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An account manager plays a critical role in the success of a business. They are the ones who keep the customers happy and can maintain or grow relationships. A good account manager can plan on a healthy career, once they land a job. The trick is getting in the door of a great company.
One of the first hurdles you’ll face when trying to get that dream job is the job interview. There are few things as stressful as a job interview. But the good news is that you have a bit of an advantage.
If your goal is to be an account manager, then you’re already pretty comfortable talking to people. Going in for an interview isn’t that much different than meeting new clients or trying to sell a customer on your company.
With all of that going for you, all you need to do now is practice responding to interview questions. To help you out, we’ve researched and discovered the most common interview questions for account managers.
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We simply can’t give you the questions and answers because we don’t know the answers. Most of the questions you’ll face are open-ended. That means there is no real right or wrong answer; it’s more about how you answer the question and your comprehension of it.
Because that will be the case, we’ll give you an idea of what they might be looking for in your answer, but we’ll leave the answering up to you.
What do you think makes a successful account manager? Get ready to share your strengths in this answer. You think you have what it takes to be successful in this field, so it’s time to detail those qualities.
You’ll find that your soft skills are very important here, which is great. These skills are very important to most hiring managers and recruiters. Now you get to pull them out and let everyone see how qualified you are.
How do you keep track of your tasks? Account managers are masters of multitasking. They are constantly bouncing from one client to the next and often handling different accounts within the same customer’s business.
It’s stressful and demanding and if you don’t have a system for organization, then you stand the chance of failing. Interviewers know this, that’s why they want to hear what your system is.
What software have you used to do your job? Whew, there’s a lot of options for this answer.
There is software for keeping track of clients, for doing your orders, salesforce, Excel spreadsheets for just about everything, then there are new communication platforms that allow you to communicate virtually.
If you can remember all of the systems you’ve used, let them know. But also make sure to express that you are trainable and willing to learn new software.
Why and how did you come to discover this career path? Everyone’s story is going to be different, so there’s no wrong or right answer. This interview question is asked more out of curiosity than anything else.
If you can convey a level of excitement about the position, it will put you in a good light. Other than that, just give them your story.
Tell us about your last job. Your last job doesn’t have to be as an account manager, but you’ll want to highlight some of the qualifications that are needed to be an account manager.
Did you do sales, did you deal with clients, were you organized, do you get along with your coworkers, are you comfortable giving presentations? Doing a little preparation for this question can help you nail it.
Do you keep in touch with the people you worked with previously? If it feels like that last question was asked to tee you up for this one – then you’re very astute.
Of course, they want to know about your last job but what interests them is your ability to maintain relationships. After all, that’s the majority of an account manager’s job.
In your last job as an account manager, what products or services did you sell. If this question applies to you, then you know the answer. Don’t offer any judgment on the products or services, just let them know what they were.
Tell us about a time when you assumed a leadership role. Expect a few leadership questions during your interview. You won’t always be asked to be a leader, but people who have those skills and traits tend to be good account managers.
They’re just trying to gauge if the interviewee has the chops to go out there and get the job done.
Tell us about a time when you worked in a team. What was your role? How did you feel about the process? You will be working independently most of the time as an account manager. But you’ll still be part of a team.
There are different people on that team who have different functions. They need to communicate with each other and the client regularly and in an effective way. So it does require teamwork, it’s just not the way most people think of a team.
This is where being able to work independently and as a team leader can be a huge asset.
Tell us about your sales experience. Not all account managers have to go out and make the sale. Some are in charge of the relationship after the sale is made. That said, you can expect some sales questions in your interview because account managers typically have some experience in sales.
Have you ever done cold calls? If yes, how do you manage rejection? Cold calls are all about rejection and they can certainly get a bit discouraging, to say the least.
Handling objections is a lion’s share of the work that a salesperson has to do. If some of your duties as an account manager include sales, you’ll need to have a good technique for working around rejection and objections.
Have you ever found client feedback to be so useful that it led to a change in your products, procedures, etc.? If you can answer this question, you’re going to look great to the interviewer. They’re looking to see how you handled feedback.
If the feedback was useful, then talking to your superiors and making a change that benefitted your company is huge.
It shows your listening skills, your ability to spot a great idea, a willingness to go above and beyond to share that idea, and the follow-through that makes things happen.
What are your greatest strength and your greatest weakness? This tired, old question is probably the most common interview question of all time. It might also be the most dreaded.
A lot of companies are phasing this one out or choosing something that gets at the same answers but doesn’t sound too antiquated.
Here’s the trick - don’t turn a weakness around into a positive. If you’ve been told to do that, throw out that outdated idea. Interviewers are smarter than that, they know what you’re doing.
Instead, be honest. Let them know that time management (or whatever it is) is your weakness when it comes to this job but that you’re working on it and you know there is room for improvement.
Tell me about a time when you didn’t hit your goals. No one likes to admit they’re going to fail, but this job does come with some failure. Despite your best efforts, there are times when you won’t hit goals, make the sale, or hit deadlines. It happens.
What’s most important is how you react to that. And we’ll give you a hint: All failure needs to be seen as a learning opportunity.
Have you ever had a customer leave your company because of something you did? Tricky question. If this has happened to you, it probably left you feeling pretty bad about yourself and doubting your work skills.
That’s normal and, although it feels awful, you moved on. And then here it is again in a job interview.
Be prepared to answer this question honestly. Don’t try to shift blame or deny responsibility. Accept responsibility, because this is what they’re looking for – an accountable account manager.
But if there is a reason behind your actions, let them know that too; just don’t make it sound like sour grapes or blaming.
Who was your favorite client/account and why? There’s a reason you do this job. There’s something about it that makes you smile regularly. For many people, it’s some of their customers that keep them smiling and happy.
Do you have one that makes your day? Share the experience but also share why it means so much to you to have that client.
How do you build good client relationships? This interview question goes right to the heart of the matter. How do you do that magic that you do?
Maybe you have your technique, maybe your last employer had a technique, maybe you’ve got good ideas but haven’t used them yet. Be prepared to talk about this and to sound like you’re answering a question you know cold.
Why should we hire you? If you’re a good salesperson, a good communicator, and good with relationships, then you’re going to have to turn it all on now – and in a big way.
Sell them on your qualifications and accomplishments. Be that person that they want to develop and maintain a relationship with. Show off your skills while telling them about your potential.
What do you know about our company/product/service? Did you do your research? I sure hope you did because you’re going to look foolish if you didn’t.
Let’s face it, you might be in a position where you just want a job – any job. But that’s no excuse for not looking into the job you applied for. That shows a complete lack of professionalism and that is certainly not a hallmark of a successful account manager.
Do you have any questions you want to be answered? This is one of our favorite questions because we believe it’s one of the most important ones. The strange thing is, instead of asking questions, many interviewees simply want to end the interview and so they don’t ask them.
If the interviewer asks if you have any questions, make sure you take the opportunity to ask a few. This not only helps you understand the position better, but you’ll seem more engaged and more interested in the position.
Let’s say Jim and Jan went in for an interview and Jan had no questions so she left. But Jim had several questions and he and the interviewer engaged in a conversation for another 20 minutes.
Jim stands a better chance of making a good impression when it comes time to hire. He was interested, he got the interviewer to engage with him rather than ask rote questions, and he is in a better position to accept a job offer because he now knows more about it.