Although most account representative jobs are concerned with sales as well as building a relationship with customers, these positions can differ at least somewhat in their particular focus. For instance, one account representative job may be involved primarily with bringing in new customer accounts, while another one could consist of creating workable strategies for retaining current clients. Still another type of account representative job is one that has the main task of responding to requests for proposals (RFPs). The two main categories for account representative jobs are business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B), but these may also be further divided into inside and outside positions.
Outside account representatives typically travel by car to meet clients at their businesses or homes. Their main goal is usually to bring back an order, but outside sales representatives also must build a relationship with customers so they keep dealing with him or her and the company he or she represents. The account representative can't merely try to push items onto a buyer, but rather must be able to understand what the business needs and what the buyer's preferences are. Inside account representative jobs may also serve commercial clients, but they often deal with private customers as well, such as by offering both retail and wholesale prices on products.
B2B account representative positions work with commercial clients to sell products that they need to run their business. B2C jobs as an account representative require dealing with individual customers buying goods or services for their homes. Both account representative jobs may be inside or outside in a company as they could have both types of positions available. Many types of account representative jobs have a base salary plus a commission on sales made over the set quota or monthly goal.
Account representative jobs often differ in how responsible the employee is for tracking his or her sales as well as in developing strategies. Some of these positions involve the representative planning how to meet each customer's needs, while in others the exact method and strategies are already decided on by management. An account manager or representative position may include the employee using sales forecasting software and other computer programs to organize customer information. For an entry-level account representative job, training in all aspects of the position is usually provided.
An account representative position that is focused on responding to project bids or RFPs, often involves using templates, or patterned forms, that the employee fills in. In other companies, marketing or other executives handle the RFPs rather than the account representatives. Account representative jobs can be found in all industries as well as in both large and small companies.
