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

What is an indirect account manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Just as the name implies, the indirect account manager is responsible for managing indirect channel accounts. As an indirect account manager, you will be at the service of key partners. Therefore, it is your job to understand your client's product and strategies, service your clients, and the characteristics of your existing customer base.

Your responsibility is to identify business opportunities, close channel sales deals, and answer and resolve customers' queries. You will also direct the sales team, develop training programs of the company's sales representative, set goals, prepare budgets and approving expenditure, determine the record of sales, and focus on sales effort. You are in charge of projecting sales, analyzing sales statistics, and determining the level of productivity and profitability. Part of your jurisdiction is developing plans to gain new clients and customers and coordinate training for sales staff.

Basic skill requirements include learning a customer-oriented approach, strategic planning, strong communication skills, and excellent leadership skills. The mean salary of an indirect account manager is $68,000 yearly. However, you need a bachelor's degree in Finance or other related fields.

ScoreIndirect Account ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,004

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 38.26%

male 61.74%

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 an indirect account manager

Explore indirect account manager education requirements

Most common indirect account manager degrees

Bachelor's

69.9 %

Associate

14.4 %

Master's

7.7 %

Start to develop specific indirect account manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Knowledge	17.35%
Sales Techniques	16.44%
Sales Performance	15.17%
Regional Sales	13.20%
Incentive Programs	8.98%

Complete relevant indirect account manager training and internships

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

Research indirect account manager duties and responsibilities

Manage accounts while providing excellent customer service, help build financial relationships, redirecting calls in upselling credit per customer needs
Conduct regular account appraisals to accelerate customer adoption by working closely with the customer to educate and assess cloud technology needs.
Team serve as liaison to Nextel for sales, marketing and technical support.
Provide formal training on Nextel products and services as well as solution base selling.

Apply for indirect account manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an indirect 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

What is an indirect account manager and how to become one

Indirect account manager career paths