Insider’s guide for recruiting high-performing sales account managers

As featured in ERE Daily

A senior sales account manager bolts your organization for a competitor – leaving your largest client exposed.

Posting the job on LinkedIn or Indeed will mean months of resume parsing, interview staging, reference checking and offer haggling. And months to onboard your new hire on your product set, internal supply chain and company culture.

Meanwhile, your largest client is a sitting duck for your competition.

There is another option. A way to backfill your sales account manager (SAM) position almost immediately with a proven performer that knows who the players are and how to get things done. That’s right, an inside candidate – but probably one you would normally have never considered. A candidate like my friend and former colleague, Dennis – a headquarters ops manager with no prior sales experience at all.

Dennis questions his sales credentials.

Dennis’ division closed down and he came to me in a panic. “My old boss landed at a new firm, but all he has to offer me is a sales job. I’m an ops manager, not a sales guy. I don’t have a sales bone in my entire body.”

Dennis was alarmed because he didn’t see himself as a constantly prospecting, cold calling, rules bending, new business developer or “Hunter.” But it turns out Dennis’ old boss offered him a sales account manager or “Farmer” job serving installed base customers.

I encouraged him to take the job. Why? Because, in my experience, Dennis had already been performing a sales account management role at a high level, only inside his own organization.

In 20-plus years assessing more than 900,000 sales professionals, our research has identified 140 success-related attributes as they apply to 15 discrete sales roles. Let’s examine, in order, the 6 attributes top performing sales account managers aka SAMS have in common – and how Dennis measured up.

Sales Account Manager Competencies

1. Manages account responsibilities in a systematic way.

In his Ops role, Dennis was responsible for order processing, inventory management, and materials distribution. Goal oriented and process driven, Dennis excelled at orchestrating complex projects and delivering results on target and on time.

Customers value sales account managers like Dennis because they are able to skillfully contribute to the implementation efforts that are the inevitable outcome of a major sale.

2. Grows base of business by identifying new sales opportunities.

Dennis was always seeking new ways he could be of help. He streamlined an infuriatingly complex order entry process to reduce the administrative burden on the field. He eliminated chronic out-of-stock situations by better coupling inventory management with sales forecasts. His eagerness to please led other departments to seek his help in finding better ways to do business.

Customer execs value sales account managers like Dennis because they see them as problem solvers, not peddlers.

3. Fosters collaboration to achieve shared goals.

Dennis avoided tackling problems in silo mode. Instead, he incorporated folks in procurement, sales, IT and his functional counterparts across the company. Other organizations were eager to partner with Dennis because he was lavish in giving them credit for their contributions and took personal responsibility when things went awry.

Customers value sales account managers with a team approach like Dennis because they know recommendations will reflect the combined wisdom of both organizations as well as buy-in from all stakeholders concerned.

4. Educates customers on making the most of purchase decisions.

Dennis thoroughly schooled his manufacturing colleagues before he provided them with a real time inventory management system. So, they were able to utilize all of the improved capabilities out of the box. He also introduced lunch and learn sessions for 90 days post implementation to be reinforce the learning.

Ongoing education goes a long way in helping customers overcome apprehensions about purchasing a solution and in ensuring they realize full value.

5. Regularly seeks customer feedback to verity satisfaction and surface issues.

“How are things going? What’s working and not working?” Dennis took the initiative in surfacing critical feedback even if it meant more work for him.

When sales account managers don’t invite customer feedback, customers just may assume they don’t want to hear it.

6. Always available and eager to help.

Dennis was never too busy to pick up a call or respond to a need. In the event he was unavailable, his support team was empowered to act on his behalf.

When sales AMs are hard to reach and slow to respond, customers feel like their business is unimportant.

Dennis makes President’s Club

With a great deal of apprehension, Dennis accepted the sales account manager job. Several years later I ran into him at an industry conference. What a transformation!

“I get a lot more encouragement and appreciation in my sales job than I ever received in my headquarters role. Customers value me as a resource and include me in their planning process. It’s stimulating discovering new types of problems and issues to solve. I was worried about having a sales quota, but I haven’t had any problem beating my numbers. Plus, last year my wife and I got to go to Hawaii when I made President’s Club.”

Additional headquarters insiders with the potential to make great sales account mangers

Dennis isn’t the only headquarters type I’ve worked with over the years who would be a great fit for a sales account management role. You can find great sales DNA in every function.

• There was Bob, the finance and accounting guy who discovered and helped me manage an outsource order processing and reporting firm when his group wasn’t able to meet my needs.
• Nancy, the IT manager who rather than reject my outrageously unaffordable systems development request was able to hitchhike a solution on another division’s platform.
• John, the corporate attorney, who went to Washington to petition the government when my original GSA volume pricing construct was turned down.
• Barbara, the HR specialist who went to bat to get a high performer I was at risk of losing a raise when corporate had mandated that all salaries were frozen.

Regardless of function, headquarters insiders who treat the groups they support as customers are excellent candidates for sales account manager jobs. And if you (or they) have reservations, a quality sales talent assessment instrument will provide further evidence. (Note: avoid sales personality tests. There is little evidence they can predict whether an individual will be successful in a given sales role.)

Not every insider has sales account manager genes.

Sad to say, for every Dennis, John, Nancy or Bob, there are probably 5, maybe 10 headquarters insiders you wouldn’t dream of putting in front of a customer. You know the type: Silo-dwelling, empire building, backside protecting, gate keeping, hip-shooting resource hoggers whose mantra isn’t “how can I help” but “what can you do for me.”

But weeding these folks out isn’t difficult, since you likely have a long work history with them!

More than just a fast-track SAM recruiting solution.

Recruiting worthy insiders like Dennis allows you to fill a critical customer-facing role fast with minimal risk.

It also allows your company to offer an additional career path for top headquarters performers who might otherwise leave for lack of opportunity.

What’s more, serving in a field role will give them an expanded skill set that makes them a better candidate for corporate leadership roles down the road.