Account Director jobs
Winning new clients is a high-energy job, with a high potential for blind alleys and expended time between successful campaigns. That’s why it’s highly cost effective to devote quality time and resources to retaining existing clients. For that, skilled account directors are required.
In larger logistics companies, account directors will have a team of account managers underneath them, and they will deal directly with clients on a one-to-one basis; clients generally like to be dealing with the same person, who will know their needs and issues. Account directors will oversee the whole customer retention operation, and will be responsible for strategic decisions to this end, but not necessarily the micromanagement of order fulfilment. The account director may also have responsibility for organising and instructing a sales team in order to win new clients, as well as seeking out new openings with existing clients and their partners.
Reporting to the company management, he or she will be expected to explain decisions and actions and provide regular reports. Any problems that cannot be addressed by the account managers will become the account director’s responsibility, followed ultimately by the management’s.
Maintaining morale will be an important role, both in the clients and in your own team. Whether this means treading on egg shells or throwing a party will depend on the relationship!
The skills required
Interpersonal skills, particularly diplomacy, will be a key skill of the account director. Since different clients will have different needs and desires, from methods of payment to hours of work to corporate personality, you will need to have an instinct for switching demeanour at the sound of a ringing phone.
Sales and marketing experience will be extremely useful, as selling one’s company’s benefits does not end with the winning of a client; they will probably be constantly seeking out other deals to reduce their overheads, and you will need to be able to convince them that your company is the best option for them. You’ll need the confidence to be able to make important decisions without constant recourse to senior management.
Account Director Jobs in Hove
Hove is a south coast town that adjoins Brighton completely along its east side, and the two are collectively part of the city of Brighton and Hove. Although Hove proper has a population of 90,000, the local authority of Brighton and Hove is home to over a quarter of a million people, making it a sizeable concentration of people. Brighton is well known as being a holiday resort, whereas Hove, despite its coastline which is almost identical to its neighbour, is considered more of a residential area. Indeed, people from Hove (often light-heartedly) point out that they are from this more upmarket part of the area rather than Brighton, even if they are actually from Brighton! In recent years, with Brighton gaining a much more fashionable and bohemian image, perhaps the pendulum will swing the other way, particularly when people are selling their homes …
The town is a reasonably affluent and attractive place to live, and has an economically active populace attracted by pleasant surroundings and good shopping and entertainment areas. The UK’s largest distributor of snack foods, Palmer and Harvey (P&H) has its headquarters in Hove, as does the Mace convenience store chain.
The large population of economically active people in Hove and its surrounding area means that Account Director jobs turn up from time to time here. The town and its mother city are busy all the year round; thanks to its vibrant entertainment and residential scene, Hove and Brighton do not become ghost towns out of season like some other resorts.
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