Key Account Manager Resume & Writing Guide

A Key Account Manager is a crucial link between the company and its customers. They are the keepers of the relationships between their company and work closely with departments to ensure that robust and lasting relationships with clients are built and kept.

Our Key Account Manager Resume Guide is where we can help with detailed outlines on how to create a resume to attract attention.

And for a bit of extra inspiration, you can always have a peek at other resumes for similar jobs.  

Key Account Manager Resume Sample

(Free sample downloads are at the bottom of this page)

Key account manager Resume Writing Guide

1. Contact Information: 

• First Name
• Last Name
• Address
• Phone
• Email
• Optional: LinkedIn

2. Career Summary: 
Introduce your resume with 1-3 sentences describing in broad terms your career background, years of industry tenure, and the industry sectors of interest. You also need to be specific about which job you are applying to.

3. Qualifications Summary: 
Key Account Managers usually have a bachelor's degree or relevant qualification in marketing, public relations, and business administration. Give detailed information about your degrees, certifications, and qualifications completed, including the institution's name, qualification name, and dates. Remember to include qualifications you are currently completing too. Many companies require that you follow or have participated in internships in relevant areas like advertising, sales, and marketing. Therefore do not forget to list internships, especially those applicable to the position you are considering.

4. Relevant Key Account Manager Experience: 
Your experience in sales, advertising, communication, and marketing, as well as management experience, is extremely important. Key Account Managers need to have their fingers on the ball in many areas. Your expertise in, for instance, previous projects you participated in can be precious to your resume. Therefore you need to clearly state your employment history by providing details regarding the last five to ten years of experience up until your current position. Be concise; use brief sentences with bullet points to list the most important managerial and supervisory duties for positions you filled. Elaborate on leadership roles and management experience and give a broad background and projects that might apply to a Key Accounts Manager. 

5. Other Employment Experience:
List projects or work history outside the Key Account Management area here. Elaborate on those with job descriptions if you have less than six years of Accounts Management experience. Even if you do not have many years of experience, you still don't want gaps in your employment history, so to avoid this, give a brief list of job titles and their duration. This section is essential if you are on a level slightly more junior than Key Account Manager. You need to reveal your supervisory and managerial experience gained unofficially while, for instance, in a vocational or temporary job to showcase your abilities to liaise and communicate with people, supervise, lead teams.  

6. Skills Summary/Key Skills: 
Key Account Managers communicate, liaise with clients, manage, lead, and plan; therefore, focus on skills that will help your resume stand out above others. One way to do this is by using keywords from the job posting to ensure your specific skill set is highlighted. This adds much-needed credibility to your resume.

7. Education/Licenses/Certifications/Relevant Coursework/Training: 
List your formal degrees and post-school diplomas or accreditations first. Include any professional development or continued education that better prepared you to work in the account management field, such as leadership training, public speaking, strategic planning, conflict solving, and business management courses.

What to Highlight in a Key Account Manager Resume

Key Account Managers need to know their industry very well and have a firm understanding of the market, consumers, and competitors. 

Account Managers communicate with stakeholders, clients, management, staff, and teams; therefore, relationships are essential. 

Your successful resume will highlight your strategic thinking, networking tactics, public relations experience, communication abilities, leadership style, sales, and a good understanding and experience in the industry. 

First up, you will need to highlight your experience in managing accounts and liaising with role players in the industry and your company. Key Account Managers work with key clients to ensure the relationships are in good standing. You are in constant contact with clients, checking in on outstanding issues, liaise between departments, and ensure that the communication channel between your company and the clients are open and healthy. Highlight your daily tasks, which include the above. Whether planning, meetings, and daily follow-up tasks, give the employer a bird's eye view of how your daily chores are structured.

Next is to be aware of what your competitors are doing and keeping up with changes, challenges, and possible threats in the industry that might affect your client base. Here, relevant experience with previous employers in the industry can help recruiters understand your industry background and knowledge. 

Thirdly it is imperative that you think, plan, and manage strategically as a Key Account Manager. You have to coordinate any changes and issues within your company that might impact your clients, directly or indirectly, for instance, a top management change. Give a few anecdotes about scenarios where you were vital in solving client issues.

Also, remember to mention your organizational skills. A critical trait of a Key Account Manager is to stay organized and attend to a client's concerns, questions, and issues as soon as possible. If you use organizational tools, be sure to mention them, or if you had any specific training, list these as well. 

Then comes the sales targets, goals, objectives, and metrics that account managers need to manage and achieve. Don't be shy, be number specific, and provide actual data where possible. 

Potential employers would also want to know how many clients and projects you have managed up to now. Account Managers represent the entire company solutions and products to the clients under their management. They understand their clients' needs and ensure that the business cycle is delivering on these needs. Don't forget to mention the clients under your direction and the team's size you are leading.

Lastly, Key Account Managers have to maintain a firm understanding of the sales channel and are usually part of the company's sales review. Therefore, you are also responsible for achieving profitable sales targets and will also conduct analyses of clients' data under management to ensure that the right decisions are made for each key client. These responsibilities should be in your resume. 

*Cool Tip for a stellar resume

Be creative and explain your job description with the primary responsibilities applicable to a Key Account Managers position. For instance:

• Communicate: Liaise with top clients. Having regular meetings and follow-up conversations with clients and ensuring departments, like sales and marketing, are aware of top clients' needs and issues.
• Support: Understand the client's individual needs and give support.
• Analyses: Analyze sales and orders to ensure company objectives are adhered to.
• Lead: Manage your team, help them to understand the clients' needs, and the importance of communicating effectively.

Make sure to include the following details:

• GPA score if you completed a bachelor's or associates degree (if higher than 3.5)
• The number of key clients you are managing.
• The staff compliment under your management.
• List the communication tools you are using to facilitate communication with clients.

 Key Account Manager Career Summary

A career summary's main motive is to introduce yourself as a candidate for a Key Account Manager position. Your resume has to stand out among hundreds of other applications, and therefore the format you choose to outline your career is essential. Keep your summary concise, to the point, and relevant to the specific application.

Start with the most relevant information first. This will help in capturing the attention of hiring managers while scanning resumes. 

Then list your current primary duties and years of experience in the industry. Use the information in the job description to guide you when deciding which tasks to list. For example, if the job requires you to be an effective and clear communicator, use the same words and phrases in your summary. Your summary needs to resonate as closely as possible to your applying position's job description and keywords. If the position requires at least eight years of industry experience and you have more, make sure this fact stands out.

Next, showcase your outstanding qualities that will add value to the company by focusing on your core competencies, vital interpersonal skills, and attributes. Hiring managers will look for “excellent communicator, strong leadership skills, strategic planning, and organizational skills.” Remember to substantiate these qualities with examples in the professional experience section. 

End with educational degrees, diplomas, certified courses, and professional memberships applicable to the job.

Examples Summaries

Profile Summary Example 1

'Experienced Key Account Manager with twelve years' professional experience in IT technologies. I currently manage over thirty large client contracts as well as leading several project teams. I am at the forefront of setting up new contracts for my company and was instrumental in closing six significant deals over the last eighteen months.  I completed several in-house training courses in communication strategies.'

Profile Summary Example 2

'Passionate Key Account Manager at an established publishing house with seven years of experience managing several key client accounts. I am responsible for business expansion and strategic planning, with the main focus on customer experience. A team player with excellent written and verbal communication skills, well organized, and eager to expand my career as an account manager.'

Profile Summary Example 3

'Self-motivated graduate with excellent communication skills and three years proven record as a junior account manager of three clients. I gained valuable knowledge of customer service and marketing in the field of cybersecurity.'

Key Account Manager Job Descriptions and Responsibilities

Hiring managers want to read about applicants' proven duties, skills, and responsibilities, and this information will also depend on the level of education and career stage. 

Examples

A Key Account Manager at entry-career stage (3-5 years' experience) may:

• Build trustworthy relationships with major clients
• Understand key customers' needs and requirements
• Build and maintain relationships with existing customers by meeting their objectives and propose solutions to issues and problems.
• Make sure the correct services and products are delivered to the customers
• Delivery of products and services to be on time.
• Be the link between the clients and teams and departments within the company.
• Deal with complaints to maintain trust with clients.
• Prepare reports and forecasts.

A Key Account Manager at mid-career stage (5-8 years' experience) may:

• Build and maintain lasting relationships with clients.
• Develop relationships with stakeholders and executive sponsors.
• Deliver solutions to clients' needs and objectives.
• Collaborate with the sales and marketing teams to expand client base and enhance the existing customer experience.
• Manage complicated client requests and issues.
• Regular reporting on client accounts. 

A Key Account Manager at experienced/advanced stage (8-15 years' experience) may:

• Set up and help with a sales strategy for new ranges of services and products
• Acquire new clients
• Maintaining knowledge of competitors and industry.
• Ensure highly professional support to customers. 
• Deliver sales pitches
• Influence sales strategies
• Give creative marketing strategies
• Assist in digital and social marketing strategies. 
• Generate new accounts
• Responsible for completing contracts and tracking progress. 
• Train and supervise team(s).
• Research industry trends, concepts, and techniques.
  

Highlight Your Accomplishments 

Think about what sets you apart from other applicants with similar job experiences. Also, resist to copy and paste a list of your duties performed as you detailed out in the job description section. Instead, focus on what distinguishes you from other applicants and use action words like “achieve, managed, improved.”

Be wary not to highlight all your achievements and accomplishments; you do not want to sound overwhelmingly awesome, although you are. Therefore, only include your career's relevant achievements and accomplishments as a key account manager over the last three to eight years. 

Also, keep in mind that numerical values, targets reached, and sales figures can speak louder than words and serve as proof of your proficiency. Lastly, you can give a personal touch by adding a few exciting anecdotes about your achievements.

Examples:

• Improved client satisfaction ratio by 12% over the last two years by implementing feedback tools.
• Introduced a reward system for the staff's successful turnover of client requests which improved by 50%
• Working with the sales team to seal and deliver seven new clients for the current reporting year.

Quantifying Your Resume

Use numbers in your resume where questions like “how many” and “how much” pop up. For example:

• How many clients do you manage?
• What is the average length of contracts under your management?
• What is the average revenue percentage your accounts generate towards the company?

Examples:

• “Managed five of our company's eight key accounts.“
  
• “The average timeframe of contracts under my management span between three and eight years. No contract for which I am responsible has been canceled.“
  
• “The key accounts under my management generate 28% of my company's yearly revenue. (Year-in-review)“

Key Account Manager Education Section 

Hiring managers will be interested in your education history. Indicate What, Where, and When for all your qualifications, licenses, diplomas, and certifications. List the name of the qualification, institution, and date of completion and stick to the same format for all your listings. Also, keep relevance in mind when you decide which ones to list. Remember to include the current qualifications you are in the process of completing. 

Completed Secondary and Tertiary Education to be listed as follows: 

Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor degrees. 

Courses to be listed as follows:

List the date of completion. Next comes the qualification's full name, then the institution's full name, and then the City or abbreviated State name. 

List your high school diploma details in a similar fashion, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.

Examples with more than five years of experience: 

2020 –  International Business Strategy Diploma, Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Tokyo, Japan.

2018 – Current Masters in Business Administration, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

2015 – 2017 Bachelor Degree in Business Administration and Management, St. Andrews University, Laurinburg, NC

If you have less than five years' experience, you may also add your majors, minors, GPA scores and accolades, and honors awards:

2016 – 2019 Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, Michigan Ross School of Business, Ann Arbor, MI

Majors: Business Administration

Minors: Accounting, Business Law, Communications

2015 – High School Diploma, Charlotte High School, Charlotte, MI

Key Account Manager Resume Skills

Potential employers are very interested in the skills section, and therefore, hiring managers will make time to study this part of your resume, sometimes even scroll to this section first. 

Technical skills are essential for the position of Key Account Manager, but employees also need to fit into an organization's culture. Therefore, although hiring managers scrutinize technical skills, they will also have a thorough look at your listed soft skills. 

Soft skills show employers if you are fit to manage and add value to the organization. For instance, are you a motivator and self-starter? Your resume must elaborate on your soft skills, and you can add them to your accomplishment statements, profile, and summary. 

Technical Skills

Education:
A university degree is generally required for the position of Key Accounts Manager, but a college degree and a high school degree can be sufficient for a job, depending, of course, on the level and company. If your goal is to end up as a director or executive level, a Master's degree in Business Administration is highly desirable. 

Technical Aptitude:
Key Account Managers need to be excellent in written and verbal communication. You also need to be target and goal orientated. Experience and skills in business analysis and accounting will also be highly recommended. Other technical skills include: Budgets, Strategic Marketing, Research, Analytics, Social Media, Cloud-Based Collaboration Platforms, CRM Systems, Quality Control, Report Writing, Feedback Mechanisms.

Soft Skills

• Calm and collected in challenging situations
• Adaptability and flexibility 
• Attention to detail
• Problem-solving and thinking outside the box
• Self-Control
• Enthusiasm
• Strategic
• Service orientated
• Creative 
• Public speaking

Qualifications/Certifications associated with Key Account Managers

Bachelor of Communication	Masters in Business Administration	Diploma in Business Management
Financial Management Certificate	Advanced Excel	SalesForce Super User
Project Management Diploma	Labor Relations Certificate	Associates Degree in Marketing Management

Action Verbs for your Key Account Manager Resume

Communicating	Coaching	Monitoring
Negotiating	Problem Solving	Adaptable
Mentoring	Training	Negotiating
Leading	Listening	Coordinating

Industries Using Key Account Managers:

Professional information for Key Account Managers

Sectors: All industries
Career Type: Sales, Accounts Management, Client Relations, Business Development,
Person type:  Leader, Marketer, Motivator, Networker, Influencer, Strategizer
Education levels: Bachelor's to Masters' Degree
Salary indication: From $77,620 to $105,885 per annum (Salary.com)
Labor market: Estimated 5% growth between 2018 – 2028 (Zippia)
Organizations: All types of enterprises

Key Account Managers Resume Downloads