Everything You Need to Know about Account Management

It’s easy for companies to become all about the sale, but they often forget that what happens after the sale is just as important.

That’s where account management comes in.

In this post, you'll learn all about account management: what it is, how to do it right, and why taking a "relationships first, sales second" approach works best.

What Is Account Management?

Account management is the practice of building and maintaining strong relationships with customers to ensure their satisfaction, retention, and growth with the business.

While the initial goal of any business is to have a lead go through the sales pipeline and purchase a product or service, closing the sale doesn’t mean the customer’s journey is over.

In fact, the real relationship begins once the sale goes through and the lead becomes an official client. Account management picks up where sales left off. The "sales" part is transactional, while account management is more relational. If you only remember one thing from this article, let it be this word: Relationships.

Which Businesses Need Account Management?

Account management is particularly valuable for businesses that sell high-ticket, complex services or products to other businesses, which is why it’s often associated with B2B companies. However, B2C businesses can benefit too, especially those with subscription models, large customer bases, and long sales cycles.

Industries like wealth management and tech depend heavily on account management to guide customers and care for them long-term. Generally, any business with clients needing ongoing support or chances to expand can benefit from formal account management.

What Is an Account Manager?

An account manager is the employee who performs account management. This person remains involved long after the sale. Their job is to support and grow the client relationship over time.

When we talk about "account management," this is the person in charge of the process. In some companies, the same individual handles both sales and account management, which is why the terms often get mixed up.

What Does an Account Manager Do?

So, what does that look like in practice? Account management generally involves the following:

• Providing VIP service and support to customers, sometimes focusing on high-value customers.
• Build strong, long-lasting relationships with all customers founded on trust, respect, and delivering value.
• Serving as the main point of contact for customer accounts, and being responsive to inquiries and requests.
• Demonstrating extensive knowledge of company products/services to provide support and advice.
• Proactively communicating with customers to understand evolving needs and identify opportunities.
• Managing the entire lifecycle of customer accounts, including onboarding, contract negotiations, account reviews, upsells, and renewals.
• Resolving customer issues quickly and effectively to improve satisfaction and loyalty.
• Collecting and analyzing customer data and feedback to spot trends, gain insights, and guide strategy.
• Collaborating cross-functionally with sales, marketing, product, and other departments to align on customer objectives.
• Setting clear metrics and goals for customer retention, expansion, and lifetime value.

Types of Account Management

Beyond the more general account management we have been discussing here, there are various sub-types of account management. Each is a bit different than the others. Let’s take a look at these to help you understand the topic a bit better.

Key/Strategic Account Management

Key account management (KAM) focuses on managing a company's most important customers - those who contribute significantly to the company's success. These key accounts require a strategic approach to ensure long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. Key account managers understand the client's business deeply. They develop tailored solutions, and align company offerings with the client's strategic objectives. Because it happens with a select, high-value, group of customers, it is more strategic and personalized.

Technical Account Management

Technical account managers (TAMs) provide specialized technical support and guidance to clients. They possess in-depth knowledge of the company's products or services and assist clients in integrating these solutions into their operations effectively. TAMs often address technical challenges, optimize product usage, and ensure that the technical aspects of the client's needs are met, thereby enhancing overall satisfaction and retention. This type of account manager is common in software and other technical businesses, where technical support is a key aspect of maintaining the relationship.

Customer Success Management

Customer success management focuses on ensuring that customers achieve their desired outcomes while using a company's product or service. This type of account manager proactively engages with clients to understand their goals. They monitor customer progress, and provide resources or guidance to maximize the product's value. This role overlaps with account managers in general, but customer success managers tend to focus on reducing customer churn and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Agency/Client Services Account Management

In advertising, marketing, or creative agencies, account managers act as liaisons between the agency and its clients. They are responsible for understanding client needs, and coordinating internal teams to deliver projects. They also manage budgets and timelines, and ensure that the agency's work aligns with the client's objectives. This role requires strong communication and project management skills to maintain successful client relationships.

Relationship Management (Financial Services)

Within financial services, relationship managers focus on building and maintaining relationships with clients to offer personalized financial advice and services. They assess clients' financial needs, recommend appropriate products or services, and ensure that clients receive value from their financial engagements. This role is crucial for client retention and the growth of the financial institution's portfolio.

Benefits of Account Management

Now that you understand what account management is, let's explore its top benefits. This should help you understand whether you should invest in account management and what exactly your business can gain from it.

Maximize Growth Through Upselling and Cross-Selling

Account managers are in a prime position to grow accounts through upselling and cross-selling. They can introduce clients to upgraded or complementary products that are right for them.

“Account managers provide a range of hidden benefits for their companies that go beyond just maintaining client relationships,” says Michelle Halbasch Olivas, an online brand reputation expert and account manager at The Mather Group, LLC. “They are adept at identifying opportunities for growth, whether it’s by suggesting new services or upsells, or by streamlining processes.”

For example, maybe a customer isn't taking full advantage of higher-level features that would help them achieve their goals. Or, in previously recorded customer service interactions, the account manager learns of a common frustration that one of the company's other products can solve. A talented account manager serves as an advisor, guiding customers toward better solutions.

“One of the hidden benefits I provide is my holistic and results-driven approach to strategy that often uncovers opportunities others might overlook,” says Ryan Esco, Chief Marketing Officer at FireRock Marketing. “For example, we engaged a mid-sized healthcare client in niching down their digital marketing efforts. By employing detailed customer segmentation and advanced analytics, we identified a specific demographic that was significantly underserved. Optimizing our campaigns towards this target segment resulted in a 35% increase in qualified leads over six months,” he said.

Check out our in-depth guide on CRMs for more information.

Increase Customer Retention

Fun fact: Acquiring a new customer costs roughly five times more than retaining existing ones. An account manager can help increase customer retention and boost revenue.

“I once spearheaded a multimillion-dollar sales deal that broke previous salary constraints for the company I was working with,” says Gary Gilkison, Principal Analyst at Riverbase Cloud. “By focusing on high-value targets and nurturing these relationships, I help companies secure more significant deals and partnerships, driving considerable revenue growth. My approach integrates thorough market analysis, creative strategy development, and steadfast client engagement, ensuring sustained business development.”

By keeping an ear to the ground, account managers can increase the number of happy customers - and the revenue that comes with it.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

Today, online reputation is everything. An account manager can boost customer satisfaction through attentive communication and fast conflict resolution.

Consider a customer who buys expensive, complex software. If they struggle to implement it on their own and receive no help, they might become frustrated and leave a negative review, which can deter future customers.

With an account manager guiding them through the process, that frustration can turn into satisfaction. Instead of a negative review, the customer might leave a glowing testimonial praising your excellent customer service. As a result, both customer satisfaction and your brand's reputation will improve. Learn more in How CRM Systems Enhance Customer Problem Resolution.

The Process of Account Management

So what does an account manager actually do? The process looks something like the following:

• Client Onboarding: When new customers sign up for the company’s product or service, the relationship begins. Onboarding typically entails specific communications and touchpoints designed to establish rapport.

• Relationship Building: Account managers maintain regular communications and - ideally - some more personalized touchpoints to build trust.

• Needs Assessment: Account managers evaluate client needs and offer additional solutions that are in line with those needs.

• Coordination: The account manager acts as an intermediary between the client and other internal teams. This ensures a consistent point of contact and seamless service delivery.

• Problem Resolution: Account managers are there to address issues or concerns from clients, ensuring they are happy and continue their relationship as customers.

• Performance Monitoring: Account managers review account performance metrics to identify areas for improvement and growth.

• Reporting: Account managers provide reporting on the activity and status of accounts and transactions, as well as their progress on KPIs.

• Renewals and Upselling: Account managers look for opportunities to renew contracts and introduce new products and services to the client.

Data, Technology, and Account Management

Account managers rely heavily on technology to do their jobs well. More specifically, account managers use technology to leverage the following strategies:

• Customer segmentation: Account managers look at customer data to put clients into groups that have similar traits or needs. Doing so helps them approach each group in the right way to make a connection. Segmentation is typically done through a CRM. You can check out our top picks for best CRM software to learn more about your options.

• Predictive analytics: Software tools help account managers predict what customers might need or want through algorithms. They may also spot clients who might leave. Account managers use this insight to take action and keep customers happy and buying more.

• Performance tracking: Technology lets account managers monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time. Think customer satisfaction scores, renewal rates, and revenue growth. This constant pulse on performance allows for quick identification of areas for improvement and data-driven decision-making. Many CRMs have the functionality, although there is dedicated software for this as well.

• Personalized engagement: With CRM platforms and marketing automation tools, account managers can deliver highly personalized communications at scale. They send messages and offers that fit each client's needs, which helps forge stronger relationships, build trust, and drive long-term loyalty.

Account Management: A Detailed Example

Let’s look at a case study to get a better sense of how account management can work. In 2023, account management platform Churnzero published a case study about one of their clients, Boulevard. As a fast-growing SaaS business, Boulevard was concerned it wasn’t delivering the best customer care, and wanted to better serve its customer base with a nimble team.

So, Boulevard brought on a new hire to manage customer experience, and set up new workflows and tech to improve processes.

Some of the key things they did include:

• Better integrating customer data across systems. This allowed them to better tag customer journeys and ensure that any team member interacting with a customer had the full picture.

• More open customer feedback channels. Boulevard wanted customer feedback to extend beyond the account management team, to other teams that needed to be involved in making improvements. Customer feedback was automatically fed into other systems, making them known to the whole team.

• Better identification of at-risk clients to reduce churn. Boulevard began measuring and scoring customer health in real time, allowing them to intervene before customers were lost.

• More consistent relationship building. Boulevard set up systems to win customer loyalty by recognizing anniversaries and celebrating other customer events.

By implementing these strategies, Boulevard saw 100% growth in their accounts in less than a year. They also estimate that they provide 13x better coverage for clients. As you can see, effective account management can have a huge impact on a company's bottom line!

Take Your Account Management to the Next Level

Account management is all about building profitable long-term client relationships. It's a must-have for most businesses, and getting a CRM is a good way to scale the operation. But with countless options and features, picking the right platform is a tough choice.

Check out our top picks for best CRM software, which can help you scale world-class account management efforts. These recommendations come from extensive testing and analysis of more than 35 of the top CRM providers.

If you’re still exploring your options, check out our CRM software Comparison Tool and Finder Tool to boost your chances of finding your perfect match.