As an account manager, you have to impress clients on a daily basis. But you have to impress the hiring manager at the company of your dreams before you can start helping clients or making sales.
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Prepare for the interview ahead of time to improve your chances of getting the job, no matter how long you’ve been an account manager or if you have experience in the field. You’ll definitely get a few basic interview questions. But you should also be ready for a lot of questions that are specific to being an account manager. For example, you might be asked to act out how you’ll upsell a client or show them how you use a CRM to stay organized.
Landing a territory account manager role takes more than just sales skills. You need strategic thinking, leadership abilities, and top-notch communication skills. That’s why interviews for these coveted positions dig deep, probing your overall capabilities.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the most common territory account manager interview questions you’re likely to face. You’ll gain insight into what hiring managers really want to know with each question. We’ll also provide tips and examples to help you craft winning responses.
Arm yourself with this advice, and you’ll walk into interviews ready to highlight your value and land the perfect fit territory account manager job.
Understanding What Hiring Managers Look For
Before we dive into specific questions it’s helpful to understand the core competencies hiring managers seek in territory account manager candidates
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Strategic thinking: Can you figure out what your clients want, make plans to grow your most important accounts, and spot new business opportunities?
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Leadership Do you take ownership rally your team and instill confidence in clients?
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Communication skills: Can you actively listen, persuade, present, and write clearly?
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Business acumen: Do you understand sales metrics, processes, and tools to maximize results?
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Relationship building: Are you adept at networking, forging connections, and earning trust?
During the interview, you should use interesting examples and stories to show that you have these skills. Now let’s look at questions likely to come up.
1. How Do You Build Strong Client Relationships?
Trust and rapport are essential for retaining and growing accounts over the long term. With this question, hiring managers want to understand your approach to forging lasting client connections.
Tips for a strong response
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Share your step-by-step process for getting to know new clients and learning about their needs.
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Give examples of how you maintain positive ongoing relationships, like checking in regularly, sending resources, or networking together.
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Highlight times you went above and beyond, such as securing hard-to-find tickets for a client.
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Emphasize listening skills, emotional intelligence, and understanding personalities and preferences.
Example response:
“I like to start new client relationships by having an informal meeting to get to know one another better. I’ll ask about their role, responsibilities, goals, and challenges. As we work together, I make notes in Salesforce about their preferences and pet peeves so I can avoid missteps. To stay connected, I send relevant articles or updates about their company and industry. I also try to meet in person occasionally to network at industry events or over coffee. For example, I recently secured last-minute theater tickets for a client and their spouse during a sold-out show, which really delighted them.”
2. How Do You Manage Relationships Between Various Stakeholders?
Territory account managers must juggle many key relationships – clients, sales teams, managers, partners, and more. This question reveals your ability to navigate complex dynamics.
Tips for a strong response:
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Discuss strategies like regular check-ins, transparency, and bringing people together.
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Share a time you strengthened alignment between disparate groups.
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If you managed conflict, explain how you smoothed things over.
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Emphasize teamwork, consultative approach, and win-win solutions.
Example response:
“I find keeping open lines of communication between all parties eliminates confusion and tension. Each week, I provide updates to sales reps on key accounts and new opportunities so we’re aligned. When launching new partnerships, I facilitate introductions and kickoff meetings so everyone understands roles. If misunderstandings arise, I dig into the source and see how processes can be improved. For example, when a client was frustrated with a partner, I arranged a meeting, cleared the air, and worked together on an action plan. Now they collaborate seamlessly.”
3. How Do You Go About Upselling Existing Accounts?
Growing revenue from current clients is more efficient than attracting new ones. This question reveals your ability to uncover expansion opportunities.
Tips for a strong response:
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Share your process for identifying upsell openings, like quarterly business reviews.
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Discuss how you convince clients to purchase more, such as highlighting new features.
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Provide examples of successful upsells you’ve made.
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Emphasize win-win solutions, not hard sells. Show you aim to help clients achieve goals.
Example response:
“I like to regularly review account performance and growth opportunities. When I see a client utilizing 80% of our capabilities, I’ll suggest a meeting to explore how we can better support their evolving needs. I ask questions to understand pain points and objectives. I might highlight new features that could address challenges. If they need further convincing, I may analyze how an upgrade could drive ROI through metrics like increased efficiency. For example, I recently upsold a long-time client by proposing a customized training program delivered by our top engineers that increased productivity 25%.”
4. How Do You Prioritize Accounts and Opportunities?
Territory account managers juggle many balls at once. This question reveals your strategic approach to focus your time and resources.
Tips for a strong response:
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Discuss how you develop criteria to segment and tier accounts.
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Share tools and processes you use to focus on top tier accounts.
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Explain how you balance major and emerging opportunities.
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Provide examples of how you’ve focused on the most profitable accounts.
Example response:
“I take a strategic approach by dividing my accounts into tiers based on revenue potential, growth trajectory, and strategic value. Tier one clients get consistent, customized attention while lower tiers receive baseline support. I use Salesforce to track key metrics like contract value, cross-sell potential, and share of wallet to identify top prospects within accounts. My calendar blocks time for tier one and two meetings and tasks. This focus resulted in landing a $2M expansion from my top healthcare client this quarter.”
5. How Do You Go About Securing a New Account?
Landing new business is an essential territory account manager skill. This question reveals your business development abilities and sales process.
Tips for a strong response:
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Walk through your step-by-step approach from prospecting to closing deals.
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Share research tactics you use to identify good fits.
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Explain how you initiate contact and move opportunities forward.
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Discuss how you handle objections and negotiate contracts.
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Provide examples of accounts you’ve landed.
Example response:
“My first step is researching target companies based on criteria like industry, size, and tech stack. I scour their website, press releases, and LinkedIn to identify pain points. My outreach begins with emails or InMails highlighting potential value. If they respond, I suggest a meeting to explore needs and pitch our solution. To move opportunities forward, I break down implementation plans, costs, and ROI. To overcome objections, I focus on their goals and how we can support them. I provide custom pricing proposals, negotiate terms, and don’t stop until I land the deal. A recent example is a 5-year $800K contract I secured with a retail chain to upgrade their POS systems.”
6. How Do You Go About Renewing Accounts?
Retaining business is just as crucial as gaining new accounts. This reveals your ability to keep clients satisfied long-term.
Tips for a strong response:
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Explain how you prepare for renewals, like reviewing history and satisfaction.
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Discuss how you negotiate from a position of value.
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Share tactics for overcoming reluctance, such as offering incentives.
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Provide examples of satisfied renewals you’ve secured.
Example response:
“I prepare for renewals by reviewing the account’s history, current usage and spend, and satisfaction levels. I reach out 90 days prior to expiration to schedule a business review. I revisit how we’ve delivered value and support their evolving needs. If there is hesitation, I dig into the reasons and propose solutions, like additional services, discounts, or contract terms. I negotiate win-win compromises focused on a long-term partnership. For example, I recently renewed a hesitant client for 3 more years by proposing an exclusive concierge service level.”
7. How Would You Handle an Unhappy Client or Account Defection?
Even the best relationships sometimes sour. This reveals your conflict resolution and account management skills.
Tips for a strong response:
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Discuss your process for identifying issues proactively.
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Share your approach to addressing concerns, such as reaching out quickly.
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Explain how you’d try to retain the account, like uncovering issues and resolving them.
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If you have an example, walk through how you handled a defecting client.
Example response:
“I try to head off issues by regularly checking in on satisfaction and monitoring usage metrics. If I receive negative feedback, I act urgently to address concerns through calls, meetings, credits, or consolation gestures. I aim to uncover root causes, own mistakes, and present solutions. If retention seems impossible, I focus on leaving on good terms and learning lessons. For example, when a retail client considered leaving
What’s the Most Common Objection You Get at Your Current or Former Company? Can You Walk Me Through How You Handle It?
The hiring manager wants to see how you handle customer complaints and overcome adversity. This question showcases how resourceful you can be and what your behavior is like when you hear “no. ”.
Identify a common reason a client would push back in your current role. Maybe the product or service you’re selling now costs a lot, or maybe the market is already full. Lawrence then says to tell the client what questions you should ask after they say no to help them see that your product is exactly what they need. This helps show resourcefulness and creative thinking. Now, it’s time to overcome this objection. The hiring manager wants to hear how you’d passionately—and concisely—explain to the client why it could help them.
You might respond:
“At my current company, a common objection is the service we offered is quite expensive. Even though our services cost money, I want to know how much they’re spending now to get the job done. Then, I ask how much humanpower is being used. Finally, I ask about their current results versus their goals. After that, I hope to be able to show them a cost analysis that shows how spending more on our services can also help them make more money than they are now. ”.
Can You Give an Example of a Time You Contributed to a Product Upgrade, Change, or Fix Based on Client Feedback?
Account managers are a company’s eyes and ears into what clients want and need. Good account managers use what they hear from clients to give helpful feedback to their bosses or coworkers in other parts of the business.
It would be best if you could give an example of a time when you heard a customer’s complaint or feedback and shared it with someone at your company to help them make your product or service better. You can use a time when feedback wasn’t taken into account if you don’t have one of those times. But don’t badmouth your current employer during this question for not taking the feedback. Find a way to keep it positive.
Here’s how you might answer:
“One of my top clients wanted their customers to be able to schedule an appointment online. However, our current product didn’t have that feature. For this option to be available, the client had to order a separate service and add it to ours. It was messy and they had to deal with two bills and two separate account managers. I talked to my boss about it and told them that our clients needed this service and were paying someone else to do it. I knew that clients would be willing to pay more for our service if we added the ability to make appointments. It was built after about six months, and I was able to sell that client and a few others the new appointment scheduling service on top of what we already did for them. ”.
Territory Account Manager Interview Questions
FAQ
How to prepare for a territory manager interview?
How to prepare for an interview as an account manager?
What is the difference between account manager and territory manager?
