Account Manager: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire an account manager?

While account managers can impact your bottom line and commission structures, they’re vital to ensuring your clients are satisfied.

A great account manager can:

• Act as the liaison between your company and clients, reducing the need for executive involvement
• Maintain positive relationships with clients
• Ensure all client matters, from accounting to technical support, are managed and resolved

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance account manager

Businesses experiencing sudden and rapid growth may consider hiring a freelance account manager to maintain relationships with a few of their clients. Freelance account managers can serve as a placeholder for the position until the company has had time to go through the recruitment, application, interviewing and training processes for a full-time account manager. 

For established businesses, it may be better to hire full-timers for your accounts. Having a familiar point of contact in your business can improve relationships with your clients and increase revenue as a result. Freelance managers can fill the gap for a period of time, but a full-time liaison will usually end up being a better choice. 

What are the ranks of account managers?

There are a few positions in the field of account management, and they create a well-defined pyramid of control. These jobs include:

• Account manager: Account managers are at the bottom of the chain in the account management industry. They’re often the point of contact for multiple large and small clients and accounts. Account managers’ responsibilities also include identifying new potential clients, preparing sales reports and responding to concerns posed by existing clientele. 
• Account director: Account directors are placed above account managers and report directly to the director of account services. Directors often oversee multiple account managers to ensure clients’ questions are answered, deliveries are made on time and new accounts are being made. 
• Director of account services: The director of account services heads the account management department. They supervise the department to ensure goals are developed and met and strategize to foster fiscal growth. 

Where to find account managers

To find the right account manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Post help wanted signs. Notifying the community about the open position is often an effective way to encourage people to send in applications. 
• Promote from within. There may be some existing employees in another department, such as sales, who would fit an account manager role well. Assess the performance of these individuals to find promising candidates and set up interviews to see if they’re a good fit. 
• Search for candidates online. Some potential candidates for the position may be advertising their experience and skills online. Reach out to these individuals to gauge interest in the job. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your account manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality account manager candidates.

Writing an account manager job description

When it comes to finding the right account manager applicants, a detailed job description goes a long way. An account manager job description involves a description of your company and its clients, a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your account manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on account manager jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Account manager
• Sales
• Sales manager
• Manager
• Account executive
• Remote work from home
• Sales representative
• Insurance
• National account manager
• Key account manager

Interviewing account manager candidates

Strong candidates for account manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Client problems and solutions they developed to address them
• How they deliver exceptional service to their clients

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of account manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).