When assessing a person’s suitability for an Account Management position within your company, it is useful to define personality traits that would be advantageous in such a role with the use of DISC assessments.
According to DISC assessment, the best suited personality traits of an Account Manager would have:
D. Low Dominance - taking time to analyse and make decisions
I. High Influence - someone who is sociable and people-oriented
S. Low Stability - enjoying the thrill of adventure
C. High Compliance - focused on completing goals and solving problems.
Although DISC assessment does not define an exact personality type that best suits the role of Account Managers, it is a helpful tool in identifying the traits that an individual possesses that would enable them to succeed in an Account Management environment.
Traits Of Excellence In Account Management
An inquisitive nature is essential for anyone working in a customer- or client-facing role. An excellent Account Manager is naturally curious, always asking questions to build a comprehensive understanding of their clients needs and their organisational model. Understanding who pulls the strings and how to achieve tasks within a client’s workspace also makes the sales part of their job much easier by having a complete understanding of what the customer wants and presenting a plan to achieve their goals.
Engagement with a client’s organisation on all levels enables Account Managers to incorporate the goals and perspectives of every stakeholder. Have a plan and stick to it, making adjustments as necessary based on feedback and client inputs. This allows for improved communication through frequent updates to the client, understanding how their needs are being met and what areas can be improved. Encouraging communication and relationships across all levels of the client agencies and sharing insights with colleagues who may also have dealings with the same clients is important to staying relevant and gaining respect.
Account Management begins with relationships and relationships are built on trust. Building trust is an integral part of being a successful Account Manager. Ensuring both the clients and the fulfillment team are working from the same page, maintaining consistency, and delivering the product or service within or exceeding the expectations of the client builds the trust that underlies every successful Account Management relationship.
An excellent Account Manager will be an expert in their field. They need to have a detailed understanding of the product or service they’re selling, the market they are selling it into, and the vulnerabilities and strengths of their competitors. Additionally, an Account Manager should embody the core values of the industry and be able to articulate how the values of the supplier and client coincide.
Overview Of Management Character Traits
A manager should have the ability and willingness to continuously learn and grow in their trade, while sharing their knowledge with their team along the way. Good communication skills are imperative to being a good manager. They are the representative for your team across the organisation and need to be able to filter down information and know when and how to delegate tasks effectively for efficient team productivity. A manager also needs to be able to tap into empathy and strategic problem solving to mediate conflicts and issues among team members.
Ultimately, a manager’s role is to empower their team and collaborate with other departments to reach the goals of the organisation effectively and efficiently.
Best DISC Profile For An Account Manager
Ideally, a DISC assessment would be a single tool to identify all the characteristics of an individual that would allow them to succeed as an Account Manager. While DISC does not measure skillset, attitude, knowledge, values, or experience, it does focus on behaviours. By being more aware of our behaviours, we can fine tune them to be more successful. Therefore, it would be disingenuous to say there is a single specific DISC profile that is best suited for an Account Manager since every individual will have strengths and development areas.
With that in mind, we can look at some of the behavioural attributes that an ideal candidate may incorporate: A Low Dominance style, meaning they would prefer to take time to analyse and consider options when making decisions. They ideally have High Influence, being a people pleaser with good social skills to encourage and build good customer relations. Being an Account Manager may mean travel is involved and the role is not always repetitive, so Low Stability where the individual enjoys adventure would be ideal for this role. Lastly, being Highly Cautious is a good attribute for Account Managers. This means they like to follow rules and procedures and focus on completing goals and solving problems. DISC Assessments are an effective method to evaluate new candidates during the recruitment process.
What Makes A Successful Account Manager?
The success of an Account Manager can be measured in a number of ways. How well your team operates, how well you communicate between your team, your clients and the rest of the organisation, as well as the goals you achieve, and the outputs you accomplish are all options for evaluating an Account Manager. The key is to be aware of your behavioural strengths and weaknesses. Know when to harness them and when you may need to adjust them for a specific situation, like when confronted with a different type of DISC personality on your team, can make the difference between a successful Account Manager and an average one.
Related Questions
How to be a good Account Manager?
Being communicative, flexible, reliant and trustworthy are all desirable traits of a good Account Manager. Additionally, determining the DISC personalities of your colleagues and your clients will enable you to adjust your own behaviours towards their preferences, guiding you to be able to motivate and provide feedback while building and maintaining productive relationships.
What personality type is least suited to Account Management?
Someone who is primarily geared towards tasks or is fact-oriented, as opposed to people-oriented, might struggle to adjust their behaviour to be a good Account Manager. In the same way, someone who prefers to make snap decisions and lacks an inquisitive mind might also find it difficult to adjust and problem solve when working with clients.
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