How To Become A Distributed Account Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a distributed account manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Jerri Lynn Kyle

Distributed account managers boost a company's sales by acting as the link between vendors, distributors, and customers. They usually work in the manufacturing or technology industries and handle sales to business accounts as opposed to individual consumers.

Much of the distributed account manager's time is spent working on logistics to ensure that the sales process works smoothly through all the company's distribution channels. They also need excellent interpersonal skills in order to maintain good relationships with partners at every step of the distribution chain and to attract new customers. They generate sales reports for their particular territory to help their supervisors keep track of sales goals.

Most distributed account managers have a bachelor's degree in business or a related field. However, some are able to make it with only a high school diploma. Practical experience working in sales is more important than a formal degree.

Distributed account managers earn an average salary of $71,327 a year. Depending on the company, some can earn commissions.

What general advice would you give to a distributed account manager?

Jerri Lynn Kyle

Senior Instructor, Internship Coordinator, Missouri State University

1.Don't be discouraged! Jobs are out there but you might not get your dream job starting out. It's a journey, so try to make the most of every stop.
2.Start building your professional credibility, both with how you perform your job, and how you interact with your coworkers.
3.Finally, be confident, but at the same time be teachable and coachable. Your degree doesn't make you an expert. Sometimes you realize you don't even know what you don't know, and that's okay. You aren't going to know everything and that's why you need to be coachable.

ScoreDistributed Account ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,806

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 34.24%

male 65.76%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a distributed account manager

Explore distributed account manager education requirements

Most common distributed account manager degrees

Bachelor's

71.5 %

Associate

11.4 %

Master's

8.0 %

Start to develop specific distributed account manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Technical Training	9.12%
Increase Sales	7.71%
Channel Sales	7.48%
Sales Reports	6.82%
Contract Negotiations	5.76%

Complete relevant distributed account manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New distributed account 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 a distributed account manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real distributed account manager resumes.

Research distributed account manager duties and responsibilities

Manage accounts while providing excellent customer service, help build financial relationships, redirecting calls in upselling credit per customer needs
Earn distinction of positioning Veritas as an OEM designate partner with IBM.
Provide sales leadership marketing server, workstation and motherboard test memory to multiple OEM customers, value add resellers and distributors.
Conduct regular account appraisals to accelerate customer adoption by working closely with the customer to educate and assess cloud technology needs.

Apply for distributed account manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a distributed account 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

How do distributed account managers rate their job?

-/5

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Distributed account manager reviews

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 Jul 2019

Cons

I don't like Infiltration which is common in Asian countries.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019