What is a Key Account Manager?

The Key Account Manager is tasked primarily with managing and maintaining the key client accounts and sustaining solid relationships with clients. Your responsibilities include ensuring that key clients are satisfied with the services provided, identifying new business opportunities for key clients, and addressing and resolving key clients' complaints. You will work with the design, sales team, creative, advertising, logistics, managers, marketing, and team members from other departments dedicated to the same client account to ensure the highest quality of materials are produced, and all client needs are met. You are also to develop a thorough understanding of key clients' needs and requirements

A bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, sales, or related field and 4-5 years of work experience is required for this role. You should also have basic computer skills and excellent verbal and written communication skills, and you should be a people person with the ability to follow through. Your annual salary is an average of $72,685.

What Does a Key Account Manager Do

There are certain skills that many key account managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and customer-service skills.

Learn more about what a Key Account Manager does

How To Become a Key Account Manager

If you're interested in becoming a key account manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 78.2% of key account managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.0% of key account managers have master's degrees. Even though most key account managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Key Account Manager
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Key Account Manager Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a key account manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as sales manager, progress to a title such as marketing manager and then eventually end up with the title regional marketing manager.

Key Account Manager

Average Salary for a Key Account Manager

Key Account Managers in America make an average salary of $102,315 per year or $49 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $138,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $75,000 per year.
Average Key Account Manager Salary
$102,315 Yearly
$49.19 hourly
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Roles and Types of Key Account Manager

The role of a key account manager includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general key account manager responsibilities:

  • Develop an account level incremental sales plan with local canteen management; track performance
  • Promote, market and sell all engineered woven
  • Ensures health and safety is the number one goal by following policies, processes,

There are several types of key account manager, including:

Account Manager

Role:

Account managers are in charge of managing sales, while also maintaining relationships with certain customers. As an account manager, you'll want to turn on the charm to get your customers to buy more of your product or service.

Your main goal as an account manager is to ensure existing clients continue to come back for more, while enticing new clients to give the product or service a whirl. In a way, you act as a liasion between the clients and company.

Sometimes your day will revolve around your clients. Typically you'll work an 8-5 schedule but some clients may need to meet around those hours, especially if they live in a different time zone. As an account manager, you need to be prepared for whatever is thrown your way.

  • Average Salary: $68,535
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Sales Account Manager

Role:

Sales account managers are responsible for managing accounts and building fruitful relationships with clients. They generate sales activities, report on transactions, and set company goals.

If there is one item on the list of requirements for this job that you really need to take seriously, it is customer service skills. You will have a portfolio of accounts to manage, and your long-term success will depend on how well you get along with the clients the accounts belong to. You will be the point of contact to handle their needs. And the new business you generate will depend on your existing network of clients.

This is not an entry-level position, as is the case with most managerial roles. You need years of hands-on sales experience to get this one down pat. Apart from knowing how to delight your clients, you need to be familiar with appropriate software used for specific processes, understand how sales metrics work, and you can't crack under pressure.

  • Average Salary: $58,630
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

National Account Manager

Role:

National account managers function as the primary link between a business and its customers. They may be employed by various industries and their main responsibility is to tend to accounts by building and sustaining strong, personal yet professional relationships with key clients. By managing their portfolios, they serve as the main point of contact in case of any issue and mediate between clients and internal departments of the company.

National account managers supervise the work of regional account managers, setting and monitoring their sales targets. They negotiate contracts and assure the consistency of the brand. They stay on top of business trends by analyzing data, always one step ahead of customers' needs, and constantly develop new ways to increase business revenues.

This position is not the place for you to try your hand at sales and customer service. In order to be successful, you already need to have obtained solid experience in these areas, as well as an in-depth understanding of sales metrics and familiarity with CRM software. If you do have what it takes, you will be doing a lot of traveling while mastering your art holding a lucrative and esteemed position.

  • Average Salary: $96,948
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Key Account Manager Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active key account manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where key account managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Key Account Manager Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Texas5,390$94,293
2California5,376$117,751
3Florida3,478$82,454
4Pennsylvania2,567$110,626
5New York2,432$112,481
6Georgia2,211$91,781
7North Carolina2,139$96,527
8Ohio2,091$103,338
9Illinois2,041$100,595
10Virginia2,030$107,691
11Washington1,766$113,945
12Minnesota1,574$93,780
13Michigan1,486$105,012
14Massachusetts1,427$113,591
15Arizona1,415$101,648
16Maryland1,300$109,356
17Tennessee1,266$92,812
18New Jersey1,210$110,040
19Missouri1,197$74,922
20Wisconsin1,141$87,760
21Indiana1,139$81,529
22Colorado917$81,247
23Oregon858$100,197
24Connecticut801$114,088
25South Carolina786$91,288
26Alabama669$85,156
27Louisiana658$95,110
28Kentucky616$89,209
29Kansas595$75,061
30Utah573$104,855
31Iowa545$85,503
32Arkansas511$81,374
33Oklahoma501$86,530
34Nevada494$98,784
35Nebraska381$86,073
36New Hampshire363$105,945
37Mississippi343$87,704
38Idaho340$101,614
39New Mexico288$91,307
40Delaware284$104,295
41Montana254$104,207
42Maine222$121,685
43North Dakota219$88,351
44West Virginia218$107,022
45Rhode Island183$101,385
46South Dakota169$85,457
47Wyoming132$105,995
48Hawaii132$104,214
49Vermont121$116,532
50Alaska92$98,978

Key Account Manager Education

Key Account Manager Majors

Business
37.2 %
Marketing
16.3 %
Communication
6.6 %

Key Account Manager Degrees

Bachelors

78.2 %

Masters

10.0 %

Associate

7.7 %

Top Colleges for Key Account Managers

1. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

2. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

5. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,620

Enrollment

27,730

6. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

7. Ohio State University

Columbus, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,726

Enrollment

45,769

8. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

9. University of Houston

Houston, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,913

Enrollment

37,291

10. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Top Skills For a Key Account Manager

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.2% of key account managers listed account management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Key Account Manager Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Key Account Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Key Account Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Key Account Manager diversity

Key Account Manager Gender Distribution

Male
Male
68%
Female
Female
32%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among key account managers, 31.9% of them are women, while 68.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among key account managers is White, which makes up 78.2% of all key account managers.

  • The most common foreign language among key account managers is Spanish at 46.2%.

Online Courses For Key Account Manager That You May Like

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Best States For a Key Account Manager

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a key account manager. The best states for people in this position are Maine, California, Vermont, and Connecticut. Key account managers make the most in Maine with an average salary of $121,685. Whereas in California and Vermont, they would average $117,751 and $116,532, respectively. While key account managers would only make an average of $114,088 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Key Account Manager Jobs: 1,766
Highest 10% Earn:
$158,000
Location Quotient:
1.21

$113,945

Avg. Salary

View 1,766 Key Account Manager Jobs In WA

2. Connecticut

Total Key Account Manager Jobs: 801
Highest 10% Earn:
$155,000
Location Quotient:
1.2

$114,088

Avg. Salary

View 801 Key Account Manager Jobs In CT

3. Pennsylvania

Total Key Account Manager Jobs: 2,567
Highest 10% Earn:
$151,000
Location Quotient:
1.1

$110,626

Avg. Salary

View 2,567 Key Account Manager Jobs In PA
Full List Of Best States For Key Account Managers

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Top Key Account Manager Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ key account managers and discovered their number of key account manager opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that The Coca-Cola Company was the best, especially with an average salary of $90,048. Pepsi Bottling Ventures follows up with an average salary of $88,970, and then comes PepsiCo with an average of $112,194. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a key account manager. The employers include Eli Lilly and Company, Arrow Electronics, and Abbott

Most Common Employers For Key Account Manager

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Novartis$125,617$60.3930
2P&G$117,423$56.4543
3Gillette$113,799$54.7122
4EMD Serono$112,351$54.0158
5PepsiCo$112,194$53.94101
6Johnson & Johnson$105,315$50.6340
7The Kraft Group$104,569$50.2749
8L'Oréal$100,313$48.2326
9Conagra Brands$100,189$48.1725
10Kimberly-Clark$99,173$47.6823
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Key Account Manager Videos

Hiring: Key Account Manager- Job Description

Becoming a Key Account Manager FAQs

How Much Do Accounts Managers Make?

A strategic accounts manager makes an average of around $97,000 per year, or about $51 an hour. The range for these positions was $87,000 on the low end to $120,000 on the high end, with many of the top earners pulling in around $105,000 a year.

What Is The Difference Between A Key Account Manager And An Account Manager?

The difference between a key account manager and an account manager is the type of accounts they oversee. Typically, key account managers oversee the largest customers in a company, whereas account managers are responsible for looking after the rest of the customers.

Have more questions? See all answers to common executive management questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023