Service Provider to Trusted Advisor

Account manager, account executive, relationship manager, client success partner…the names have changed over the years but have the duties changed with them?

More than 20 years ago, I had multiple clients whose account managers struggled with two of their primary duties – renewing contracts and cross-selling additional products and services. We developed classes just for those two areas and they definitely helped.

But one problem still remained. It restricted revenue and it acted as a yoke on many account managers achieving their full potential. They had to rid themselves of their servicer job.

Account managers with a sales background saw this immediately. They knew that time spent servicing was time not spent on understanding the client organization, building coaches and other allies, and jointly creating account plans – which all led to revenue generation and protection. They were happy to rid themselves of the servicing aspect.

But many who came into the position from the servicing side (client support, operations at a client site) struggled a bit more with this decision. Their role had been to keep the client happy. That often meant fixing problems in the field or coordinating the support resources to do that, managing projects, and so on.

The problem, of course, is that it never ends. There will always be bugs to fix, features the client wishes were there, and deliverables that are delayed. And, when your portfolio includes 10 – 20 clients, your day is easily consumed. Revenue retention and growth gets short-changed.

To top it off, many account managers liked the servicing aspect more than the sales aspect. That was their comfort zone.

If things stayed the same, the organization would be way out of balance – too many focused on client support and not enough focused on client revenue.

Top management eventually agreed that all servicing had to be transferred to client support. A new position was created inside client support whose duties were to manage complex client projects and issues. Account managers who enjoyed that part of their old job, were offered those roles.

That took care of role clarification. But there were still three more things the account managers (or the new title relationship managers) had to do for this to work:

Step 1: Make the shift mentally – Relationship managers had to learn to trust their support staff to do the job they had done before. They had to see their new role as actually providing value to the client, that they weren’t becoming product pushers. And they had to believe they were capable of playing this new role.

Step 2: Build internal relationships and transfer knowledge – To fully trust others to do the job they used to do, relationship managers and those in client support had to get to know each other better. RMs also needed to explain what they did and why to support the client and helpful information about each client’s business, culture, and key players.

Step 3: Explain the change to the client – Many clients were happy with the previous role of the account manager and didn’t want to see it change. They would have to be “sold” on the change. Why the change, what the new support structure would look like, what the relationship manager’s new role would be, what that would look like, and how all of this would benefit the client had to be carefully explained. Plus, realistic expectations had to be set. There would be a learning curve for everyone involved. But the RMs would commit to managing that too.

We added classes to help make these pieces go easier and faster. Though it did take time to work all the kinks out, support did get better, revenue did increase, and clients became more satisfied.

Lessons learned:

1. You can’t just slap a new title on an account manager and expect it to fly internally or with clients. It has to be carefully planned.

2. You have to be patient. Like any major change, it takes time. Baby steps work best.

3. Eventually you get there and it’s all worth it. It’s a long-term investment, which means a slower ROI. But, once it’s set in place, the return grows each year.

Have a great week!

Bob