The responsibilities of account managers can vary depending on the industry they work in, size of the company and nature of the business. Each customer account can vary in demands and an account manager may work with brand managers for one account and a media department for another. Account managers usually report directly to the account director or agency director of the activity and status of accounts and transactions. An account manager may also manage a single account or a variety of accounts depending on the requirement of the company. Although the responsibility can vary between companies and between accounts, there is a shared set of common responsibilities which are as follows:
There are situations in which an account manager, for example in advertising firms, is responsible for more than one account and therefore looks after multiple clients. When account locations do not overlap the account manager can be placed at the divisional, district, or territory level. When a sales team has a senior sales manager, the account manager coordinates sales accounts from other departments or specialties.[1] In this scenario, the sales team will work under the direct supervision of influencers and deciders instead of with a buyer.[1]
Global account managers and national account managers may work together in a hierarchical or matrix structure. The trend is to move responsibility for the major key accounts to the global level.[1]
Key account manager[edit]
A key account manager (KAM) is assigned to a company headquarters to oversee the account team assigned to a particular account.[1] Key account management includes sales but also includes planning and managing the full relationship between a business and its most important customers. An account manager who works in this role will engage in a variety of tasks including project management, coordination, strategic planning, relationship management, negotiation, leadership and innovative development of opportunities,[5] and keeping record of transaction of sale and purchase goods. The tasks may include working with product design and application, logistics, sales support, and marketing.
Key account management models[edit]
The basic assumption for a key account management model is the correct classification of the key accounts. A basic model often used in the period of 1950–1970 was the classification model of Webster. This model has been adapted by Milman and Wilson into a two-dimensional model and was paramount in the period of 1970–1990. Bensaou has tested this model empirically by his research of carmakers in the United States and Japan and made revisions. De Blick synthesized the adaptations into the 4S-model, a key account classification model.[6] By the late 1990s, key account management spread to most B2B (business-to-business) models.[7]