Strategic Key Account Manager

Job Overview

Position Title: Strategic Key Account Manager Position Structure: Inside / Outside Hybrid Role

Position Detail

Definition

Reports To: Director of Sales & Marketing

Employment Type: Full-time

Primary Account Scope: Assigned strategic accounts, house accounts, and existing customer relationships

Travel: Customer visits and plant engagement as required

Primary Mission: Customer relationship protection, succession readiness, account coverage expansion, and aftermarket growth

Position Summary

The Strategic Key Account Manager protects, retains, and grows assigned customer relationships through disciplined inside account management and purposeful field engagement.

The role broadens relationship coverage, captures institutional customer and application knowledge, conducts annual parts reviews, creates qualified aftermarket opportunities, gathers Voice of Customer feedback, and maintains reliable HubSpot CRM records.

This is the account-growth and external succession-protection role within the future ITS sales model. It is not the primary net-new customer acquisition role.

Primary Responsibilities

Account Ownership

• Own assigned strategic and house accounts.
• Maintain current account plans, priorities, risks, commitments, and next steps.
• Develop a clear understanding of the customer’s business, installed equipment, applications, operating priorities, and future plans.
• Coordinate appropriate ITS resources to support customer needs.

Customer Relationship Protection

• Protect customer continuity during employee retirements, turnover, or account transitions.
• Reduce dependence on a single ITS employee or a single customer contact.
• Build meaningful relationships across:
• Executive leadership
• Engineering
• Operations
• Maintenance
• Purchasing
• Quality
• Safety and environmental functions
• Other relevant customer departments

Relationship Expansion

• Identify relationship gaps within assigned accounts.
• Create purposeful connections that improve:
• Customer continuity
• Technical access
• Operational knowledge
• Purchasing access
• Executive sponsorship
• Backup relationship coverage
• Document relationship purpose and succession benefit in HubSpot CRM.

Annual Parts Reviews

· A Parts Review counts only when the approved checklist is completed and documented in HubSpot CRM.

• Prepare for and conduct annual parts reviews using the approved ITS Annual Parts Review Guide and Checklist.
• Review:
• Installed equipment
• Critical and recommended spares
• Component availability
• Obsolescence risks
• Maintenance needs
• Service needs
• Retrofit and modernization opportunities
• Document findings, customer follow-up, action owners, and target dates.

Qualified Aftermarket Opportunity Creation

• Identify and advance qualified opportunities for:
• Parts
• Service
• Audits
• Inspections
• Training
• Retrofits
• Modernizations
• Capital equipment
• Create an opportunity only when:
• A specific customer need has been identified.
• The customer has acknowledged the need or agreed to a next step.
• Required HubSpot CRM information is complete.
• Need identified
• Customer validated
• Contact identified
• Next action agreed upon
• Entered in HubSpot CRM
• Reviewed during manager meeting
• Maintain accurate opportunity stage, value or range when available, owner, timing, and next action.

Customer Engagement

• Conduct purposeful customer calls and site visits.
• Lead selected formal account reviews and Quarterly Business Reviews.
• Prepare clear meeting objectives and agendas.
• Document decisions, commitments, action owners, and due dates.
• Follow through on customer and internal commitments.

Voice of Customer

• Conduct structured Voice of Customer conversations.
• Capture customer feedback, expectations, risks, dissatisfaction, and improvement opportunities.
• Share relevant feedback with appropriate ITS functions.
• Use customer feedback to improve account plans and service delivery.

HubSpot CRM Discipline

• Maintain complete and current:
• Account records
• Contact records
• Activities
• Opportunities
• Customer intelligence
• Risks
• Decisions
• Next steps
• Ensure customer knowledge is usable by the broader ITS organization.
• Avoid retaining important account knowledge only in personal notes, email, or memory.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Coordinate with:
• Technical Sales
• Parts
• Service
• Engineering
• Operations
• Project Management
• Leadership
• Establish clear action owners and due dates.
• Communicate customer commitments accurately.
• Avoid making commitments outside delegated authority.

Qualifications

Required

• Five or more years of industrial account management, inside/outside sales, applications, service sales, project management, or related customer-facing manufacturing experience.
• Demonstrated ability to build and expand customer relationships.
• Strong discovery, documentation, and follow-through skills.
• Ability to discuss technical equipment and coordinate internal technical resources.
• Experience using HubSpot CRM or another structured CRM platform.
• Ability to travel for customer visits and formal account reviews.

Preferred

• Industrial capital equipment experience.
• Aftermarket parts or service experience.
• OEM, systems integration, or manufacturing experience.
• Experience supporting ovens, washers, paint systems, material handling, controls, thermal systems, or related industrial equipment.
• Experience inheriting or transitioning established customer accounts.

Core Competencies

• Customer relationship protection
• Strategic account ownership
• Relationship expansion
• Succession readiness
• Discovery and questioning
• Technical curiosity
• Aftermarket opportunity identification
• Process discipline
• HubSpot CRM discipline
• Cross-functional coordination
• Follow-through
• Coachability
• Integrity and sound judgment

Education

· High school diploma or equivalent required.

· We value demonstrated experience, business judgment, customer relationship skills, and a track record of success more than formal educational credentials.

· College degree preferred, but not required.

Standards of Conduct

All employees are expected to:

• Represent customer information, ITS capabilities, commitments, activity, opportunities, and results accurately.
• Respect delegated authority and internal approval requirements.
• Communicate significant customer concerns and business risks promptly.
• Maintain accurate HubSpot CRM records.
• Support an open, collaborative account-management culture.
• Share customer knowledge rather than treating relationships as personal property.

Detailed employment and conduct policies remain governed by the applicable ITS employee handbook, policies, and employment documents.

Pay: $70,000.00 - $110,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person