Account manager skills make you adept at managing numbers and client relationships alike. Competent account managers are versed in the art of negotiation as much as they are qualified to perform scientific analysis.
In this article, we’ll explore a diverse realm of account manager skills. You’re going to discover which of these abilities are the most prominent in the current business climate. Better yet, you’ll learn how to optimally showcase them on your resume to maximize your chances of getting the job.
Let’s dive right in!
Key Takeaways
Account manager skills are a collection of abilities that include nurturing client relationships while governing their accounts.
When creating a skills section in your resume, you want to list only relevant account manager skills while keeping hard and soft abilities separate.
You should include some of the most important skills throughout your resume and next to relevant achievements in the resume summary and work experience sections.
Some of the most sought-after account manager skills are communication, listening, leadership, time management, organization, relationship building, strategic thinking, and project management.
To improve your unique skills and boost your employability, you can attend workshops and seminars, obtain relevant certifications, use online platforms for additional learning, and more.
What Are Account Manager Skills?
Account manager skills encompass a wide range of abilities that allow professionals to nurture client relationships while handling their accounts. The main goal of these specialists is to ensure customer satisfaction and drive the business success that way, as opposed to solely focusing on the financial aspect and sales.
As a result, account manager skills include a variety of interpersonal skills, like communication, listening, negotiation, relationship building, and so on. That, in combination with a deep understanding of their organization’s products or services, allows account managers to help their clients while aligning their goals with the company’s.
Ensuring a positive client experience involves listening to their inquiries and feedback, addressing their concerns, solving potential issues and handling conflicts, negotiating mutually beneficial terms—all essential management skills.
This is important in any customer-oriented line of business. Fostering long-term relationships contributes to the overall growth of the company and positively impacts its profitability. That makes account managers indispensable in the majority of industries.
How to Present Account Manager Skills on Your Resume
Presenting account manager skills on your resume is done in two distinct ways.
Firstly, you want to construct a tailored list for a dedicated skills section in your resume. That’s because every role is different and might require a different skill set. So, instead of haphazardly adding every ability that comes to your mind, research the company and the job ad to find out what recruiters are looking for.
Also, make sure to keep the hard skills separate from the soft skills. While both are necessary, they are different in nature and should be presented as such. Hard skills are job-specific, while soft skills are transferable.
The second way of presenting account manager skills on your resume involves validating them with relevant achievements throughout the resume. To do this, you can add skills next to the accomplishments in your resume summary or work experience sections. This way, you’re providing solid proof of your competence.
Here’s a good example:
Good Example
Managed 17 client accounts to exceed their expectations and grow the company’s annual revenue from $5M to $17M.
Make sure to be specific, use notable results instead of everyday tasks, and include numbers and statistics for quantification.
Otherwise, you’ll end up with a poor attempt at corroborating your prowess, like in the following bad example:
Bad Example
Managed client accounts and helped grow the company’s annual revenue.
9 Account Manager Skills to Include in Your Resume
Let’s examine some of the most prominent account manager skills to include in your resume. We’ll learn what makes them important and how to highlight them best to grab the attention of recruiters.
#1. Communication
Communication is one of the fundamental account manager skills. It encompasses the ability to convey thoughts and ideas in a clear, precise, and easy-to-understand manner. This doesn’t just include verbal communication but also written correspondence, as well as the ability to read body language and nonverbal cues, give presentations, engage in group talks, and more.
For account managers, communication forms a basis for the rest of their work. It’s essential in every interaction with clients and crucial in all aspects, from negotiation and selling to delegation and problem-solving.
Let’s see an example of communication skills demonstrated in a resume:
Communication Example
Improved customer engagement and satisfaction through strategic and personalized communication, attaining a 41% increase in client retention rates.
#2. Listening
Listening is the foundational interpersonal skill essential to building strong relationships and catering to the client’s needs. It gives account managers the ability to understand others properly and perceive their underlying needs.
This further helps professionals prevent misunderstandings, resolve problems, and identify opportunities for improvement. They can then devise tailored strategies and solutions that benefit both customers and the company.
The end result is improved client confidence, trust, and satisfaction, which directly impact the business’ performance and profit.
Here’s how you can highlight listening skills on your resume:
Listening Example
Utilized active listening to accurately identify the clients’ needs and promptly address their concerns, resulting in a 31% increase in client retention.
#3. Leadership
Leadership skills give account managers the ability to mentor, guide, and influence both coworkers and clients toward common goals. Leaders need to have strong decision-making and motivational abilities, which allow them to foster collaborative and productive business environments.
When working with clients, leadership skills help account managers steer them toward making better decisions. This skill is all the more important for senior professionals who are often in charge of mentoring entry-level individuals and leading teams of experts.
Let’s check out a resume example of a candidate demonstrating their leadership skills:
Leadership Example
Onboarded and led a team of 5 new account managers and 6 additional staff members.
#4. Time Management
Time management is a vital skill in the domain of efficiency. It allows account managers to prioritize their work effectively, delegate tasks, and maximize productivity. That way, they can meet the client’s needs promptly while ensuring smooth operations and no delays within the company.
This is a broad skill that includes a number of competencies, such as setting clear goals, allocating time optimally, focusing on avoiding distractions, adjusting to sudden changes and unexpected circumstances, and more.
Ultimately, account managers adept at time management can work well with multiple clients simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines and effortlessly reaching KPIs.
Here’s how to showcase time management on a resume:
Time Management Example
Successfully managed 10+ accounts and maintained 97% client satisfaction rates through effective time management, prioritization, and scheduling.
#5. Organizational Skills
Organizational skills have a direct impact on your work performance and business efficiency. They involve the ability to arrange tasks in an optimal order, set attainable goals, and create actionable plans.
As an account manager, your organizational skills can help you balance clients’ requests with the company’s needs while taking advantage of relevant opportunities. That way, you can maximize client retention while ensuring revenue growth.
Let’s check out a resume example that demonstrates organizational skills:
Organizational Skills Example
Organized and streamlined the communication processes with clients to reduce response times by 35% and increase the project delivery efficiency by up to 21%.
#6. Relationship Building
Relationship building, a crucial component of people management skills, involves forming and fostering strong and meaningful connections with clients and coworkers. Creating these relationships with clients typically involves consistent communication and commitment to providing exceptional personalized service.
In return, clients will increasingly see account managers as trustworthy and reliable. That will improve their satisfaction, directly impacting their retention and improving overall business success.
Relationship-building skills also lead to quicker problem-solving and better opportunities for upselling or cross-selling goods or services.
Here’s how you can emphasize relationship-building skills on your resume:
Relationship Building Example
Cultivated meaningful relationships with 25+ clients, which resulted in a 33% increase in client retention in the first year and a 45% boost in referral business.
#7. Strategic Thinking
Strategic thinking is one of the core account manager skills that allows these professionals to analyze current situations and make accurate predictions about the future. By combining the two, they can devise optimal strategies and come up with long-term plans that will benefit their clients and the company.
Being a good strategic thinker shows recruiters and hiring managers that you have a strong combination of soft and technical skills for an account manager.
On the one hand, it means that you have a deep understanding of the industry that you’re in. On the other hand, it demonstrates the ability to work with clients, understand their needs, and come up with tailored solutions to their problems.
Let’s see how you can demonstrate this strategic account manager skill on your resume:
Strategic Thinking Example
Utilized strategic thinking to develop comprehensive long-term strategies that increased 3 key clients’ revenue by 45%.
#8. Negotiation
Negotiation is a central skill for account managers, as it allows them to reach mutual agreements with clients that benefit all involved parties. This requires clear and precise communication with strong and persuasive arguments, as well as the ability to understand the other side’s needs and compromise.
The importance of this skill for account managers cannot be understated. It directly impacts client satisfaction, enhances their retention, and improves business outcomes. Through negotiation, account managers can also foster positive long-term relationships, which are paramount to sustained growth.
Here’s how you can highlight your negotiation skills on your account manager resume:
Negotiation Example
Negotiated 3-year contract extensions with 11 clients while obtaining a 97% satisfaction rate.
#9. Project Management
Project management is one of the key hard skills for account managers. It gives these professionals the ability to create plans, carry out the necessary steps, and oversee entire projects from their inception to completion.
This includes keeping track of the time and resources needed to complete such endeavors, all the while ensuring that everything is in accordance with the client’s needs and requests. That makes project management a complex skill that requires a lot of communication, negotiation, delegation, organization, time management, and more.
As a result, highlighting this ability portrays you as a multitalented and highly competent individual. Here’s a resume example:
Project Management Example
Managed a complex marketing campaign project that improved client account ROI by 23% while being completed 11 days in advance and 9% under budget.
3 Pro Tips for Improving Your Account Manager Skills
Improving your account manager skills is one of the best ways to boost your employability or ensure a salary raise. Here are some tips on how to do that:
Tips to Improve Your Account Manager Skills
Attend workshops and seminars. Participating in these events can provide you with the latest insights into prevailing trends and strategies in the industry. You can use that knowledge to improve your competence while simultaneously networking with other professionals.
Obtain industry-related certifications. Certifications give you highly specialized knowledge in relevant areas. For instance, Certified Strategic Account Managers (CSAM) can achieve growth and profitability that is up to three times greater than that of other professionals in the field.
Use online learning platforms. Various platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning have courses that can help you learn specific skills and improve in required areas. The online nature gives these platforms flexibility and ease of access, allowing you to progress at a pace that best suits you.
Closing Thoughts
The dynamic realm of account management requires a careful balance of numbers and individuals. It’s a complex field where every human interaction is just as important as financial predictions and calculations.
That’s why you need strong account manager skills to navigate such space. But remember, having the necessary abilities might not get you far if you don’t know how to demonstrate them properly. Make sure that your resume and account manager cover letter optimally highlight your competence, and you’ll be one step closer to your dream job.
Finally, don’t forget to keep working on yourself. By improving your skills, you’ll remain ahead of other job seekers and advance your career faster.
