Q1: As a Senior Executive Account Manager, what does a typical day look like for you and how does it differ from earlier stages in your career?
As a more seasoned rep here at Connection, a typical day involves studying to keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening across the industry and bringing that insight to my valued clients. This involves reading about important events in the IT world, studying industry trends, and collaborating with strategic partners and vendors to hear new ways that they are helping customers accomplish goals and solve problems in their business. IT moves at an extremely fast pace, so this is a vital part of making sure my team can provide the best services possible to our customers.
However, knowledge alone doesn’t bring a lot of value. The best leaders in my role know how to take gained insights and translate that into meeting real-world business objectives. This is where my team and I are laser focused. Every time we meet with clients, we want to make sure we are bringing valuable insight that makes a difference in their world, assists them in accomplishing their goals, and helps them to sleep better at night.
Early in my career at Connection there was a heavy focus on building my network and gaining depth of understanding of the business world. I had background in providing technology solutions in a consumer environment, but less about how it applied in the business world. Our training, management, and later, a key mentorship program did a phenomenal job in teaching me how to accomplish both. In terms of how the role has changed with time and growth, it has evolved from building the network towards a heavier focus on fostering relationships that already exist, and selecting the team members that are the best fit to meet my clients’ business objectives. It has also shifted from learning about business in general, towards zeroing in on industry-specific areas—each of which have their own unique needs and compliance requirements that impact their go-to-market strategies.
Q2: How do you prioritize your tasks and manage your time effectively, especially when dealing with multiple clients and projects simultaneously?
When it comes to time management, I think the most important thing is having a plan going into your day. I always take careful notes in all meetings that I lead and attend. This allows me to set priorities and carve out an agenda for each day. However, considering the pace of the industry, it’s always important to leave room for emergency situations that arise and be able to pivot when needed.
A philosophy that is important to me is striving towards frictionless business for our clients. Priority one going into every day is customer responsiveness. I hear from a lot of folks that I work with that some partners are not responsive. Because of that—and because I sincerely care about the people I work with—it’s extremely important to me that my customers know that I am always going to respond quickly and accurately. Even if I don’t know the answer immediately, they are going to know that I am working on it right away. Why? Because that’s just good partnership!
Q3: How do you collaborate with other team members or departments to achieve your account management goals?
One of the most critical things I’ve learned at Connection is that teams are what build success. Nobody is an expert in everything, so collaboration is vitally important. My team and I always want to bring the right resources, with the right knowledge, to every meeting. I find that that is usually more than one person. Success comes from bringing the right people together to accomplish a mission, whether that is a customer goal or business objective.
I mentioned earlier that over the years my role has shifted into more relationship building. This includes daily conversations and meetings with colleagues and partners to learn more—and particularly to gain an understanding of what people are learning and who has expertise in what areas. I have expertise in areas my teammates and partners don’t. They have expertise in areas I don’t. If we work together, we can accomplish more. I am all about helping people out as much as I possibly can—and with that comes a level of reciprocity. When I help people, they want to help me, and we all help our clients achieve more.
Q4: How do you stay updated on industry trends and changes that may impact your sales approach?
I think reading a variety of publications is an important component of learning about industry trends. However, I would add that reading critically is also important. I am not a headline sifter. If an article or paper catches my attention, I like to dig into its content, try to view it from different angles and perspectives, and even push back against it in my mind a bit. I feel like this allows me to develop a better and more informed opinion about a topic.
This is when collaboration comes into play. I enjoy discussing my industry-trend ideas with colleagues, partners, and clients. I think this sort of discussion strengthens good opinions and filters out bad ones.
Q5: With 20 years of experience, what advice would you give to someone starting in the field of account management today?
I think the two most important things to apply to your role as a new account manager are:
- Understand what your customers’ business objectives are. Tech talk is cool. Flashy features are fun to talk about, but specs mean nothing unless they drive business outcomes.
- Relationships are everything. Strong customer relationships are critical. That is the goal! Strong colleague and partner relationships are what fuel strong customer relationships. They are interconnected, sort of like all the new and innovative tech that we all love discussing!
Timothy Parsons
Tim Parsons is a Sr. Executive Account Manager at Connection with over 20 years of sales and client service experience. He is keenly interested in learning about and providing solutions that drive business transformation and outcomes. In his free time, he enjoys playing music, exploring new places with his wife and two children, and enjoying an occasional strategic board game with friends.
