Direct Account Manager (Hybrid - Atlanta)

Job Summary & Location

Acuity is hiring a highly motivated and experienced Direct Account Manager to join our team, focusing on our National Accounts. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker who will take full ownership of the management and success of our most essential accounts, encompassing all CX responsibilities and the coordination of holistic project teams. The central focus of the role is to serve as a champion for these crucial customers, ensuring an exceptional experience throughout their relationship with Acuity. The Direct Account Manager will be the central point of communication, seamlessly coordinating between external stakeholders and internal teams—such as Sales, Order Support, and Post-Sales. The ideal candidate will have a knack for building and maintaining strong relationships, resolving complex issues, and identifying new growth opportunities. They also contribute to continuous process improvements and ensure the highest customer satisfaction levels, both internally and externally. As the Direct Account Manager, you will work directly with the sales team in strategic planning meetings, including in-person presentations that may focus on plans and issue resolution, promoting continued growth and support. Your role will also involve addressing and resolving issues swiftly and effectively, and leveraging your strategic problem-solving skills. You will play a key role in developing opportunities within accounts while optimizing all processes for efficiency and effectiveness. This position requires a proactive "inspect what you expect" mentality to ensure all account management processes meet and exceed expectations. 

This hybrid position is based in Atlanta, GA. 

Primary Responsibilities Include

• Support Sales Team: Work closely with the sales team, participating in planning meetings, in-person presentations, and opportunity development. These meetings should focus on account management and customer satisfaction, educating the customer, and setting program expectations. It'll be important to proactively identify potential issues and implement solutions to prevent and resolve problems quickly.
• Account Ownership: Take full responsibility for the management and success of assigned national accounts, ensuring customer satisfaction and business growth, including being the primary point of contact while serving as the main communication link between internal teams (Sales, Project Management Support, Post-Sales, Order Support) and external customers. You develop and maintain strong, long-lasting relationships with key internal and external stakeholders. Additionally, it will be critical that you hold all involved teams accountable for their contributions to account success, ensuring seamless collaboration and execution.
• Continuous Process Improvement: Foster an environment of efficiency and productivity around account activities by consistently advocating for ongoing process improvement, including initiating AOP events addressing the needs of the account and the National Account organization, and maintaining a collaborative culture among all stakeholders.         
  Account Planning: Assist in strategic account planning and execution, ensuring that all internal resources are aligned for program success, while striving to exceed customer expectations.
• Other duties may be required.    

Required Qualifications

• Naturally empathetic. The ability to step into someone else's shoes and walk a few miles can make all the difference between someone successful in this position and someone who struggles. You can also produce the best solutions by truly understanding the customer's pain.
• Customer Advocacy. Customer Support leaders must be strong, natural advocates. Your entire job is to fight to improve the customer experience, which can sometimes be more difficult than it sounds.
• Process-driven. We must serve our customers beyond their expectations and have sustainable, repeatable, efficient, and continuously improving processes. The details matter.
• Curious. There is always room for improvement. Be curious, learn, engage, and drive impact.
• KPI driven. Everything in this function is measurable. You will find ways to measure how well we serve customers with metrics like the Customer Effort Score, Customer Satisfaction Score, and transactional Net Promoter Score for customer service interactions.
• Hungry. A deep desire to learn our business and the processes associated. You will seek to be an expert and the authority on anything that could impact the customer experience at any point, and how we can resolve it.
• Business acumen. Elevated level of business acumen, organizational skills, and interpersonal abilities. 
  Analytical. Data-driven decision maker.
• Pace. An ability to multitask and work effectively in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Leadership. An ability to lead and drive (directly and indirectly) to achieve results collaboratively. You know that influence is greater than authority.
• Available to travel (domestic and international) 0 - 25%. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• A bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience or certifications.
• Strong organizational and multitasking abilities.
• Background in sales operations and post-sales support.
• Proven experience in account management, sales, or a related field.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent strategic problem-solving abilities.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
• Focus on continuous improvement and process optimization.
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.