Sales is the base on which a business grows and prospers. Without sales and the subsequent profits that it earns, an organization in today's world will cease to exist. Every organization today realizes this fact and appoints people who are able to bring in new business opportunities and maintain excellent relationships with the existing clients or accounts, as they are commonly referred to. One individual who plays a vital role in this pursuit is the key account executive whose responsibilities are manifold irrespective of the organization or the industry.
Normally, a person working as the key account executive has to be proactive and identify prospective clients and find ways to associate with them in order to enhance the business. He has to conduct meetings and provide the information regarding the products and/or services offered by the organization while presenting a proposal that is feasible and profitable to both the parties concerned.
Apart from the expansion of business through acquisition of new clients, the executive handling the key accounts maintains communication and relation with the existing clients and devises new schemes and offers according to their requirements. He is also assigned with the task of handling a team of associate account executives who are equally dedicated for business development pursuits.
The executive handling the key accounts is also responsible for conducting market research to identify the market trends and accordingly strategize to enter into unexplored areas and capture the market through effective measures. The executive has to be in constant touch with production, customer service, warehousing, and other departments that are directly or indirectly related with the delivery of goods and services to the clients, as this enables him/her to know the areas where improvement needs to be done and accordingly devise plans so that the clients are satisfied with what the organization delivers to them.
More information about this profession has been provided below for your reference:
Market Research
Without a detailed research about the market trends and forecasting about what the future holds for the business, it is impossible to venture into business development pursuits. Here, the executive is responsible for researching and identifying the preferences of the customers and how to approach them with appropriate plans for service offerings.
Conduct Meetings
Conducting meetings and convincing the client by offering them the most competitive prices for the goods/services offered by the organization is another important responsibility of the executive who has to handle the key accounts.
Conflict Resolution
Many a times, either due to miscommunication or negligence, the clients do not always get what they were offered. Here, the key account executive is expected to intervene and resolve conflicts while prioritizing client satisfaction above everything.
Co-ordinate with Other Departments
While acquiring and handling clients are the main responsibilities of this executive, he/she also needs to be in contact with other departments and also instruct the concerned person from the other departments.
Evaluate Team Members
Evaluating individual performances of all the team members is one more important task of the executive. The professional has to monitor the activities of the team members and apart from the results they deliver, he/she is also required to keep a track of their whereabouts and behavior and instruct them to follow the code of conduct and maintain a professional environment.
To get a job in this domain, you should be:
You need to complete your education with a bachelor or master's degree in marketing, sales, or a business related course and work for a few years in this domain, as it will give you an insight into how things work in the professional world.
While working in this position, you can expect to earn an annual salary of $71,000. Other benefits include travel allowance, 401k insurance, performance incentives, and many others depending on the organization you work for.
You can easily move to the position of regional account manager and above if you continue to deliver excellent results and prove your worth to the employer.
Now that you know all about the key account executive responsibilities, we hope that you can decide if this is the perfect career choice for you and accordingly plan your moves so that you are able to reach this position in your career.