How To Become An Account And Product Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is an account and product manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Patrick Lindsay

Account and product managers oversee product and planning activities. Moreover, they are in charge of developing new business opportunities, overseeing important account relationships, resolving departmental issues, and establishing product strategies. As leaders, they are also responsible for managing, training, and motivating subordinate employees.

Examples of specific duties of an account and product manager include generating leads, creating progress reports, defining data capture needs, analyzing inventory adjustments, and helping the company expand its territory. They work closely with clients, cross-functional teams, and of course, the upper management.

To become an account and product manager, one must have a degree in business, marketing, accounting, or another similar field. Besides that, one must also have at least three or more years of industry experience as well as a proven history of success with managing accounts and products. The average salary for account and product managers is approximately $93,000 per year, plus the opportunity to earn performance-based incentives.

What's a day at work look like for an Account And Product Manager?

Patrick Lindsay

Assistant Lecturer, Miami University

Sales is a good job out of college. Regardless of the company, the industry, the marketplace or geography, being in the customer interface is not only the best and quickest way to learn about a business but also to learn about business. They are exposed to the impact from and on all stakeholders. They learn about what a value proposition really is and the importance of Trust. They observe and learn the importance of relationships. And they grasp the importance of why over what and how. Finally, sales experience and success is almost universally transferable. Once a grad has a year to three developing competencies, skills and confidence, they can pursue virtually any other product or service in almost any company. They can pursue a next job in sales but also other areas like marketing, customer service, human resources, training, recruiting, et cetera. Employers are not emphasizing industry knowledge or experience like they once did. And many companies, from small local the largest global companies in their industries, insist their new college hires begin in sales (aka account management, business development, client acquisition).

Now, with the proper training (could be a major/minor but doesn't have to be if the graduate has developed a particular skill set) there are many available jobs for graduates that are technology-related. These are "good job" from a compensation and stability perspective. And any position with a global tech firm is a golden ticket.

ScoreAccount And Product ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $89,942

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.5

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 35.03%

male 64.97%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.5

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an account and product manager

Explore account and product manager education requirements

Most common account and product manager degrees

Bachelor's

78.2 %

Master's

9.7 %

Associate

8.6 %

Start to develop specific account and product manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Line	13.36%
Product Management	9.82%
CRM	8.19%
Account Management	6.63%
OEM	3.82%

Complete relevant account and product manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New account and product managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an account and product manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real account and product manager resumes.

Research account and product manager duties and responsibilities

Manage and report on program ROI, expense to budget, and other key financial metrics.
Manage accounts while providing excellent customer service, help build financial relationships, redirecting calls in upselling credit per customer needs
Define data capture needs for back-end CRM and lead-generation activities.
Initiate and maintain relationships with target OEM accounts to create a pull-sales strategy.

Apply for account and product manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an account and product manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average account and product manager salary

The average Account And Product Manager salary in the United States is $89,942 per year or $43 per hour. Account and product manager salaries range between $61,000 and $132,000 per year.

Average Account And Product Manager Salary

$89,942 Yearly

$43.24 hourly

How do account and product managers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Account And Product Manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Pros

Solve tough problems, work on agile teams, outlet for creativity,

Cons

high expectations, constantly evolving technology, broad range of topics to learn (product management specifics, industry, technology, software development methods

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

Speaking g at trade shows and seminars. Contributing to the software products we sold. Technical writer for the owners manual.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Meeting with consumers, educating, coaching, discussing products

Cons

None, I really enjoy it

What is an account and product manager and how to become one

What's a day at work look like for an Account And Product Manager?

Account And Product Manager career paths

Key steps to become an account and product manager

Explore account and product manager education requirements

Most common account and product manager degrees

Start to develop specific account and product manager skills

Complete relevant account and product manager training and internships

Research account and product manager duties and responsibilities

Apply for account and product manager jobs

How Did You Land Your First Account And Product Manager Job

Average account and product manager salary

How do account and product managers rate their job?

Account And Product Manager reviews