“It’s all about how do you make people feel comfortable.”
Kevin Vitale is a Senior Managed Services Account Executive here at Integris. In this 3 part Discussions by Integris series, Kevin gives us an account management playbook. He discusses client success, growing relationships, and how to handle at risk clients.
Responsibilities of an Account Manager
Kevin: “That stage is the most crucial because they’ve made the commitment, they’ve made the transaction, and now it’s time for you to do what you said you were going to do. You made the promises at the sales stage and now it’s your time.”
Kevin: “You have to get to know the people you’re working with. What are their business goals? Who are they? How do they communicate is a big one. If you’re going to shoot emails out constantly, and this person doesn’t answer emails, they’re going to hate you quickly.”
Kevin: “You have to make sure the team you’re working with knows all the information that you have about this particular agreement. At the end of the day, when there are problems, concerns, it’s going to come back to you. You have to understand their personality. Everybody has got a different personality so it’s your job to make those emotional intelligence connections between people.”
Kevin: “It’s your job to show these people, your clients, how to use your services. You’ve seen it work before, just show them how to do it, and there’s a lot of different ways to do that. Some people need to be guided through that process a little more than others.”
Identify guidelines for the client.
Kevin: “If they can’t use your services properly, it’s no good to anyone. So you have to make really clear guidelines on how that’s going to run. If I’m not here for some reason, something gets lost. That’s the last thing, especially in our business, that you want to happen.”
Kevin: “This is the email you’re going to use, these are the people that are going to help you. Because without those proper channels, I can tell you that leads to more miscommunication than any other element. You could lose a lot in between those cracks from what I’ve seen. So the biggest point of all of it is that information download. That is your job to get all of that information from a client. In that process you tend to build a relationship.”
Develop emotional intelligence.
Kevin: “Everybody wants to talk, and not a lot of people want to listen. When you hear what they’re saying, you learn. You learn everything you need to know about somebody. If they’re constantly frustrated when you talk to them, you know you have some work to do. If they’re generally a happy person every day, and that energy is high, you know what you’re dealing with.”
Kevin: “You have to be able to make those connections and you have to just intentionally listen, not just listen, intentionally listen.”
How can you deliver a unique experience?
Kevin: “It definitely depends on what industry you’re in, to a certain extent, but you have to make it personal. At the end of the day, you’re a business, you’re delivering services, but you’re dealing with people. Take into account what you would like and just use that.”
Kevin: “If you want business to be done in an enjoyable way, you have to do that.”
