Senior Account Manager

SPECIFICATION

An IT Services company is looking for a Senior Account Manager (SAM) with a will and a passion for success in a sales role. The successful candidate is a high-profile professional person that is self-motivated and thrives on the challenges faced with customer engagement, self-improvement, fast-paced, and pressured environments. 

 DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES, NOT LIMITED TO: 

• Facilitate growth in the contribution to Revenue and Gross Profit of the company by chiefly developing new business and then managing customer engagements at all levels within the customer business landscape 
• Have enough knowledge of the market conditions from a macro and micro perspective to make informed decisions and provide direction to customers specific to their requirements 
• Understanding the Industry Verticals and the strategies needed to be effective and offer Industry Specific solutions  
• Assist in identifying solutions that need to be offered as part of collaboration with internal company pre-sales-, product-, services- support staff with engaging, open communication and teamwork  
• Engage customers in unison with the company’s strategies and passion for service excellence and professionalism 
• Engage at customer C-Levels and offer solution and services with a thorough and comprehensive understanding of their organization which supports the continued provision of essential solutions and services in a timely, efficient, and effective manner 
• Capable of prospecting large enterprises at an executive level and managing multiple customer accounts efficiently and effectively 
• Excite the customer and deliver an exceptional experience  
• Act as the customer lead to the extended solution and / or service delivery team 
• Ability to manage stakeholders and outcomes  
• Organisational Strategy: Alignment with key strategic initiatives as determined by the Board from time to time 
• Functional Responsibility: Keep abreast of technological changes and how it influences the engagement with the various customer market verticals 
• Impact on Organisation: hold a complete understanding of the company’s annual Revenue and Gross Profit budget deliverables and how each individual AM’s success is imperative to delivering on target and on budget 
• Take the lead and drive successful customer engagements coupled with engagement from the various company support teams and back-office processes 
• Deliver on targeted Revenue and Gross Profit values 
• Continually develop a pipeline of prospects that will feed into the overall pipeline value of the business and meticulously update and progress pipeline opportunities to purchase orders 
• Thorough understanding of the market and market verticals and their associated technological and business requirements 
• Know, understand, and map company-focused solutions to customer requirements 
• Provide accurate reporting of activities by populating the company’s CRM system daily with relevant customer data and interaction
• Take end to end ownership to manage customers in the most efficient way to generate sales and profits that will meet aggressive sales and growth targets 
• Responsible for prospecting and acquiring new customers; researching business opportunities; setting up meetings / workshops and attending conferences 
• Maintain an excellent customer-oriented approach, being a brand ambassador, always acting professionally, ethically and driving high-performance behaviours as aligned to the company’s values & culture 
• Understand allocated customers’ vision, strategy, and priority needs, and sell aligned and relevant solutions to meet customer needs that also deliver business value to customers 
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of the company solutions and make recommendations to customers based on their individual needs 
• Work with product & solution managers and product BU heads to ensure enablement of all products, services, and solutions 
• Develop own sales capabilities, complete sales certifications for key vendor / partners and upskill continuously with relevant sales, product and solutions knowledge / certifications and industry / competitor knowledge, market conditions and innovation 
• Build and maintain strong relationships with the customer and internal cross-functional teams, always take ownership to resolve customer queries and work well with internal teams to resolve queries or problems promptly and efficiently  
• Effectively manage sales planning, account planning, drive key tasks and performance targets, daily & weekly update of CRM and Sales systems, weekly sales forecasting, monthly & YTD Sales Reporting 

SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES: 

• Matric 
• Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, or similar field will be advantageous 
• Understanding of sales performance metrics 
• Knowledge of CRM software and MS Office 
• Proven work experience as a Sales Account Manager 
• Hands on experience in sales and an ability to deliver excellent customer experience 
• An ability to deliver projects and answer inquiries on time 
• 10-15 years senior management experience in an industry sector or environment that has technological complexity and is customer care / customer experience intensive 
• Significant understanding of customer needs 
• Satisfaction in a high-tech environment essential 
• Diplomacy and patience  
• People skills  
• Strategic thinking  
• Listening  
• The ability to set and execute the vision of the company  

Personal Competencies: 

• A successful Senior Account Manager is a self-motivated individual who can perform at optimal levels under pressure 
• Ideally must be an expert in an enterprise business or industry vertical 
• A good communicator and an original thinker that can offer ideas about generating new sales and effectively deal with people to maintain customer satisfaction 
• Ability to market and close the sale of solutions 
• Negotiation skills to secure accounts at a profit 
• Interpersonal skills to communicate with customers over the phone and in face-to-face meetings 
• Analytical skills to judge the current market and the competition to set accurate pricing