3 Signs that Your Account Managers Need Training

According to data from Gartner, 80% of future profits come from just 20% of your existing customers. When your pharmaceutical or biotech account managers don’t understand how to work with customers effectively, you'll lose customers and, along with them, potential profits. As a healthcare market research firm, The Brooks Group has collected a lot of data on metrics and KPIs that track the performance of account managers in these organizations. 

To maintain business profitability, here are the telltale signs that your managers are due for account management training courses.

1. Low Customer Retention

Effective account management is all about customer retention. If your account managers do their jobs well, customers will continue doing business. Track the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine customer retention success:

• Customer Churn Rate – the percentage of customers who cancel or fail to renew their contracts. High churn rates could indicate your account managers are handling customer accounts poorly, causing them to do business elsewhere.

• Support Requests – a high number of support requests indicate your account managers aren’t providing customers with the answers they need. Track website, phone, and email support requests.

With 80% of your future profits at stake, ensure your account managers understand best customer retention practices.

2. Failing Revenue Streams

Account Managers are a key liaison with your existing customers. If they are competent and manage these relationships well, they will be able to uncover opportunities for upsells, cross-sells, and execute a high rate of contract extensions. So if your organization as a whole or a particular manager is failing to develop these opportunities as a steady source and a high percentage of total revenue, then it is time to train your account managers and improve their skills.

3. Poor Client Relationships

Negative customer relationships will cause clients to abandon your products/services. To ensure your managers are maintaining positive client relationships and demonstrating their value, track these key indicators:

• Strategic Communications – the number of strategic emails and calls between managers and customers. If your customers aren’t contacting their account managers for strategic advice, your managers aren’t proving their value.

• Referrals – when customers enjoy the product/service they get from a business, they’re more likely to refer their colleagues. A lack of referrals could indicate your account managers aren’t offering the quality service customers need.

• Outreach Engagement – how often do customers respond to calls and emails? If you have trouble reaching customers, it could mean they don’t have a positive relationship with your business.

Account managers are entirely responsible for building positive customer relationships. When customers avoid communicating, it’s likely they don’t trust you or see the value of your business.

Get Your Account Managers the Training They Need

Worsening KPIs are a strong indication that your account managers are in dire need of training. As customer retention, revenue, and client relationships decrease, reach out to a skilled healthcare consulting firm for advice and training to strengthen your team.

The Brooks Group offers an Excellence in Account Management training course that’s designed to teach account managers proper customer relationship and retention practices. If you’re interested in learning more about this, or our other training programs for healthcare executives and our employee onboarding solutions, contact us for additional information.

Registration for courses is available on The Brooks Group website (view schedule). Custom courses with your team or organization are also available upon request.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/12/3-signs-that-your-account-managers-need-training/