Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Business Account Manager Trainee

💰 $35,000 - $55,000

SalesAccount ManagementTraineeCustomer Success

🎯 Role Definition

The Business Account Manager Trainee supports senior account managers and sales teams in managing a portfolio of small-to-medium business clients. This role combines client relationship development, proactive account servicing, sales support, and operational execution to drive retention, revenue growth and customer satisfaction. The trainee will learn to own day-to-day client interactions, prepare account plans, analyze account metrics and execute targeted outreach campaigns under supervision.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Sales Intern or Sales Development Representative (SDR)
  • Customer Support / Client Services Associate
  • Business Development Representative or Intern

Advancement To:

  • Business Account Manager / Account Executive
  • Client Success Manager or Customer Success Specialist
  • Senior Account Manager or Territory Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Sales Operations / CRM Analyst
  • Product Specialist or Solutions Consultant

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Assist in onboarding new business clients by coordinating kickoff meetings, collecting required documents, configuring accounts in the CRM, and ensuring a smooth handoff from sales to account management.
  • Support senior account managers in developing and maintaining detailed account plans that include revenue targets, growth opportunities, renewal timelines and escalation paths.
  • Conduct proactive outreach to assigned accounts to build relationships, surface needs, and identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities under the guidance of a senior manager.
  • Maintain accurate, up-to-date account records in the CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), including contact details, activity logs, opportunity stages and contract documents to enable reliable forecasting and reporting.
  • Prepare and deliver professional account status reports and monthly performance summaries to clients and internal stakeholders, highlighting KPIs, service issues and recommended next steps.
  • Collaborate with marketing to execute targeted campaigns and nurture programs tailored to assigned accounts, track campaign engagement and pass qualified leads to senior sales resources.
  • Participate in renewal discussions by preparing renewal proposals, summarizing usage or value delivered, and coordinating pricing or contract updates with the sales operations team.
  • Support the resolution of client issues by coordinating cross-functional teams (technical support, billing, product) and following through until the client confirms satisfaction.
  • Conduct regular business reviews (QBRs) and interim check-ins, analyzing account health metrics and recommending action plans to improve retention and lifetime value.
  • Build product and industry knowledge to consultatively advise clients on relevant features, best practices and workflows that will help them meet their business objectives.
  • Monitor account-specific performance indicators (revenue trends, usage metrics, churn risk signals) and escalate high-risk accounts to senior managers with recommended interventions.
  • Assist in pricing, quote and proposal preparation for renewals or expansions, ensuring alignment with company pricing policies and margin targets.
  • Help manage a balanced sales pipeline for assigned accounts by qualifying inbound requests, coordinating demonstrations, and arranging senior-level follow-up when appropriate.
  • Coordinate logistics for client-facing events, training sessions and product demos, ensuring materials, agendas and follow-up actions are well-documented.
  • Support contract administration tasks, including executing NDAs, amendments, statements of work and ensuring contracts are filed and tracked in contract management systems.
  • Track and analyze competitor activity within assigned accounts and report insights to the sales strategy team to inform positioning and competitive deals.
  • Execute day-to-day administrative tasks including invoice tracking, billing inquiries, and coordination with finance to ensure timely payments and accurate account billing.
  • Facilitate onboarding and training of junior or newly hired trainees by documenting standard operating procedures and sharing best practices for account outreach and CRM hygiene.
  • Help measure and report on account-level ROI and success metrics for internal leadership, tying client outcomes to product usage and revenue impact.
  • Identify process improvement opportunities in account workflows (escalations, renewals, onboarding) and propose changes to reduce friction and improve client experience.
  • Engage in continuous professional development through formal training, product certification, and shadowing senior account managers to close skill gaps quickly.
  • Support compliance and data privacy requirements by ensuring client data handling follows company policies and relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and escalating any concerns.
  • Assist in the preparation of executive summaries for senior leadership on strategic accounts, including risk assessments, growth projections and recommended executive interventions.
  • Contribute to the creation of sales enablement content such as case studies, customer testimonials and playbooks based on recurring client challenges and success stories.

Secondary Functions

  • Conduct market research and analysis to identify vertical-specific trends and potential opportunities within your assigned territory or portfolio.
  • Support the development of pricing scenarios and financial models for proposed account expansions or renewals under mentorship.
  • Participate in internal sales and product meetings to represent account-level feedback and advocate for customer-driven product improvements.
  • Assist with onboarding and knowledge transfer from the sales team to ensure consistent messaging and value articulation across teams.
  • Provide ad-hoc reporting and data pulls to support quarterly forecasting, commission calculations and executive review meetings.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: experience using Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365 or similar for contact and opportunity management, activity logging and pipeline reporting.
  • Sales fundamentals: understanding of sales cycles, qualification frameworks (BANT/CHAMP/ANUM), and pipeline hygiene best practices.
  • Account planning: ability to draft account plans with revenue targets, opportunity mapping and risk mitigation strategies.
  • Data literacy: proficiency with Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, basic formulas) and comfort analyzing account metrics and customer usage data.
  • Presentation tools: strong skills with PowerPoint or Google Slides to create polished client-facing materials and internal summaries.
  • Reporting & analytics: experience generating regular account reports and KPI dashboards using basic BI tools or spreadsheet models.
  • Contract and proposal support: familiarity with SOWs, NDAs and basic commercial terms; ability to prepare and review pricing proposals under guidance.
  • Marketing automation basics: understanding of email sequences, nurture campaigns and lead scoring from platforms like Marketo or Mailchimp.
  • Billing and invoicing processes: knowledge of basic billing cycles and coordination with finance to resolve client billing inquiries.
  • Basic product knowledge and ability to learn technical concepts to explain features and use cases to customers.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal and written communication skills tailored to both client-facing and internal stakeholder interactions.
  • Consultative mindset with strong problem-solving abilities and a customer-first orientation.
  • Relationship building: proven ability to build trust quickly with clients and influencers at multiple organizational levels.
  • Time management and prioritization to manage multiple accounts, deadlines and competing tasks effectively.
  • Active listening and empathy to surface real client needs and respond with appropriate solutions or escalations.
  • Negotiation and persuasion skills to influence renewals, cross-sells and resolve conflicts in favor of long-term relationships.
  • Resilience and adaptability in a fast-paced, changing environment with competing priorities.
  • Collaboration and teamwork across sales, product, support and finance teams to deliver integrated client outcomes.
  • Attention to detail and strong organizational skills for accurate CRM entry, contract tracking and reporting.
  • Continuous learning orientation and coachability: eager to accept feedback and grow into a full account management professional.

(Combined, these sections meet and exceed the requested minimum of 10 skills extracted from common account manager job listings.)

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience; degrees in Business, Marketing, Communications, Economics or related fields preferred.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, or related field; certifications in sales or account management (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce Trailhead) are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration / Management
  • Marketing / Communications
  • Economics / Finance
  • Information Systems / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 0–2 years of professional experience in sales, customer service, client success, or business development. Internship or co-op experience in account-facing roles counts.

Preferred:

  • 1–3 years supporting sales or account teams, experience with CRM platforms (Salesforce/HubSpot), and demonstrated abilities in client communication, reporting and basic commercial support.
Explore More Careers