Account Manager at Vodafone Group Enterprise (VGE)

Ref No: 0602/BDG/AM/NIG
Locations: Lagos & Abuja
Job Type : Full-time
Employment Type : Permanent

Purpose

• The Account manager focuses at growing business both from new customers and existing customer accounts, successfully manage client base whilst selling additional products and services, minimise churn and maximise revenues with revenue growth being a key performance indicator, obtain market intelligence to increase future win opportunity and adhere to sales processes including the use of approved applications (SAGE, and Share point).

Responsibilities

• The Account Manager will be responsible for managing their allocated accounts on a day to day basis in their entirety to the extent that they:
• Are the single point of contact for both the customer and Vodacom’s internal third parties who may need to communicate and deliver solutions to the customer
• Responsible for building customer relationship
• Plan and develop relationships with allocated customers to identify opportunities and strategies to win new or further business from these customers.
• Develop new and existing relationships, at all levels, with contacts from the allocated account list.
• Within allocated account base, effectively balance focus and time between suspects and prospects for continued development into winnable opportunities.
• The Account Manager will take responsibility for ensuring that all opportunities are qualified to the point where it becomes appropriate to introduce Vodacom subject matter experts to the opportunity, which has been assessed for having a high probability of succeeding.
• Lead planning and development of customer sales strategies to develop accounts in very close cooperation with the Line Manager where applicable.
• Develop relevant High Level Value Propositions.
• Identify winning strategies including working proposals, to win locally.
• Analyses statistical data related to clients business and industry to identify market trends for  Vodacom products and services.
• Understand customer preferences, pricing, product, terms and conditions to ensure that their requirements are met; gather and analyse data regarding competitor pricing and products and ensure that Vodacom products and services fit customer requirements.
• The Account Manager is required to work with subject matter experts such as Solution Architects, ensuring that architectural roadmaps are developed.
• Provide timely and accurate forecasting.
• Take active participation in solution sales teams, working with appropriate colleagues to win complex new business.
• Complete and execute Account Plans for nominated accounts within the Sector to help deliver plans to develop High Value customer relationships to maximise profitability.
• Be responsible for modelling commercial propositions tailored to suit customers’ requirements whilst supporting the Vodacom commercial principles.
• Manage deals through commercial governance, demonstrating win strategy, and future revenue growth plan and account development opportunities.
• Work with Line Manager to Agree and recommend financial targets per account.
• Understand the competitive market and use knowledge to increase margin and total contract value.
• Look for opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell into accounts.
• To ensure that the A&R for these accounts is within the required target for Vodacom thus making the strategic segment P&L profitable.
• Evaluates performance, risks in nominated accounts and revises plans where appropriate.
• Build strong long term relationships using a high and wide approach to contact strategy.
• Key interface to customer, contributing to developing local contact strategy, providing strong one to one long term relationships with key decision makers. Prepare account briefings and guiding local interactions.
• Understand the customer’s decision making process, building a strategy that considers stakeholder alignment and the goals of the stakeholders.
• Secure, manage and deepen the Vodacom customer relationship with the focus being to build Vodacom’s credibility and explore ways to present solutions to meet customer needs.
• Develop a partnership approach to sales, customer fulfillment and post sales strategy for accounts covering all areas of the customers’ business.
• Maximises Vodacom’s internal network to get results for customers and to ensure effective problem resolution and problem management.
• Work with the customer’s fulfillment and delivery plan to ensure services are delivered right first time.
• Provide customer insight to help influence Vodacom decision makers to secure appropriate resource and delivery as required.
• Responsible for Ensuring the SAGE and Sales Database is always up-to-date.

Present new products and solutions set into account:

• Collaborates on the service relationship with Customers and Vodacom to agree service levels
• Deliver best practice for On-Boarding of new customers.
• Provide solutions for new products and services set to the nominated customer list.
• Work diligently with finance and customer support teams to ensure billing and customer service centres are supporting the nominated accounts.
• Engage and collaborate with the go-to-market team.

Develop outstanding behaviour with customers within Vodacom using customer insight data and feedback to improve services:

• Develop & implement Vodafone Way of selling roadmaps for all opportunities where applicable.
• Analyse local customer data and ensure best practice is used in order to build accurate commercial offers.
• Work with local team to deliver tender responses including commercial, contracts, special coverage, technical architects, and project and service management.
• Effectively manage numerous internal and external deadlines in order to respond to RFPs for deals.
• Introduce new innovations and concepts to key decision makers within the customer. Understand, through engagement at the right business, level the customer’s strategic and operational issues.
• Responsible for representing customer views and insight to help define product proposition roadmaps for customers.

Requirements/Experience

• A University Degree in B.Com/Business, Marketing, Computer Science, IT Degree or equivalent qualification.
• A minimum of 3 years relevant working experience  in account management is essential
• Experience in solution sales and relationship management or enterprise solution selling within a telecom company.
• A good understanding of converged and networking technologies and services.
• Proven successful account acquisition and development in a telecom environment- desirable
• Demonstrated success in networking and relationship management skills.
• Deep knowledge of mobile enterprise and fixed enterprise business in sales, business development, operations, technical sales

Knowledge :

• Solution Selling - Understands customers’ needs, selling business value (ROI)
• Competing to Win by having knowledge of the competition, building effective competitive strategy
• Products, Services and Technology know how: - Mobile and Fixed Voice, Data and Email (incl security), Unified Communications, mobilising Business Process and M2M etc
• Managing the Sales profile (pipeline)
• Initiating new business
• Opportunity management, Account Planning & Management
• Deep understanding of the customers’ business, its market and industry alongside key decision-makers and influencers in account organisation
• Account Plan which is shared within Vodacom and ideally with customer
• Set-up long-term relationship strategy including involvement of Vodacom C-levels; this includes C-level briefings and de-briefings
• For each relevant top tier opportunity a Winning Complex Sales (WCS)) opportunity roadmap
• Setup and maintain Share-of-Wallet report  together with customer contracts and expirations

Skills:

• Objection handling, negotiating and deal Closing
• Build relationships and maintain networks
• Analytical and usage of Microsoft applications

Attitude:

• Ability to effortlessly communicate anywhere and with anyone
• Healthy level of self confidence
• The right sales outlook
• High level of self-motivation and self-accountability