By Phil Harwood

The account manager position is one of those positions that companies struggle to define. In some companies, account managers are more focused on sales. In other companies, account managers are more focused on production. And other companies, account managers are focused on customer relationships. 

So what is the right answer? And how do we know if the account manager is effective in their position?

Customer retention gives us insight into how effective account management is in our companies, but this is too late. Customer retention is a lagging indicator. What we need is a leading indicator that helps us understand today whether or not our account managers are effective in their positions.
 
This is where our training course comes in: The Ultimate Account Manager course at GrowTheBench.com. This course is designed to help account managers, and those who manage account managers, to work together to assess how effective they are in each aspect of their position.
 
This training program includes a complete scoring guide that allows a numerical scoring of each component of the account manager position. This allows for the account manager and their manager to measure progress toward the goal of becoming the ultimate account manager.

Similar to the Great Crew Leader training program that we discussed two weeks ago, this program is very effective if championed by a strong leader. One of the more effective models for delivering this program is to establish a weekly training session for all your account managers and their managers. Each weekly session the goal is to complete one or more modules in the training program. Each module consists of a training video and related worksheets. But the most critical element of the training is the discussion about specific action steps that the account manager will take to improve in one or more areas. This is where there must be some leadership: to provide accountability and to ensure that action steps are followed through on.

And just like my recommendation for the Great Crew Leader program, I recommend that account managers participate in this training program at least once a year if not more frequently. Continuous improvement takes time and effort. It doesn’t just happen. There are plenty of veteran account managers in our industry that are woefully ineffective in their positions. 

This train training program may be a catalyst to pointing your account managers in a better direction. This is not only good for your company. It’s good for your account managers in their careers as well.

If you’re interested in considering this program, send me an email and I’ll hook you up with a complimentary trial of GrowTheBench.com, where you can preview the entire course for yourself. My email is Phil@GrowTheBench.com

If you’re interested in an in-person workshop at your company, just send me an email to get the conversation started. 

Now go forth.