Interview Questions to Help You Identify The Best Account Management Talent
Kapta - Your Customer Engagement Roadmap
  • Product
    • Key Account Management Software
    • Services
    • Integration
    • Security
    • Who We Help
    • Pricing
  • Our KAM Process
    • Know your Customer
    • Build Strategic Plans
    • Measure Outcomes
  • Resources
    • Understanding KAM
      • What is Key Account Management?
      • The CEO Guide to Key Account Management
      • 5 Common Pain Points of Key Account Management
    • Ebooks
      • The Big Book of KAM
      • KAM To-Go
      • Creating Kick-Ass Account Plans
      • Conducting Kick-Ass QBRs
      • Whitepaper: The Foundation of Key Account Management
    • Videos
      • The 7 Sins of KAM
      • How to Build a Kick-Ass Account Plan
      • How to Run a Kick-Ass QBR
    • Blog
  • KAMCon
  • KAMGenius
  • Request a Demo
  • Account Log In
  • Menu

Interview Questions to Help You Identify The Best Account Management Talent

February 22, 2021/in Customer Engagement /by Jennifer Pinter

Poor hiring decisions can be quite expensive. The costs involved include recruiting, onboarding, and lost revenue. Depending on the source, a bad hire can cost at least 30% of the individual’s first-year potential earnings or more when you consider lost revenue and the possible impact on team morale.

The best Account Management talent isn’t always the obvious choice. While most sales leaders look for reps who are “closers,” “good communicators,” and “hard workers,” I would argue they are misguided. While those are qualities of a very good rep, they don’t quite focus on what it takes to excel at this role. You can have the best strategy in place, but if you don’t have the talent to execute, results can be limited. Consider these key qualities and questions I recommend asking when filling your next sales role. They’ll help you identify the best candidate to add to your Key Account Manager (KAM) team.

A Life-Long Learner

Your new hire will have a lot to learn during your company’s onboarding process. Then they need to get to know their new and existing clients along with marketplace trends and changes within client accounts and their industries. This is why you need someone who is continuously learning.

These people don’t ask about the weather when meeting with customers because they always have something interesting to talk about. They read and consume content on their own, indicating they are self-starters, and take ownership of their development. Questions you can ask in an interview to identify this characteristic include:

  • What podcasts, webinars, LinkedIn courses, or TED talks have you watched or listened to that you have found interesting this year?
  • What is the most impactful book or audiobook you read this year?
  • Tell me about a skill you wanted to improve on last year and how you went about getting better. Then, ask yourself if this rep sought out their manager and set aside time for mock calls and practice, did they read a book, did they record themselves and practice their presentation?

A Team Player

Some of the most successful sales reps set the standard and teach others on their team how to do something better. Key account management is a team activity. It cannot be done effectively as a solo effort. That’s why it’s critical that you look for reps who are team players when filling a KAM role.

These reps think critically, organized, and have their sh*t together. These reps are able to think critically when working with customers as well, enabling them to more effectively help solve client problems. And this serves to improve customer experience, satisfaction, and retention. Include this series of questioning in your interview to identify this characteristic in your potential employee:

  • Tell me about a time you found a better way to do something, optimized a system, or talk to track and shared it among the organizations? How did you figure out a better way to do it? How did you share it with your organization?

A Relationship Builder

Reps who know how to build relationships practice purposeful listening and show empathy for their clients. This human connection reinforces the bonds of good business. It enables them to find ways to assist clients with their challenges and goals as they relate to your product or service while anticipating issues that may arise.

If a KAM can demonstrate that they have built relationships inside their organization and with customers previously, that tells me that they are likely customer focused, and empathic. These are critical qualities you want in your strategic customer account manager. To identify this in a prospective rep, ask them the following question:

  • Talk to me about a time where you had to build a relationship with a new business team or contact in an organization.

KAMs aren’t always going to have all the skills you might want, but if they possess some of these qualities you can expect them to excel and improve very quickly.

Looking for ways to improve on your Key Account Management program? Schedule a demo to see how Kapta can help improve processes and streamline your program.

Jennifer Pinter
Jennifer Pinter
Senior Engagement Manager at Kapta
Jennifer is a Senior Engagement Manager at Kapta
Tags: Account Management interview questions, hiring KAMs
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Google+
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://kapta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-15-at-4.00.51-PM.png 530 951 Jennifer Pinter https://kapta.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/logo340x156-300x138.png Jennifer Pinter2021-02-22 12:57:472021-02-22 15:58:28Interview Questions to Help You Identify The Best Account Management Talent

Categories

  • Account Management
  • Account Planning
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Success
  • Infographic
  • KAMCon
  • Kapta Product
  • Key Account Management
  • News
  • Quarterly Business Reviews
  • Strategic Account Management
  • Voice of Customer

Tags

ABM Account-based Customer Success account-based marketing account management account management process account management skills account management software account manager skills account planning account plans change management coaching continuous relationship management CRM CSO Insights customer engagement customer goals customer outcomes customer relationships customer success HBR KAM KAMCon KAM process KAM skills KAM software key account management Key Account Management Best Practice key account management skills Key Account Management Tools Key Account Managers key accounts proactive account management QBR QBRs Quarterly Business Reviews recession relationship mapping Strategic Account Management Strategic Account Managers strategic planning SWOT upsell VOC Voice of Customer

Contact Us

Kapta, Inc.
885 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302

+1 303 495 6201
[email protected]

Kapta on LinkedIn     Follow Kapta  on Twitter

Product

Account Management Software
Client Management Software
Account Planning Software
Voice of Customer Software
CRM for Strategic Accounts

Resources

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Data Processing Addendum
Security Statement
Privacy Shield

Why Your QBRs aren’t as Effective As They Could Be The Psychology of the Change Curve – The Top 3 Mistakes Account Management...
Scroll to top