Account management is one of the toughest jobs in business travel. It's a Russian doll-type role in the sense that the title actually encompasses many other roles and responsibilities that all slot together to contribute to what is a vital cog in the travel management machine.
For example, an account manager might begin their day answering a client's queries about duty of care, but then quickly find themselves offering technical support as a different client implements their new travel management system. By lunchtime they could be working to maintain client relationships by heading off any problems or issues and then round off their day helping a client to spot trends within their travel and identify areas to reduce spend.
Of course, it's that variety that makes travel account management such a fulfilling role. Others also find being positioned as a trusted expert, often seen as an extension of the client's own travel team, particularly rewarding.
Receiving the benefit of proactive account management does bring with it its own costs, of course. Travel management companies typically cover the cost of their account management teams through the fees they receive for their services as a whole. Along with reservations agents, implementation specialists, meetings and events teams and, sometimes software engineers, account management is a crucial aspect of most TMCs' travel management service.
A client's experience of travel management can fall flat very quickly without high quality account managers who are committed to enriching the customer's travel programme. It's all very well having a sophisticated online booking tool, but a team of proactive account managers are the catalyst needed to make the whole thing come alive and produce great results.
Here are some of the key traits and skills that we've learnt are crucial strings to the bow of any account manager.
Empathy
Taking the time to understand clients and their business can be the real key to delivering a first rate account management experience. Not only does a contextual understanding of a business make for more free-flowing communication, but, more importantly, it allows account managers to give serious thought to how their clients will be using the service and what would be a priority to them in terms of their larger programme and when their people are actually travelling. Fostering this relationship places account managers in an advantageous position that then enables them to anticipate the needs of a client.
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Account managers should aim to work more with buyers now there is more pressure to show value ©SrdjanPav/iStock
It's often the case that clients who have never used a travel management service before, and are used to making do with a DIY approach, are resistant to change. It's down to an account manager to empathise with those feelings of frustration and remind them of the bigger picture; savings on travel spend, duty of care, less time spent on admin etc.
A wider understanding of a client's previous travel setup also helps during the implementation process. Also, the ability to anchor a tutorial to an aspect of the previous system makes the whole process simpler.
The ability to empathise with clients also comes into play when things haven't gone to plan. Even the most meticulously planned trips can fall foul of unscheduled delays and an account manager is the first port of call in a storm (particularly if said storm has grounded all flights for the evening). Understanding a client's frustrations and concerns can not only provide them with a huge amount of relief, but also seals trust into the client/TMC relationship.
Expertise
The world of business travel is fraught with jargon (eg billback), initialisms (eg NDC), acronyms (eg IATA) and intricate supplier/customer relationships. A good account manager needs to be able to explain the way things work and the opportunities for driving behavioural change and reducing spend in a way that makes sense to non-experts. It's only with a thorough understanding of both the wider industry and their own TMC's products and systems that an account manager can truly offer outstanding service.
A travel account manager should aim to use their knowledge of the travel industry and best practices to negotiate contracts and guide policy creation in order to produce savings for the client. Equally, they will need to set goals and objectives for both parties to improve the travel programme - something that is very hard to do without that all important expertise.
These tasks allow account managers to set themselves apart from other TMCs and provide the opportunity to go beyond simply managing the everyday and to use their in depth knowledge of the business travel industry to really add value and to improve the client's travel programme.
Creativity
If you were to describe travel account management as a role that requires genuine creativity to anyone outside of the industry, then you'd probably be met with a raised eyebrow. But that rogue eyebrow would be unwarranted - travel account managers certainly need to be creative when it comes to meeting the complex demands of their clients.
There is no such thing as a 'one size fits all' approach to travel management and account managers have to understand this better than anyone. Each client will have different needs, from preventing leakage to fulfilling duty of care obligations. Whatever the client's requirements, it's up to an account manager to come up with suitable methods to help them reach their travel management goals. Agility of mind also helps in a crisis - if things go wrong, for whatever reason, it's reassuring for clients to know that they have a proactive account manager on call, ready to find the solution, no matter the issue.
Communication
Speaking of being on call in a crisis, there is nothing more frustrating than the inability to get hold of an account manager - you are working to your own schedule and want an answer quickly, so a responsive account manager is key.
The sign of a proactive, useful account manager is one that gets in touch with you to check in, rather than always waiting for your call.
Whatever the query or requirement, the account manager is your main point of contact. They will handle all feedback, whether it be good or bad, and, as such, good communication skills are a must.