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The differences between key account managers and customer success managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a key account manager and a customer success manager. Additionally, a key account manager has an average salary of $102,315, which is higher than the $93,820 average annual salary of a customer success manager.
The top three skills for a key account manager include account management, customer service and patients. The most important skills for a customer success manager are client facing, cloud, and account management.
| Key Account Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $102,315 | $93,820 |
| Hourly rate | $49.19 | $45.11 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 160,992 | 95,053 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A key account manager is primarily in charge of handling key clients that produce the most profit for a company or business, ensuring that they remain with them. They are mainly responsible for understanding their clients' needs and long-term goals, ensuring that the key clients get to receive all the necessary services and products in time, and promptly address and resolve any issues and concerns. Furthermore, a key account manager may prepare reports and proposals to team members, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.
A customer success manager works to understand repeat customers and prioritize their long-term needs. Primarily, they manage the customer relationship and give them prompt value propositions. They act as mentors to customers by educating them about the sales process and ensure efficient transaction processing. Their tasks include advocating for the company, onboarding customers to the products, follow-up on renewals, and encouraging cross-sells and upsells. Additionally, they build relationships with the customer and the support team as well as advocating customers' needs.
Key account managers and customer success managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Key Account Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Average salary | $102,315 | $93,820 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $138,000 | Between $61,000 And $142,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | California |
| Best paying company | Quidel | VMware |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a key account manager and a customer success manager in terms of educational background:
| Key Account Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between key account managers' and customer success managers' demographics:
| Key Account Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9% | Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |