Introducing Hired 2.0, a spinoff series where we interview team members at Venn Technology who were promoted or transitioned into a new role.
Meet Jimmienell Newell, Account Manager at Venn. In this interview, she discusses the transition from her previous role as a Project Manager and what steps she plans to take in rolling out a new function for client engagement.
How has your transition been from Project Manager to Account Manager?
When I initially started and was interviewing, I had expressed a desire to grow within the company and eventually lean more towards what I think my natural skills are–the social and relationship-building functions of the business. There's a lot of that in project management, but I just wanted to take it to the next level.
How have you helped in shaping the role of Account Manager at Venn?
The leadership team let me take the reins in developing what an account management process looks like at Venn. My focus has been answering the questions like, what does the role even actually look like? How do I interact with our clients versus a sales executive or a project manager? I've been given the opportunity to take the lead and help define a path for the role.
What are you hoping to accomplish in your new role?
When I first transitioned into account management, my initial goal was just to evaluate where we even stood with our clients and how we were already interacting with them. It wouldn't make sense for me to come in and change things that were working well.
My first 30 days consisted of digging into our current atmosphere of client relationships so I could identify any gaps and work on closing them. Moving into this next quarter, my goal is to decide how Venn can continue to build more successful, recurring relationships and continue reinforcing the purpose of our partnership.
How has the response been from clients?
Account management is a newer function within Venn, and it has been taken so well by our clients so far. I feel like I was immediately accepted by a few of our key accounts.
I think our sales team, especially our account executives, have a ton on their plate. As they're going out and trying to find new business, it can be difficult to stop and curate deep relationships with each and every client. That is where I get to come in and add more value.
What impact has account management had on the business so far?
I think account management has been able to identify a lot of opportunities for each of our departments to connect. When you look at a client lifecycle, every department, every person in our company is interacting with that client during the cycle. And, when you're in account management, all of those interactions matter.
It's been fun to see where marketing reaches out first, and then the handoff to the Project Managers—what can we do to keep the message exactly the same throughout an entire client lifecycle. When it comes to account management, the whole company really has to work together as one team.
What goals have you set for account management going forward?
We are writing down our goals for account management, and one of the big things is making sure that we get the process defined. When does an account manager come in and what type of client needs one versus one that doesn’t? It's been important to clearly define the role so it can be easily trained as we continue to grow and add more to the team. My second goal is to continue developing our relationships with clients and making sure they understand my role and how I can help them meet their goals as a business.
Anything else you’d like to add?
If you’re out there looking for a new role, and you're looking for a company where you can bring new ideas to the table while moving at a fast pace and interacting with many different personalities, then Venn is the team to join. And, if you aren't sure that any of the roles fit you, I encourage you to at least try and interview. We're always growing, so newer roles are being created all the time.
