contact with the clients and are typically involved in jobs such as data entry, filing, sending press releases, etc.
Next come the account executives, who are directly in touch with the clients. These customer service account executives convey the requirements, goals and challenges of the customers to the project team and ensure that they are meeting deadlines.
In case the clients have some queries or concerns, they are directly addressed by the account executives. If the project team wants to convey something to the clients, it does it through the account executives.
Customers need to be assured that while buying a company's product, they are receiving much more benefits, compared to what they have spent. An account executive, through various means, such as sending the customers product samples, fliers, pamphlets, etc, convinces the clients that by doing business with the company they are at a great advantage.
Lastly, these account executives are responsible for soliciting new clients too and thus, call on prospective clients and make presentations to get more business for the company.
At the top of the account management department hierarchy is the customer account manager. His job is to ensure that all the departments in the organization, working on a client project are doing their job well and in accordance to the client's needs.

Customer Account Manager Job Description

The job of a customer account manager is very different from other managers. He is the one who is responsible for and in charge of all the resources which an organization utilizes for maintaining accounts and projects. A customer account manager sees to it that the funds available to service clients are spent wisely.
Customer account managers ensure that there is a good relationship between the company and its various customers as well as those who are putting money in the company's projects.
To do this, the customer account manager stays in touch with them by calling them or by asking the account executives to call on his behalf, from time to time.
An account manager should have a thorough understanding of how the different departments in the organization operate. It is an account manager's duty to keep himself updated on a project from the start till the end. An account manager provides the clients with the project's status report.
In case there are some issues and concerns regarding the project management or completion, i.e. the possibility of a project getting delayed, it is his responsibility to keep the clients well informed. Lastly he should guide the customers on the new innovative strategies and ideas, which might help to enhance their product usage.
Customer account management provides that necessary link, which helps in the formation of good business relationships between the clients and the company. Customer satisfaction, repeat sales, increase in business sales and profits are some of the other benefits of customer account management.