Planning
Many people would say in order to have a good plan; you need to write out all vibrant details. A good plan needs lots of details, they said. But in real life, where nothing is certain and is filled with sudden surprises, a good plan should prioritize its flexibility and simplicity.
Start with the main goals of the week, then expand on the actual required actions to achieve those desired goals. Always remember to add in extra 2 hours of standby in between early morning and noon to have space for the urgent work. In those days when those free 2 hours were not needed, use it to review the past works or a quick investment time to catch up with the progress of the fast-pace tech world.
Lastly, being neat always help in many cases. It helps one to maintain the transparency in the work and can ensure that they will not miss out on anything.
Penetration
How can we acquire more clients? How can we connect to our clients?
Communication is an art. Every kind of art requires skills and sensitivity to master. In order to connect to the clients, one needs to knows about the clients' feelings. This takes careful sensitivity and awareness.
And then one will learn that communication requires both parties to participate. Sometimes you can keep sending the signals and messages and will not receive a concrete answer. In those cases, how can you really connect with them? Simple. Find the right contact point. Sometimes communication has to start indirectly. In cases, you have to go through the engineers, whom always have to talk to someone on the client's side. Working from an indirect source and go all the way to where you want to be.
For the projects that really cannot have an established line of communication, one will need to consider stop having a one-direction relationship. It is not healthy and respectable. No one will ever need to maintain such relationship that is unhealthy and unequal.
How can we acquire more clients? Once we can secure to have a good interaction with 1 client, then we will have more good relationships with other clients. Then we really do not need to do much, truly. Because a flower will bloom on its own when it is ready, and its scent will naturally attract many attentions, naturally. In a world when everything is good, then one should not have such worries. What makes us fall into the negativity is our fear of the unknown.
Truly, why would one should feel scare of the uncertainty?
Retention
Good service quality, fast response, keep an up-close-and-personal communication line had supported Dwarves Foundation to ensure the satisfaction of its clients. Of course, in order to acquire this achievement, the Account Manager will need to have a sharp "people" sense to understand the thinking and working style of its clients, and to know when we need to take a few step back, to move much further forward.
Management
Know your team members and know the company goals very well.
Know when to make a tough decision.
Know when your team members need to step up in the game.
Know how to identify when the client is being unreasonable.
Know how to let go of the ego, and embrace the present.
Building relationships
One way to impress a client is firstly yielding to their paths first. Once they see that you are (kind of) on their sides, they will have more trust in you. Then they will become more open with you.
And then the rest is basically in your hands to control.
In order to build a good relationship, one must remember to control the ego. In this case, let our clients to be consumed by their own egos and feelings. Restraint from jumping into the swirling mess. Be calm.
Once they have fully absorbed all of their angers, you just need to step in with a simple statement "I understand your feelings. Let me help you solve this issue. I am capable of handling this issue."
After all, in order to become a good Account Manager, one of the most important aspects is knowing how to balance between the toughness and softness. Softness will help you to build a longer-lasting relationships with clients, with the engineers. Toughness will help you to draw the borderlines for the clients, to let them know where they should not cross and what they should have done. At the same time, that toughness will also be the wake-up call for others to sharpen up themselves. Everybody will need a push from somebody to move on forward.
