What is the difference between an account manager and a sales representative?

We often hear the two terms interchanged but people from sales mean different things when they use the term sales rep and account manager. Account managers generally have some account manager and long term growth objectives while sales people are more heavily weighted on the “hunting” part of sales.

Traditionally those roles were separated and the skills required to manage an account daily and hunt new business were/are very different. Sales people who like the thrill of the hunt and continuously conquering new business may not be inclined to like the detail aspect of the account management piece.

We now hear sales management speaking in terms of hunting within a customer base as well as maintaining that base. The account manager would be responsible for renegotiating future contracts, solving day to day issues and cross selling the company’s other products and services.

Good hunters like the “newness” of hunting. They like the challenge of conquering and bringing in new customers. They rarely like the paperwork and detail aspect of account management. They will spend more time cold calling and researching customers to determine a fit.

When you are interviewing for a sales job you should determine how much “hunting” and how much “farming” needs to be done. You should also know how much of the sales person’s objectives should come from new business versus maintenance of accounts. Take a look at the compensation plan to determine where they should be spending their time. Good sales people will look at the plan and generally behave in a manner where they will get paid. If your plan pays significantly more to bring in new business, then that is where they will spend their time. If it pays them to renew contracts, then expect that they will get them done. The skills required to bring in new business are different from the skills required to maintain those accounts.

In many companies, sales people hold onto accounts for a pre-determined amount of time such as six months and the account manager takes over at that time.

These are general definitions and can change from one company to another. It is best to read the full job description.

by Dawn Williams, President of Sirius Personnel