Chances are if you are an account manager, much of the following information won't come as a surprise to you. If you're an old hat - you know these tricks for making the most of the account manager role in staffing enterprises.
But if you're new, or if you're getting out of the mortgage industry and are thinking of taking another crack at recruiting because it's hot, keep these tips in mind for when you land that sweet, sweet sales job.
1) 9:00 a.m. Meetings Give You The Chance To Sleep In.
Yes, that sounds contradictory, but if you're working for a company that likes you at your desk at 7:30, your best bet for some extra bed rest is scheduling a 9:00 meeting near your house. If you have a far enough commute, it makes no sense to drive in to work just to turn around and drive out to the client.
2) Enjoy the Countryside.
Sometimes it's your job to travel long distances to visit clients. If
you can manage it, it's very nice to take the day off and drive off,
say to Winston-Salem, or maybe all the way up to Roanoke to place a
developer. If you can get a good deal with a good margin, who is going
to complain? Take your girlfriend and head off for the day, stopping
to meet the client, of course.
3) Bring back sweets to the office.
When ordering 5 dozen donuts for the local IT guys, don't forget to
pick up a few muffins extra for your office. It makes your recruiters
feel good, and you get to be a hero on the company dime.
4) Take candidates out for coffee when you need a pick-me up.
Sitting at your desk tired and pounding away at the phones? Stand up,
head out into the lobby, and grab a candidate leaving an interview with
your recruiters. Offer to buy them a coffee. Don't forget the extra
shot of expresso and a pack of gum.
5) Subsidize Your Social Life
If you're going to be a salesman, you better learn how to make friends
with your customers. If you're young, this is a problem, because your
friends have no control over budgets. If, however, your friends are
directors and VP's, then you owe it to yourself to take them and their
wives out to dinner.
This always made me uncomfortable until I was told in no uncertain terms that my performance was judged partly by my expense reports. And don't scrimp on those meals. Your health is important, so go to nice restaurants and order the fish. If you're in Seattle or LA or San Francisco, sushi once a week is the way to go.
6) You Drive Way More Than You Think.
Always, always schedule ways to start the day and end the day with a
client. The best thing to do is to work in a mixed use building with
the client downstairs. The next best is to cultivate clients in
between you and work. Stopping by once or twice a week, even if it's
to stand in the lobby and read the paper while managers walk by is a
good use of time, and it allows you to take the mileage of your commute
and add it to your report. It's also legal if you do it that way, and
besides, the managers will think you have a meeting with someone else.
If you are weighing a couple of job offers, and one of them has a Runzheimer package for your car, make sure you take it. This will add a couple of hundred dollars to your compensation a month, tax-free. Runzheimer says they offer an accurate and fair package, and if it's true, than the rest of the companies are really ripping you off for use of your car. Short of a company car, the Runzheimer package is the absolute best. They pay you a set fee ($300-500 a month), plus mileage. Unless you're a truck driver, this is the way to go.
7) Be a Big Hit With The Servers
Visit your favorite restaurant with clients and tip the serving staff a
healthy 25-30%. This ensures you great service and extras when you
come into the restaurant later in the week with your wife. Make her
sign the bill so you don't look like a cheapskate wh only tips on the
company card.
8) Make Money Off Your Golf Buddies
Playing a new course this weekend with some golfing buddies? Sign up
for a tee time with a manager for the week before so you know the
course. This gives you a great advantage in the per hole betting, as
you avoid all the tricky shots. For bonus points, hide your golf balls
on the course at strategic places in case you need them later. You can
always claim your ball hit a tree and bounced back instead of having to
go thirty feet into the trees.
9) Double Up Your Money
Let's face it - recruiters come and go. If you're smart, you'll learn
to meet every good candidate of the newbie recruiters. If the
recruiter doesn't make it - you can step in and manage the
relationship, getting double credit. If they stick around, well, you
get the credit for training them. Maybe even an override?
10) Practice Your Higher-Level Math
That's not a typo. You know your commission structure. When the
company decides to pay you a certain way, it's your responsibility to
maximize the commission fee. Sure, that may mean taking 10% direct
commission for a perm fee when a contract to hire makes twice as much
as the company, but if you make 20% of direct deals and 5% off
contract, well, that's accounting's fault for setting it up that way.
You're looking out for number 1, or else you would have been a social
worker.
So there you go. 10 rules every account manager needs if they are going to be successful in the art of staffing.
Comments