As an Account Manager one receives many quote requests on a daily basis and due to the high competition in the translation industry, a fast response is key to close a sale, or at least to increase the chances of selling a translation project. However, besides responding quickly, the Account Manager needs to determine the main driver of the prospect; Cost, Quality and/or Time, as it is essential to know what your client needs. Once the driver is known, a specific and detailed quote can be provided.
In general, it is not sufficient to solely provide the prospect with the requested quote, but it has also become important to provide that added value to set one´s Service apart from the rest. This added value can be in the form of many Services, tangible and/or intangible, however I believe it is important to do some research on the Company for which the prospect is working for, to show that one is highly interested in receiving their business and to also be able to understand what the client´s needs and wants are.
In addition, it gives the Account Manager the opportunity to offer the prospect/client additional Services, such as website translation, phone interpretation services or on-site interpretation services. For example, let’s say the client contacts the Account Manager to ask for a quote on a document for marketing purposes. The Account Manager promises the client to provide a detailed quote shortly. While the Project Manager analyzes the document to prepare a quote, the Account Manager looks up the website of the company for which his client works for and he realizes that it is only available in English. After the Account Manager has sent the detailed quote to his client, during his follow up procedure, he can use that moment to offer additional services, such as the website translation into Spanish. This can be a win-win situation for both parties, as the client could receive a higher demographical interest in his products, as more people understand what the company is offering, and the Account Manager has made an additional sale increasing his company´s revenue.
It is always important to know and understand your client´s needs and wants and obviously know what your client does business wise, in order to be successful in Sales. That is why a little research about your client can always result in an additional sale.
