7 Key Differences Between Sales and Account Management

On the surface, sales and account management seem like pretty similar roles. After all, both account managers, and sales professionals are responsible for driving business growth, connecting with clients, and boosting revenue. However, there is a difference between sales and account management.

In fact – there are multiple. Sales and account managers have different goals and “focus” areas, different ways to monitor success, as well as unique responsibilities, skills, collaborative processes, and roles in the customer relationship. 

Knowing the difference between sales and account management is crucial. Why? Because mixing up these roles can lead to missed opportunities, frustrated clients, and underutilized talent.

Whether you’re a business leader looking to streamline operations, a job-seeker scanning through a sales and account management job description, or you’re just curious about how these roles differ and overlap, we’re here to help. This is your complete guide to the difference between an account manager and a sales representative – and why both are crucial to business success.

Sales and Account Management: Why Knowing the Difference Matters

Let’s start why everyone needs to know the difference between an account manager and sales representative. Although both of these roles share a similar focus on clients and revenue, their goals, approaches, and responsibilities are very different. 

Sales teams are all about acquiring new business. Their focus is on hunting for fresh opportunities, prospecting leads, and closing deals. This means their work is fast-paced, goal-oriented, and often short-term. They’re the engine driving new revenue streams by converting potential customers into paying clients. Alternatively, account management is all about building relationships.

Account managers focus on what happens after the sales team brings new leads to the business. They invest in the “post-sale” phase, ensuring clients are satisfied, retained, and even introduced to new offers and deals that increase their lifetime value. 

So why does the distinction between account manager and sales rep or manager matter? Well, first of all, if you’re starting a new career in sales, knowing the difference between the two will ensure you can choose the role that best aligns with your skills, priorities, and values. 

Alternatively, for a business leader, knowing the difference between a sales and account manager makes it easier to allocate resources effectively. Clear role definitions also reduce friction between teams. When everyone knows where their responsibilities start and end, they’re better equipped to collaborate, share insights, and avoid duplication of efforts.

Knowing the difference between sales and account management can even help business leaders train and manage their teams more effectively. It ensures the right talent is hired for the right roles, boosting both team efficiency and client satisfaction. The result? A well-oiled machine where sales drives acquisition and account management drives retention, creating a sustainable cycle of growth.

Defining Sales and Account Management

So, account management vs sales: what is the difference? We’ll cover some of the main distinctions between sales and account management roles below. First, however, let’s clarify things by defining what a “sales” professional is, and what an “account manager” is. 

Account Management vs Sales: What Is Sales?

At its core, sales is the art and science of converting prospects into paying customers. It’s about identifying needs, offering solutions, and closing deals. For many businesses, sales professionals are on the front-line, connecting a company’s products or services with the right audience.

Sales managers can handle aspects of “relationship” building with prospects and leads – but their main focus is on driving conversions and solving problems. Sales professionals are more interested in generating leads, pitching products, negotiating terms, and closing deals than retaining customers.

They do need to build relationships with leads, and convince them to “trust” the company, but sales professionals often hand the post-sale relationship over to an account manager.

What Do Sales Managers Do?

Sales managers are the architects of sales success. They oversee and guide sales teams, ensuring that revenue goals are met. From setting ambitious targets to developing effective strategies, they play a pivotal role in driving growth.

Key responsibilities of a sales manager include:

• Goal Setting: Defining clear sales objectives and aligning them with business goals.
• Team Leadership: Training, mentoring, and motivating sales representatives to perform at their best.
• Process Optimization: Streamlining workflows to make the sales process efficient and effective.
• Performance Monitoring: Using analytics to track progress and tweak strategies when needed.

By qualifying leads, creating compelling presentations, and ensuring smooth operations, sales managers enable their teams to focus on what matters most: closing deals.

Sales Manager vs Account Manager: What Is Account Management?

While sales focus on getting the customer, account management is all about keeping them. It’s the process of nurturing client relationships after the deal is closed, ensuring satisfaction, and unlocking growth opportunities. Account management bridges the gap between transactional selling and strategic relationship building. 

Account managers wear many hats. They act as client advocates, strategic advisors, and problem-solvers. Their role is to ensure that the client sees value in the product or service they’ve invested in—and keeps coming back for more. This means they not only maintain relationships but actively look for ways to expand them, whether through upselling, cross-selling, or introducing new solutions tailored to the client’s evolving needs.

A key focus of account management is understanding the client’s long-term goals. By aligning their strategies with the client’s objectives, account managers build trust and loyalty. They’re not just managing accounts—they’re managing relationships.

What Do Account Managers Do?

An account manager in sales is the person responsible for generating the most value from a relationship, both for a company selling a product or service, and the customer. They take a hands-on approach to ensure customers feel valued and supported.

Key responsibilities of an account manager include:

• Relationship Building: Acting as the primary point of contact for clients, fostering trust and loyalty.
• Problem Solving: Addressing client concerns quickly and effectively, ensuring satisfaction.
• Strategic Growth: Identifying opportunities to upsell or cross-sell, helping clients grow while driving revenue for the company.
• Personalization: Providing tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of each account.

In short, account managers focus on the bigger picture. After a sales professional captures and converts a lead, an account manager helps to ensure that lead sticks around. 

The Key Differences Between Sales and Account Management

Still confused about the sales manager vs account manager conundrum? Let’s break down the core differences between these roles, and what they typically involve. 

1. Goals and Focus Areas

One of the biggest differences between sales and account management, are the goals or “focus areas” of these employees. Both account managers and sales reps (or sales managers) want to improve business growth and increase company revenue. However, how they achieve those goals is very different. The sales team, typically, is laser-focused on acquisition.

Their primary goal is to convert leads into customers, acting as the frontline in driving new business. Sales professionals work closely with marketing teams to identify qualified prospects, engaging them with tailored pitches, educational resources, and solutions designed to meet their needs. 

On the other hand, account managers focus on retention and growth. They take over where the sales teams leaves off, working to build long-term relationships with clients. Their aim is to ensure customers are happy with their purchase, and remain loyal to the brand. Sometimes, they also help to increase customer lifetime value, by searching for opportunities to upsell and cross-sell customers.

Ultimately, the goals of account managers and sales experts has an impact on their day-to-day priorities. Sales managers spend a lot of time helping sales teams excel in prospecting, identifying lead opportunities, and initiating conversations with customers. Account managers focus on analyzing customer satisfaction, addressing concerns, and building long-lasting connections.

2. Responsibilities and Tasks 

The difference between account managers and sales representatives and account managers and sales managers becomes a lot clearer when you look at their day-to-day responsibilities. Although the exact responsibilities of each professional can vary, there are clear distinctions between each role.

Sales Rep Responsibilities

Sales professionals or reps are the driving force behind customer acquisition. Their role begins with identifying potential clients and turning them into paying customers. This involves a range of tasks, such as:

• Making cold calls to reach out to new leads.
• Leveraging sales software to research and qualify prospects.
• Building rapport through personalized communication.
• Crafting and delivering sales presentations tailored to client needs.
• Demonstrating product value with engaging demos.
• Creating accurate sales forecasts to guide revenue projections.

Sales teams are also responsible for negotiating deals and ensuring that the terms align with both client needs and company goals. Their primary success metric? Closing deals and hitting sales targets.

Sales Manager Responsibilities

Sales managers guide and support the sales team. They create sales plans, set goals, oversee activities, and prepare sales projections and forecasts. Their role generally revolves around tasks like:

• Planning and executing sales strategies.
• Managing, training, hiring, and firing sales staff.
• Analyzing sales data to drive business decisions.
• Building relationships with key clients (alongside account managers).
• Identifying new opportunities for growth.
• Advising distributors and dealers. 

While sales managers can also handle customer complaints and requests, these tasks are usually delegated to account managers in most organizations. 

Account Manager Responsibilities

Account managers take over once the sale is finalized, with their focus shifting to building long-term client relationships. Their responsibilities include:

• Acting as the main point of contact for existing clients.
• Monitoring customer satisfaction and resolving concerns proactively.
• Understanding client goals and offering personalized solutions.
• Educating clients on new features, upgrades, or complementary products.
• Strategically upselling and cross-selling to increase account value.

Account managers also analyze client feedback to ensure their needs are met, continuously working to foster loyalty and strengthen partnerships.

3. Skills Required

Since there are major differences in sales and account management from a goals and responsibilities perspective, it probably makes sense that there are differences in the skills required too. Both sales and account manager roles require excellent communication skills, and emotional intelligence.

Sales professionals generally need more skills related to:

• Persuasion and Negotiation: Sales reps must convince undecided customers of the value of a product or service while negotiating terms that satisfy both parties.
• Storytelling: Effective sales presentations often rely on stories that make the product’s benefits memorable and relatable.
• Active Listening: Listening attentively to prospects helps sales reps identify pain points and tailor their pitch to meet specific needs.
• Confidence: Confidence not only reassures potential buyers but also conveys expertise, which is crucial for closing deals.

Alternatively, account managers build on their communication skills and emotional intelligence with a wide range of other soft and technical skills, such as:

• Empathy: Understanding client frustrations is crucial when resolving issues and maintaining satisfaction.
• Strategic Thinking: Account managers must think big-picture, identifying opportunities to offer upgrades, cross-sell, or expand account value.
• Data analysis: Account managers need to be able to understand data and trends to make decisions that help them strengthen relationships with customers.
• Problem solving: While a good sales leader or sales rep should also have problem-solving skills, account managers are more commonly responsible for handling customer complaints, and addressing day-to-day issues.

4. Impact on the Customer Relationship

When it comes to identifying the difference between sales and account management in customer relations it’s worth noting that both of these professionals are essential to building strong connections with customers. Both roles engage with customers, but the depth, tone, and longevity of their relationships with customers is different. 

Sales teams are like the opening act of a relationship. Their role is to make a strong first impression, forge connections, and convince potential customers that their product or service is the perfect solution. This requires meticulous research, meaningful outreach, and compelling pitches. Sales professionals excel at asking the right questions and actively listening to understand what leads actually need, and boost their chances of conversions.

However, for most sales reps and managers, the relationship with the customer is heavily transactional and short-lived. Once a lead converts into a paying customer, the sales team moves on. 

On the other hand, after sales experts “set the stage” for a long-lasting relationship, account managers build out the story. They focus on long-term customer satisfaction and retention, fostering deeper connections, delivering constant value and addressing concerns. 

Account managers work on keeping customers around for as long as possible, and making sure they get the most value out of the solution they purchase. These are the people who turn one-off buyers into lifelong advocates and supporters for a brand.

5. Success Metrics

When it comes to measuring success, sales and account management use entirely different scorecards. Each role tracks specific metrics that align with its unique goals – closing new deals versus nurturing existing clients. For sales professionals and sales managers, success is about acquisition.

Why both a sales manager and account manager might look at the “lifetime value” of customers, sales experts usually focus on metrics like:

• Pipeline Growth: The volume and quality of leads entering the sales funnel.
• Conversion Rates: The percentage of leads that move through the funnel and become customers.
• Total Business Closed: The ultimate measure of success—how much revenue they’ve brought in by sealing deals.

Sales teams typically work on shorter timelines, so sales managers focus more on immediate impact. Account managers, on the other hand, focus on relationship-level metrics. For most account managers, the most important metric is “recurring revenue and renewals”. 

In many cases, account managers also look at metrics like:

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): A direct measure of client happiness and account health.
• Net Revenue Retention (NRR): A snapshot of growth, factoring in upsells, cross-sells, and reduced churn.
• Account Expansion: Tracking how much additional business has been generated from existing clients.

6. Collaboration with Other Departments

Effective collaboration is important for both sales and account manager roles. However, the people these professionals interact with, and how they collaborate is different. 

Sales managers work closely with several departments to keep the deal pipeline flowing. They work closely with product development teams, sales reps, and business leaders. They also frequently work alongside the marketing team, creating strategies to generate and qualify leads. 

In some industries, sales managers interact with external partners like wholesalers or suppliers, gathering key details about pricing or supply chain factors to relay back to internal teams. Their goal is to streamline the sales process and boost revenue growth through effective collaboration. 

Account managers act as a bridge between customers and internal departments. If a client has a technical issue, the account manager works with the customer support team to ensure it’s addressed as quickly as possible. For more complex issues, account managers might also work with product or development teams. 

Some account managers will also frequently collaborate with finance teams to handle things like invoices, special offers for VIP customers, and renewals. Plus, they’ll constantly work alongside the sales team to identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

7. Career Opportunities

Finally, the “progression” opportunities for sales professionals and account managers can be different too. Sales professionals can come to their role from virtually any background, and generally choose from a couple of distinct paths when progressing in their careers. 

Some professionals focus on “specialization” in certain aspects of sales, like strategic sales, technical sales, or field-based sales. Other sales professionals take the leadership route, transitioning into sales management where they oversee teams of account executives, and other sales professionals. 

Over time, sales managers might move into specific regional or vertical specific roles, such as Chief Sales Officer (CSO) or Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

Account managers, on the other hand, come to their roles from backgrounds in the sales and customer service landscape (for the most part). Again, these professionals can take different avenues as they progress in their career. Some account managers focus on handling “strategic portfolios” of clients. Others move into leadership roles with their own unique nuances.

For instance, after achieving success as an account manager, you might eventually become a Director of Account Management, or a VP of Customer Success. Some companies even create roles for account managers, like “Chief Customer Officer”. 

The Importance of Collaboration Between Sales and Account Management

While there are clear differences between sales and account manager roles, that doesn’t mean professionals in these positions shouldn’t be working together. Sales reps or managers, and account managers need to work together to optimize the customer experience, build stronger relationships with clients, and drive revenue.

Sales managers and professionals take the lead by identifying and leveraging initial opportunities, then they pass the relationship off to the account manager to boost future professional. Collaboration between these two departments can significantly improve revenue and growth.

For instance, a sales professional can help an account manager identify opportunities to upsell and cross-sell customers, based on prior conversations with that lead. Account managers and sales professionals who work together also enhance customer satisfaction.

Account managers can share insights with sales teams and marketing teams that help them to craft better deals, pitches, and onboarding strategies for new clients. 

Beyond that, collaboration between the various customer-facing specialists in an organization helps to streamline operations, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve efficiency. 

How to Decide Which Role Fits You Best

As we mentioned above, it’s not just business leaders that often ask the question: “What is the difference between sales and account management?” Professionals frequently ask this question when they’re trying to determine which role is right for them. 

Both paths offer dynamic, client-facing opportunities and the chance to make a significant impact. But they also demand different skills, work styles, and career goals. Here are some quick tips to help you if you’re struggling with choosing the right sales career path. 

1. Assess Your Skills and Talents

In the battle of account management vs sales, the skills you already have will be crucial in making the right decision. In both positions, you can develop new skills over time, but conducting an “audit” of your current competencies can help you to identify the role you’re better suited to initially.

If you excel in persuasion, negotiation, and storytelling, and love the challenge of converting a “maybe” into a “yes,” you’ll likely thrive in sales. Strong prospecting abilities and confidence are essential for initiating connections with potential clients and closing deals.

If you’re skilled at relationship-building, active listening, and problem-solving, account management may be a better fit. Account managers are often the trusted advisors who ensure clients are satisfied and see value over time. Empathy and strategic thinking are critical here.

2. Think About your Work Style

Your preferred “style” of working also makes a difference to whether you should consider sales or account management. Sales roles are typically highly structured and fast-paced. If you thrive when working according to tight deadlines and hitting targets, sales makes sense. Sales could also be a good option for you if you like independent work, and feel confident navigating stress.

Account management roles focus a lot more on collaboration, patience, and the ability to juggle multiple responsibilities over longer timeframes. If you enjoy fostering teamwork and taking initiative in building client strategies, account management offers a great fit.

3. Consider Long-Term Career Goals

Both sales and account management can give you plenty of opportunities to develop new skills and advance into various positions. However, your overall professional goals will play a huge role in determining which role is right for you. 

If you’re looking for opportunities to earn a lot of revenue for a business, achieve quick wins, and tackle high-pressure targets, sales could be the ideal option for you. However, if you’re interested in building relationships and managing longer-term partnerships, account management might be the ideal option for you. 

Think about the kinds of tasks and opportunities that energize and inspire you. Ultimately, the ideal role should be the one that gives you the biggest sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

Sales and Account Management: Businesses Need Both

Both sales and account managers play indispensable roles in driving business success. Together, they create a powerful, complementary team that helps ensure sustainable growth and customer satisfaction, as well as great revenue results. 

Sales professionals are the lifeblood of new revenue, turning prospects into paying customers through their expertise in persuasion, negotiation, and closing deals. They fuel business expansion by identifying opportunities and ensuring a steady influx of new clients. Without their ability to secure new business, organizations would struggle to grow and stay competitive.

On the other hand, account managers are the champions of long-term relationships. By nurturing existing clients, resolving their concerns, and delivering value over time, they help maintain customer loyalty and reduce churn. Their focus on upselling and cross-selling ensures that current accounts remain profitable and continue to grow, maximizing the lifetime value of each customer.

Ultimately, it’s the balance between the acquisition focus of sales teams and the retention efforts of account managers that keeps businesses thriving.


Rebekah Carter

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