What skills do you need to be a good account manager?
An account manager is responsible for driving collaboration with customers. In some cases, you’ll be responsible for identifying new potential customers and bringing them on board. Depending on size, you may manage several accounts or be the key account manager for one client.
To become your team’s trusted expert on account management, you’ll need to be sales savvy and a master of marketing. But what skills does an account manager need? Looking broadly across all market, McKinsey found that 87% of companies have identified a skills gap, or can see one on the horizon. Read on to find out what skills you should develop to become a good account manager.
Communication
It goes without saying that you need to be a first-class communicator to be a good account manager. No matter what market you work in, healthcare, e-commerce or IT, you need to work closely with your client, identify their needs and then put a plan into action. Did you know that following the outbreak of Covid-19, communication was identified as a core healthcare skill ?
As an account manager, it’s up to you to engage with customers to drive sales growth. In order to be a good communicator, you also need to have a deep understanding of your account and up to date knowledge of the customer environment. One of the rising trends within the medical sales industry is a more cautious approach to approving medicine. This means that everyone working within the industry – including account managers – will likely increase their collaboration approaches with healthcare payers and providers.
Relationship building
One of the top account manager interview questions is, “How do you foster a good client relationship?”. Employers need to know that their account managers have strong networking skills and the ability to influence the clients. It’s a role where you’ll need to juggle developing and delivering business plans with ensuring that customers receive superior service.
Key account managers in the healthcare market need to establish effective relationships with clinicians, medicines management and payors. This opportunity to speak to new people every day and make a difference is one of the reasons why you should work in medical sales .
Commercial
A high level of commercial acumen is essential, but this extends beyond selling the product. You need to look at the broader strategy and understand how to balance business decisions with costs. A good account manager will keep an eye on what the competition is doing and then evaluate whether their client should compete in the same space or create their own path. Commercial acumen is essential to assess risks and opportunities, yet according to Deloitte, only 60% of leaders display this skill.
Leadership
Having a background in project management will help you lay the foundations needed to become a good account manager. This role requires someone who can confidently lead a team, who can engage them and bring out their passion. Account managers are accountable for the local area strategy, and it’s down to them to ensure timelines are clear for their team. Your team will respect a leader who is decisive and someone they can trust to delegate fairly.
Analytical reasoning
Big data just keeps getting bigger, and the latest statistics reveal that within the healthcare market, it could be worth $78.03 billion by 2027 . Enhancing your data skills will be the key to future-proofing your career as more business leaders will look for analytical expertise in response to the looming talent gap .
Grow your career with IQVIA
If you’re interested in a key account manager role, look no further than IQVIA. You’ll have the opportunity to work in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies and help us to improve people’s lives.
At IQVIA we help our customers identify the optimal value of their drug or biologic; launch and promote treatments; and demonstrate their products' value over time by engaging with patients and driving adherence.
Begin the search for your next role with IQVIA and browse our latest key account manager jobs.
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including 1.2B+ non-identified patient records
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86,000+ employees
from clinicians to data scientists each transforming healthcare in 100+ countries
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Excellent work-life balance
and is committed to this kind of culture
Did you know IQVIA cares about
Health and Wellbeing
for all its employees
Did you know IQVIA has
4,600 data scientists
including statisticians and analytics developers
Did you know IQVIA has
Excellent work-life balance
and is committed to this kind of culture
Did you know IQVIA has
Countless development opportunities
for personal and professional growth
Did you know IQVIA has
56+ petabytes of unique data
including 1.2B+ non-identified patient records
Did you know IQVIA has
1,900+ epidemiologists
and real world insight experts
Did you know IQVIA has
86,000+ employees
from clinicians to data scientists each transforming healthcare in 100+ countries
Related jobs
Salary:
Location:
Milan
Job Type
Regular
Employment status
Full Time
Job Category
Strategic Operations
Location
Milano
Description
Our client, specialized Japan-originated Pharmaceutical company with a long heritage. As a global company with our footprint in more than 60 countries, they are dedicated to delivering innovative trea
Reference
R1412594
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
IQVIA has been behind my development to become a MSL. The contracts that I have worked on have allowed me to push clinical projects with a recent opportunity to manage a pilot scheme integrating e-detailing into an established field based team. The result was an increase in sales.
Since joining IQVIA I have had unrivalled support and development from my manager to enable me to aspire to move into secondary care. I feel like my career is strongly supported by my manager in order to maximise my potential.
Just following on from the amazing news I got yesterday I wanted to say a really special thank you for all the help and support you have provided throughout the entire recruitment process.
Once again I cannot thank you enough for not only approaching me with this opportunity but also for all the support you’ve given me along the way!
A quick note to say thank you for your time this morning discussing my future career options. As you know I was feeling very conflicted about the right decision. Discussing the role with you gave me chance to clarify what is important to me.
A quick note to say thank you for your time this morning discussing my future career options. As you know I was feeling very conflicted about the right decision. Discussing the role with you gave me chance to clarify what is important to me.
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