The Requirements
To be a good fit for this opportunity you should have:- A bachelor's degree; an MBA or other advanced degree is a plus.
- Seven to ten years of experience in account management or customer relationship management roles, including working directly with Fortune 1000 clients. Experience supporting customers globally is strongly preferred.
- A successful track record in maintaining long-term customers and growing accounts.
- Experience in technology environments, ideally with data centers, telecom, network or similar services. Quick question for you - click here
- A demonstrated ability to coordinate among internal functional areas to deliver on customer satisfaction.
- The ability to identify sales/account expansion opportunities.
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
- Strong leadership skills including the ability to influence and motivate others.
- Solid business acumen.
- Excellent follow-through skills.
The Role
Reporting to the Vice President, Global Sales Operations, you will be one of the first Client Relationship Managers on a team that we anticipate will grow.Your overall mission will be to drive client satisfaction and growth, and your main objectives will include:
- Acting as a client advocate and coordinating with multiple internal departments, including Sales, Accounting, Implementation, Legal, Technology, Product Management, Portfolio Management, and Customer Service.
- Understanding each client's strategic initiatives, as well as those of Digital Realty, and ensuring that sound decisions are being made in order to deliver quality service.
- Identifying revenue opportunities within existing clients and through referrals.
- Suggesting improvements for process and procedures so that established goals are met.
- Taking a proactive approach to client relationship management and handling issues in an efficient and professional manner, both internally and externally, to achieve client satisfaction.
- Work as client’s primary point of contact for the entire DLR relationship (User, Manager, Technical, Legal).
- Act as the primary point of contact to specific clients, managing the overall and day-to-day business.
- Develop and manage ongoing relationships with client contacts.
- Recommend best practices based on industry/other clients.
- Conduct periodic reviews of client product configurations to ensure maximum value.
- Respond to client inquiries in a timely manner.
- Ensure contract billing is correctly administered.
- Initiate renewal strategy and process.
- Work on client projects as assigned by Digital Realty.
- Effectively delegate administrative and tactical items.
- Collaborate with cross-functional areas and lead projects on behalf of the client (implementation initiatives, product support, etc.).
- Identify up-sell opportunities and generate sales leads.
- Escalate items where necessary.
- Run periodic client meetings.
- Develop and maintain strategic account plans across businesses.
- Lead strategic discussions with clients and interact with executives at the C-Suite level.
- Establish sound partnerships with clients to determine current and future needs for growth.
- Assume responsibility for total client satisfaction of assigned clients, as measured in quality survey results and client retention.
- Solicit feedback from clients regarding satisfaction and suggestions for enhancements.
- Work to improve processes, procedures, and documentation to improve the effectiveness of the services provided.
- Proactively identify solutions that will assist the client.
- Collaborate with the client and make recommendations for more efficient use of existing solutions.
- Partner with the sales team in pursuing new business opportunities, including playing a key role in new business onboarding for new strategic clients.
- Facilitate CMRs/SOWs.
- Oversee program launches and changes.
- Manage client program completions.
- Conduct new client product training and retraining of existing clients.
- Prepare and facilitate end-of-year reviews for selected accounts.
- Develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of Digital Realty's products and clients' implemented products/processes/data.
- Maintain and track appropriate account information in Salesforce and SharePoint. Quick question for you - click here
- Build best practices for expansion of the program to all Digital Realty customers.
Why Digital Realty
High visibility impact -- you will partner with some of our biggest clients and this new initiative has the attention of our senior leadership. You'll be able to build your network with contacts from industry leaders in financial services, healthcare, Internet and technology, manufacturing and more.Professional development -- in addition to helping build the Customer Relationship Management team, you'll help shape your own role. As this team continues to grow we'll be looking for proven performers to step up, or you might take your career with Digital Realty into a different direction. The knowledge and skills you acquire in this role could set you up to pursue a Sales Director position, for example.
The "best of both worlds" -- you'll find that working for our company may be a little bit different. We are small enough, with over 800 employees worldwide, that your hard work will be visible throughout the organization, yet our extensive portfolio of services and solutions and proven track record of growth, stability and industry-leading innovation give you the resources and tools you need to take your career to the next level.
Unique culture -- we are a collaborative, people-focused company dedicated to quality and continuous improvement. When you become a member of our team, you receive our commitment to your continued development and support.
Strong foundation -- our financial strength and stability provide our customers with the assurance that Digital Realty will be their partner for current data center needs and those in the future, and our investment credit ratings provide us access to paths for more capital. We view each of our customers as a long-term partner. At Digital Realty the success of our customers' businesses is our business.
Green standard for sustainability -- we are committed to improving the performance and energy efficiency of our data centers through the creation, adoption and promotion of industry-leading best data center practices and experience. We are pioneers in thinking about green data centers, as well as, adopting and building to LEED and BREEAM certification requirements. We are also a Contributing Member of The Green Grid.
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive base salary and variable incentive plan, we offer a comprehensive benefits package.
Pictured: located in the Chelsea and Meatpacking Districts of Manhattan, 111 Eighth Avenue was originally built in 1932. The 1999 renovation overhauled its base building systems, transforming this property into a premiere Internet gateway facility and a first class office building. This highly sought after building ranks as one of the premiere telecom hotels in Manhattan -- and across the country.
Keys to Success
To excel in this role you will become a trusted advisor and an extended member of the client's team, and they will share their strategic vision with you. Through your knowledge of DLR internal processes and customer needs, you will create an 'Effortless Experience' for your customers in dealing with DLR.Your primary focus will be to advocate on behalf of customers, but you also will be well positioned to identify new opportunities for Digital Realty to be of service. The key measures of your success will be client retention and account growth.
You also will need to be able to multi-task effectively, juggling competing priorities and managing client deliverables. Leadership will be crucial as you work across functional lines within Digital Realty, and you will leverage your influencing skills to get buy-in and drive execution. You'll need to bring high energy and exceptional organizational skills, including the ability to handle daily issues that arise while also driving larger initiatives. You can count on no two days being the same, so flexibility also will be important.
Pictured: Digital Realty's Dublin Data Center, located on the outskirts of Dublin and convenient to Dublin’s M50, is a multitenant facility boasting Turn-Key Datacentres® with 240KW of UPS capacity. This building is over 120,000sq ft. and comprised of office and storage space as well as 24/7 security onsite.
About Digital Realty
Since the Company's initial public offering in November 2004, Digital Realty has been a fast-growing leader in the design, development and operation of data centers worldwide. We focus on delivering customer driven data center solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data center needs. Our customers include leading media, financial services, communications and technology-based businesses. Our portfolio is located in 32 markets around the world and consists of more than 100 properties, totaling over 21 million square feet.Digital Realty's portfolio is located in more than 30 markets across nine countries throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Our global presence is supported by local experts in the markets we serve. And we stand out in the marketplace by offering innovative solutions driven by customers who see data centers not just as a technical investment, but also as a strategic platform for success.
Digital Realty is a publicly traded company (NYSE: DLR) with investment grade ratings from all three major ratings agencies.
Video: the Digital Realty Ecosystem provides customers with a neutral, efficient and connectivity-rich environment to connect with carriers, business partners and service providers. It also provides an underlying, redundant infrastructure for carriers and service providers to deliver their entire portfolio of products and services to customers in any Digital Realty data center, without capital-intensive deployment costs.