Account Manager

The Account Manager is responsible for managing, retaining, and growing an assigned portfolio of existing Family Resource Group clients.

Unlike an Account Executive role, the Account Manager is not primarily responsible for hunting or generating new business. Instead, the Account Manager is given an established book of business and is responsible for maintaining strong client relationships, ensuring clients receive excellent service, renewing existing advertising agreements, and identifying appropriate opportunities to expand or upsell those relationships.

This is primarily an inside account management position. Account Managers will communicate with clients through phone, email, video meetings, and other communication channels. In-person client meetings are encouraged when they benefit the relationship, but this is not intended to be a traditional outside-sales position requiring an Account Manager to spend significant time traveling from client to client.

The primary measure of success is simple: keep the business we already have, take great care of our clients, and grow those relationships whenever possible.

The Account Manager reports to the Sales Manager or designated sales leader.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage an assigned portfolio, or book of business, of existing FRG advertisers and clients.
• Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with assigned accounts.
• Proactively communicate with clients throughout the year rather than only contacting them when it is time to renew.
• Maintain a strong renewal rate across the assigned book of business.
• Manage the renewal process from initial conversation through signed agreement.
• Identify opportunities to increase client investment through appropriate upsells, additional products, campaigns, markets, events, digital advertising, sponsorships, or other FRG offerings.
• Learn each client's business, goals, audience, marketing needs, and history with FRG.
• Recommend advertising solutions that support the client's goals rather than simply selling additional products.
• Ensure clients understand the products and services they have purchased and the value FRG is providing.
• Monitor upcoming contract expirations, publication schedules, campaigns, and renewal opportunities.
• Maintain accurate and current account information, communication history, opportunities, and renewal activity within FRG's CRM and other required systems.
• Coordinate with production, marketing, client success, accounting, and other internal departments to ensure client commitments are fulfilled accurately and on time.
• Address client concerns promptly and work internally to resolve problems before they negatively impact the relationship.
• Identify accounts that may be at risk of cancellation or reduced spending and proactively develop a plan to retain the client.
• Maintain knowledge of FRG's publications, digital products, events, sponsorships, markets, pricing, policies, and advertising opportunities.
• Participate in ongoing professional development and company training.
• Provide client feedback and account insights to sales leadership to help improve products, processes, retention, and the overall customer experience.

Account Growth & Retention

The Account Manager's first responsibility is retention.

Account Managers are expected to protect and maintain the revenue within their assigned book of business by delivering excellent service, maintaining consistent communication, and beginning renewal conversations well before an existing agreement expires.

Once the existing relationship is secure, Account Managers should look for opportunities to expand the relationship when those opportunities genuinely make sense for the client.

Account growth may include:

• Increasing an existing advertising commitment.
• Adding digital advertising to a print relationship.
• Adding print to a digital relationship.
• Expanding into additional FRG markets.
• Adding events or sponsorship opportunities.
• Adding special publications, guides, or annual products.
• Increasing frequency or duration of an existing campaign.
• Introducing new FRG products or services that support the client's goals.

Upselling is important, but retaining a healthy client relationship should never be sacrificed simply to generate additional short-term revenue.

New Business Expectations

The Account Manager is not responsible for traditional new-business prospecting or outbound hunting.

Account Managers are generally not expected to:

• Cold call prospect lists.
• Build large prospecting pipelines.
• Spend significant time conducting outbound new-business development.
• Travel throughout the market making unsolicited sales calls.
• Maintain the same new-business activity KPIs as Account Executives.

However, Account Managers should not ignore opportunities that naturally develop through their relationships.

This may include referrals, additional locations or divisions of an existing client, introductions from current clients, or another natural opportunity connected to an account they manage.

When appropriate, these opportunities may be handled by the Account Manager or transferred to an Account Executive based on FRG's sales process.

Client Relationship Management

Account Managers should develop relationships that extend beyond individual transactions.

They are expected to:

• Understand why the client originally chose FRG.
• Understand what the client is trying to accomplish with their advertising.
• Know what products the client currently uses.
• Know when the client's current agreements and campaigns expire.
• Understand the client's historical spending and relationship with FRG.
• Maintain regular communication with key client contacts.
• Conduct appropriate account reviews and renewal conversations.
• Look for opportunities to improve the client's experience.
• Advocate internally for the client when appropriate.
• Ensure that no important client becomes forgotten simply because they are not currently buying something new.

Inside Account Management Position

This position is designed primarily as an inside role.

Most client relationships can be managed through:

• Phone calls
• Email
• Video meetings
• CRM communication
• Scheduled account reviews

Account Managers may meet clients in person when it strengthens the relationship, supports an important renewal, or helps resolve an issue.

However, the role is not intended to operate as a traditional outside-sales territory position where the majority of the workday is spent traveling between prospective accounts.

Performance Expectations

Account Manager performance will be evaluated primarily around the health and growth of the assigned book of business.

Performance measurements may include:

• Client retention rate.
• Revenue renewal rate.
• Total retained revenue.
• Revenue growth within existing accounts.
• Upsell and expansion revenue.
• Renewal activity completed on time.
• At-risk accounts successfully retained.
• Accuracy and completeness of CRM/account records.
• Responsiveness and client communication.
• Client satisfaction and relationship quality.
• Compliance with FRG processes, systems, and policies.

Specific revenue, renewal, retention, and activity targets may be established annually or quarterly based on the size and composition of the Account Manager's assigned portfolio.

Qualifications

• Previous experience in account management, advertising sales, media sales, customer success, client services, or a related role preferred.
• Proven ability to develop and maintain long-term client relationships.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable discussing advertising, marketing, and business objectives with clients.
• Strong organizational and follow-up skills.
• Ability to manage a large number of client relationships and deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability to identify opportunities to grow existing accounts without damaging client trust.
• Strong problem-solving skills and willingness to take ownership of client issues.
• Ability to work collaboratively with sales, production, marketing, accounting, and client success teams.
• Highly organized, dependable, proactive, and accountable.
• Ability to learn and become proficient in FRG's systems, products, processes, and policies.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Account Manager has a book of business where:

• Clients feel known, supported, and valued.
• Renewals are discussed well before deadlines.
• Few clients are unexpectedly lost.
• At-risk accounts are identified early.
• Clients understand the value they receive from FRG.
• Account information and opportunities are kept current.
• Relationships grow naturally over time.
• Existing revenue is protected.
• Appropriate upsell opportunities are consistently identified.
• Clients view their Account Manager as a trusted resource rather than someone who only contacts them when it is time to sell something.

At Family Resource Group, the Account Manager's job is not simply to manage contracts.

It is to protect the relationship, protect the revenue, make the advertiser successful, and grow the partnership whenever the opportunity makes sense.