Sales and Account Managers Get Their Training in One Year At Centennial College

Once a marketer has had experience in the field, the natural next step is to move into a related position. For many a position of interest is that of a Sales and Account Manager or one of the many related roles, including: key account manager, account executive, commercial sales representative, sales specialist, technical sales representative, sales consultant, sales coordinator, inside sales representative and territory sales representative. To obtain one of these positions, interested parties must attend an offering such as Centennial College’s Marketing - Sales and Account Management program.

The offering also accepts students who have a college diploma or university degree in any discipline as well as applicants with partial post-secondary in an accounting discipline and relevant work experience (transcript and resume review is required). Applicants may also be asked to provide proof of English proficiency.

Because the Sales and Account Management offering is designed for mature students, it skips foundational marketing courses and goes straight to offering a foundation in the intricacies of acquiring and maintaining relationships with major client accounts. Instructors who have experience in sales, negotiation and account management in the business-to-business realm lead students through their 13 courses. As such, these instructors offer their personal insight while teaching topics such as case analysis and marketing metrics, marketing analysis and planning, fundamentals of selling, fundamentals of project management, business ethics and negotiation skills, sales and account management, and more.

Topics within the Sales and Account Management program are delivered in a proactive format so that students have an opportunity to apply what they have learned. Among the teaching tools used are: role-playing, hands-on training using sales force automation software, simulations and case studies. All the application techniques focus on helping students to develop selling, negotiating and presentation skills.

Once they complete the Sales Account Management program, students can secure employment in account management in a wide variety of industries and be upwardly mobile in their careers. Mid-to-large sized business-to-business (B2B) organizations with their own sales force are a popular option for grads. Industries in which Sales and Account Managers are hired include medical and dental technology, hardware and software vendors, pharmaceutical and packaged goods companies.

As previously mentioned, there are various roles in the industry, but according to Wikipedia, all professionals should have the know-how to:

Serve as the interface between the customer service and the sales team in a company

Generate sales for a portfolio of accounts and reach the company’s sales target

Identify new sales opportunities within existing accounts to remain a client-account manager relationship by up-selling and cross-selling

Manage and solve conflicts with clients

Interact and coordinate with the sales team and other staff members in other departments working on the same account

Establish budgets with the client and company

Meet time deadlines for accounts