Account Management at Microsoft

Responsibilities

Customer Engagement

• Proactively cultivates relationships with customers and uses Microsoft sales strategies with executive and business and technical decision makers at high levels of the customer's organization to establish alignment and secure buy-in and execution. Connects the customer to Microsoft executives. Leverages strong customer engagement strategies to build long-term relationships with customers and drive budget allocation decisions. Partners with them to foster trust and brand growth and loyalty through multiple levels (e.g., managers, executives) of the customer's organization in the assigned accounts. Assists partners in joint-selling by establishing joint desire to create new go-to markets by starting to build relationships in new markets (e.g., Vice President).
• Proactively develops a comprehensive understanding of customer's business needs and strategies for each assigned account, of their priorities, and of the industry direction. Anticipates customers needs to deliver new insights on customers business strategies and educate customers on ways to jointly address these needs. Identifies and pursues opportunities to offer highly-customizable digitalization solutions. Leverages internal influence to advocate on behalf of the customer internally (e.g., driving changes to roadmap, engaging with product groups), working to prioritize customers' requests and meeting their business needs. Creates trust to influence for impact and acts as a trusted advisor to help the customer transform its business model.
• Leads digital transformation for assigned accounts to drive business outcomes and create business value for customers. Disrupts the mindset of customers by bringing innovative ideas that showcase the need for change and new strategic direction. Is sought out by the customer for guidance related to transformation.
• Proactively involves corporate resources and engages cross-industry resources to drive customer transformation. Ensures line-of-business wins are captured (e.g., customer write ups) as reference for scale.

Account Management

• Develops and oversees the execution of account plans for multiple accounts and works to ensure engagements yield high volume sales for both Microsoft and the customer that are on track with goals, budgets, and forecasts. Leads multiple, diverse and high-performing teams and coordinates with internal industry experts on account planning and execution for various accounts. Coordinates with industry experts to identify new business opportunities and drive account growth. Leads extended team and embraces partners to scale business by understanding partner goals and creating an interested in mutual business growth. Ensures sales consumption and adoption goals on target. Leverages strong sales acumen to set action items and approach to drive big bets and drive new business opportunities based on customer strategy and priorities.
• Thinks strategically about account planning for assigned accounts, setting standards and priorities, outlining where to and how to invest resources of the account management team and other stakeholders, engaging internal and external decision makers on long-term business planning, and anticipating needs of assigned accounts to turn enterprise accounts into strategic accounts. Influences to scale strategic plans and involves senior leadership team.
• Oversees a complex/multiple account(s) and leads planning and prioritization efforts to anticipate and ensure appropriate responses to account needs. Develops strategies to manage pipeline and meet sales goals by reviewing forecasts, assessing and mitigating risks, and ensuring strategy alignment with business priorities. Leads virtual teams to properly re-adjust priorities, all while maintaining a high level of commitment and accountability. Prioritizes line of business projects to achieve business outcomes. Reduces complexity for the customer and for internal teams by prioritizing the most strategic partners to deliver outcomes.
• Expands network of key internal (e.g., Microsoft Consulting Services [MCSs]) and external partners and other business decision makers in customers' accounts to grow sales and partner impact and to provide a seamless account management experience to the customers, ensuring proper execution of core tasks and account transactions. Engages with key internal partners to promote long-term, mutually-beneficial digital transformation strategies. Expands network of influence on the board to expand reach and influence decision making. Drives joint solutions with partners.

Sales Excellence

• Actively seeks customer feedback (both formal and informal) of assigned accounts regarding ways to identify and understand the drivers of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction. Helps in the creation of long-term strategies aimed at maintaining levels of customer satisfaction. Orchestrates others (e.g., Technical Account Managers [TAMs]) to anticipate issues/risks on customer satisfaction, determine the root cause of problems, remove blockers, and establish recovery action plan to improve customer's overall experience. Leverages key executive relationships to build trust with the customer organization. Proactively establishes agreement on success measures and manages execution on success measures to prevent need for recovery plans.
• Positions oneself as a thought leader and trusted advisor to executive-level business decision makers of multiple assigned accounts. Leverages best-in-class sales and communication techniques to lead extended virtual teams and key stakeholders with deep industry expertise (e.g., industry solutions executives) to build stronger relationships with decision makers of assigned accounts.
• Engages decision makers of assigned accounts to clearly articulate Microsoft's value proposition aligned to customer's business objectives. Translates features into business impact and outcomes that accelerate the customer's digital presence. Develops plans to offer more targeted solutions that satisfy customers' key performance indicators (KPIs) and align the right partner solution for customer industry needs.
• Develops compelling, value-proposition presentations (e.g., with the use of business cases) and specialized business plans for customers that drive business outcomes. Demonstrates thought leadership and presents business plans to customers to generate new opportunities. Guides others on how to tailor industry-specific presentations.
• Develops and implements plans for maximizing upselling/cross-selling opportunities in certain accounts. Drives plans to highlight Microsoft's and partners' solutions to solving additional business and technology issues and aims to expand budget allocated to Microsoft. Leverages virtual teams to identify and act on new opportunities.

Industry Knowledge

• Leverages a strong knowledge of Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy to address customer's needs. Proactively coordinates with internal and external network of industry experts (e.g., industry solutions executives, industry specific partners) to build strong knowledge of the industry and the competitive landscape. Leverages deep understanding of their customer to shares knowledge with virtual team and promote customer business perspectives.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years experience working in an industry (e.g., Government, Education), driving digital transformation, or other relevant work experience (e.g., consulting, technology)
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Business, Technology, or related field AND 5+ years of experience working in a relevant industry (e.g., Government, Education), driving digital transformation, or other relevant work experience (e.g., consulting, technology)
• OR Master's Degree in Business Administration Degree AND 4+ years experience working in an industry (e.g., Government, Education), driving digital transformation, or relevant work experience (e.g., consulting, technology).

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Technology, or related field AND 8+ years of experience working in an industry (e.g., Government, Education), driving digital transformation, or other relevant work experience (e.g., consulting, technology)
• OR Master's Degree in Business Administration Degree AND 6+ years experience working in an industry (e.g., Government, Education), driving digital transformation, or other relevant work experience (e.g., consulting, technology).
• 5+ years account management experience OR equivalent.