Apr 25, 2024
Bolt Business Account Managers make up an international team across much of Europe and Africa.
While they’re working from different countries and time zones, all of our Account Managers work towards the same goal of giving every client the best service.
Find out what it takes to thrive as a Bolt Business Account Manager with insights from the team, including Carolina Braga (Portugal), Daria Zaichykova (Ukraine), Dovile Zykutė (Lithuania), Elizabeth Inyang (Nigeria), Helina Pajula (Estonia), Liam James (UK), and Mateusz Zawadzki (Poland).
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After a salesperson closes a deal with a new client, it’s up to an Account Manager to maintain and build a relationship with the client — from onboarding onwards. Account Managers are a direct point of contact whenever these clients need assistance.
Daily tasks revolve around communicating with clients by email, phone, video call, or face-to-face meeting. In addition to communication, an Account Manager also reviews reports showing how clients are using the service, develops new strategies that would allow clients to get more out of Bolt Business, and meets with other departments to relay client feedback and suggestions.
“As an Account Manager, you’re the face of the company when speaking to clients,” explains Helina from Estonia. “But when they want something, you become their representative internally. You have to take their feedback and requests to other teams internally — whether Engineering, Finance, or Product — and make a strong case for implementing whatever your client needs.”
Taking on these responsibilities puts Account Managers uniquely positioned to ensure customer satisfaction, build strong relationships with clients, and represent the company’s values and goals.
Check out our vacancies to read the full Account Manager job description.
As an Account Manager, you work in the country where most of your client portfolio is also based.
For Helina Pajula, Account Manager in Estonia, this means she’s located in Estonia and working with other members of the Bolt Business team. But with an international team of Account Managers, she feels like part of two teams.
“I’m part of the Bolt Business team in Estonia. My manager is the Country Sales Manager for Estonia, and he’s based in Estonia, too. But I also work with an international team of Account Managers. All Account Managers often come together to share learning points and experiences with the rest of the team.”
Helina Pajula, Bolt Business Account Manager
As an Account Manager at Bolt, it’s essential to understand what you’re not. And that’s a salesperson searching for new clients.
In many companies, Account Managers often have to split their time between account management and sales. But in reality, these are two different sets of responsibilities. This was the case for Carolina Braga in her previous roles.
“I was an Account Manager in three companies before joining Bolt. But it was a role with two sides, sales and account management,” explains Carolina. “I’d be responsible for prospecting new clients, and then those clients were mine to manage.”
In Bolt Business, Carolina and the rest of the team can focus solely on account management — and leave finding new clients to the Sales team. “I always preferred being an Account Manager to a salesperson, so finding this role in the Bolt Business team suited me well.”
Carolina Braga, Bolt Business Account Manager
Before Daria Zaichykova became an Account Manager in Ukraine, she was part of Bolt’s Customer Support team. While it may sound like Account Managers and Customer Support agents have similar roles, Daria soon found that account management is very different.
“In customer support, you’re mainly helping somebody to resolve a one-off situation,” explains Daria. “The customer needs an answer, and once they have their resolution, they’ll move on — it’s likely the first and last time they’ll contact support.”
While Account Managers also seek solutions, they speak regularly with the same clients. “As an Account Manager for a B2B company, you need to know what your clients need before they even know themselves,” says Daria. “Every time you offer support to this client, you’re laying a brick that makes up the foundation of a long-lasting relationship.”
Daria Zaichykova, Bolt Business Account Manager
Liam James works as an Account Manager in the UK (also representing clients in Ireland, Malta, and Sweden). However, you might not expect him to be in this position based on his background.
“I trained as an actor at drama school and then worked as an actor for 5 years, touring the UK and putting on shows,” explains Liam. “This culminated in me running my own theatre company in London. It got to the point where I enjoyed managing the company and the more administrative side than actually acting.”
This led Liam James away from acting and into sales. “I started as an Administrative Assistant and then moved into sales roles—working in business development and commercial executive positions. After building up my experience, I started working for Bolt as a Business Development Manager in the UK, a sales-focussed role that involves onboarding new clients.”
At that time, there weren’t any Bolt Business Account Managers in the UK. However, as more businesses signed up for the service, he spent more time on account management-related tasks.
At this point, the UK team needed a dedicated Account Manager, and Liam fit the role.
“I wanted to move into account management, and the team felt that my communication skills suited the role especially well.”
Liam James, Bolt Business Account Manager
The appeal of account management even stretches to salespeople looking to move away from bringing in clients to retaining them.
“I worked in sales for 12-13 years,” says Mateusz. “And I feel like I was good at it. But at some point, I decided that prospecting wasn’t for me. So, in the meantime, I began taking on some account management responsibilities.”
Learning more about account management made Mateusz realise that a full-time role as an Account Manager would be well suited to his skills. “I started to focus more and more on taking care of clients,” explains Mateusz. “Then, I got a position as an Account Manager at Bolt. I feel like taking care of clients aligns more with my personality.”
Many account management teams have three positions: Account Executives, Account Managers, and Key Account Managers. Dovilė Zykutė has experience in all three roles, working her way up the ladder—including a promotion during her time with Bolt Business.
“Before I joined Bolt Business, I worked as an Account Executive for 3 years in the travel and tourism industry,” explains Dovilė. “Then, my first role at Bolt was as an Account Manager. I’ve been here for almost 3 years now, and then, I moved into the position of Key Account Manager in Lithuania.”
In a business-to-business environment, the key difference between these roles is the size of the company you work with. “Generally speaking, the more experience you get as an Account Manager, the more your portfolio will include clients with more employees.”
Dovilė Zykutė, Bolt Business Account Manager
Another Account Manager working her way up the ladder is Elizabeth Inyang, who’s based in Nigeria.
“I started working for Bolt Business as an Account Specialist Intern. I’ve since been made a full-time Account Specialist and was pleased to be recognised for my efforts! Now I’m working towards taking the next step and becoming an Account Manager.”
Elizabeth was rewarded with the role of Account Specialist by displaying the necessary soft skills, communicating effectively with colleagues and clients, and being determined to give her clients the best service.
“When I was working as an intern, I noticed that an account had churned — even though there was a time when they were using our service a lot. I couldn’t believe they’d stopped using our service for no reason, so I contacted their CEO.”
By taking ownership of the situation, Elizabeth got her rewards.
“It turned out that they hadn’t moved to a competitor; they had started using Bolt, the B2C side, rather than our B2B service. By taking the time out of my day to listen to why they made this decision and empathise with the situation, I built a strong relationship based on trust with the client.”
That organisation now makes more orders than almost any other company using Bolt Business in Africa.
Two days are rarely the same in an Account Manager role, but there are several common responsibilities, such as:
You can get an insight into each of these responsibilities below.
Effective communication is a key skill for Account Managers, and putting it into practice means responding promptly. That’s why account managers check their email inboxes first thing in the morning and reply to any outstanding messages.
As well as a morning routine, it’s a good idea to check your inbox before going offline; as Carolina Braga says, “I always end the day with an empty inbox!”
It’s essential to know how many orders your clients are making so that you can speak with them about any spikes or drops in usage.
While reviewing the data daily is important, it’s essential on Mondays.
“At the start of the week, you need to review your client’s orders from the previous week,” explains Dovilė. “You can then use this information to determine which clients to contact and set targets for the week ahead.”
Account Managers also use this data when holding Quarterly Business Reviews with their clients. During these meetings, they discuss:
When speaking to clients, Account Managers represent the company. However, when clients have feedback or suggestions, account managers become their representatives within Bolt Business.
“Being able to listen to the client, empathise with their situation, and then offer a solution is a big part of being an Account Manager,” explains Carolina. “You need to be able to go to internal teams and make the case on behalf of the client. It’s not an easy skill to master, but it’s one of the most important.”
Onboarding calls are your first introduction to the client you’ll be working with. During these calls, you welcome the client to Bolt Business, introduce yourself, and understand how they plan to use our services.
During these calls, you’re setting the tone for the rest of the relationship, so you need to make a strong, professional first impression.
You need a range of skills to be a successful Account Manager. These skills include:
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.
Soft skills are people skills, and every Account Manager needs them.
Being able to listen, manage your time, and resolve problems are vital qualities of the best Account Managers. Speaking with different people every day means you’ll come across different personalities. Being able to communicate effectively with all of these people is essential.
“Honesty is the cornerstone of strong client relationships,” explains Mateusz. “It’s not only about being nice or talking about personal matters but about having the courage to address difficult issues. We earn a client’s trust by being transparent and straightforward.”
While challenges can be hard to face, Mateusz sees them as opportunities.
“As an Account Manager, I see challenging situations not as obstacles but as opportunities to strengthen my relationship with a client. This approach instills confidence in our clients, who know we’re always prepared to address conversations honestly and respectfully.”
Ask any Account Manager about the skills that the most successful account managers have, and communication will often come out on top.
“What led me to account management was my ability to communicate with different types of people without sounding like I’m reading from a script,” says Helina.
“Strong verbal and written communication is essential when you’re an Account Manager. For example, one client may prefer more professional language and traditional forms of communication, while another prefers a more informal relationship with a quick back-and-forth over instant messenger.”
As an Account Manager, clients will put your product knowledge to the test every day. One client may have a question about invoices, while the next wants to know how to do something in their dashboard.
You need to act like an owner and know the product inside out. But it’s also important to be its biggest advocate, too.
“My biggest advice for any professional in account management or sales is that you need to believe in the product,” says Dovliė. “You need to be a cheerleader for that service.”
Working in a fast-paced company and speaking with clients can change your day in a moment. Being able to prioritise in these moments is essential.
“You need a certain mindset working at Bolt. It’s a fast-paced company where things can change quickly. And you need to be ready,” says Helina. “Thinking of the bigger picture in everything you do is important.”
No matter how big your portfolio of clients is, you need to be able to prioritise your customers and your tasks. Your schedule and timeline can change quickly, so you need to be ready to prioritise your projects.
Most Account Managers work in their home market, speaking with clients who share the same native language. Carolina Braga spends most of her time working with clients in her native Portuguese. But she had the chance to work with clients in Germany, too.
“I took the opportunity to work with clients in Germany despite not speaking German. And it’s been a big learning curve for me. For example, my clients in Portugal love small talk. Before we get into business matters, we’ll talk about our weekends and share news about our lives.
Now that I’ve added some clients in Germany to my portfolio, I’ve learned that these meetings are much different. They generally keep small talk to a minimum and discuss work-related matters. It’s been nice for me to get the opportunity to work with clients in different markets.”
As a Bolt Business Account Manager, you’re uniquely positioned to influence change within the company.
“I feel like I have a voice at Bolt,” says Carolina, “my role gives me the chance to improve our service every day, and I know that the relevant person will consider my suggestions and potentially implement them. For me, that’s the coolest part of working here.”
Daria echoes this sentiment as everyone in the company is approachable. “You always have a platform to suggest valid ideas. The relevant person will listen to your ideas whether you contact your manager or your manager’s manager.”
And Daria believes this sentiment goes to the top of the company. “I truly believe that if I wrote a message to our CEO, Markus, in Slack, he would answer.”
Elizabeth Inyang appreciates Bolt’s work-life balance and effort to motivate employees. “Everybody’s so enthused and motivated every day. Bolt keeps us all motivated by regular team bonding activities and events,” explains Elizabeth. “So there’s a healthy balance between work and play.”
If you have what it takes to build strong relationships with our business-to-business clients, you could be the right fit for Bolt Business.
You’ll get the opportunity to interact with new people, represent Bolt Business, and influence positive change every day.
Browse our careers page, find an open Account Manager role, and apply.
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