When outsourcing your IT, it is important that you have an IT Partner you can trust and that is working hard to mitigate potential risks in your IT environment. On top of this and providing you with proactive support, they should be invested in getting to know you and your business. In this post, we will highlight one of the most important roles in our company, the Technical Account Manager A.K.A the TAM by shedding light on what they do and the value they bring to businesses like yours.
What is a Technical Account Manager (TAM)?
To answer this question, we asked an actual TAM to describe what a Technical Account Manager is, and their response is as follows:
Like a Batman & Robin duo, a Technical Account Manager is one-half of a two-person team that focuses on the proactive side of technology for our customers. The TAM works closely with the Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) to address current issues and future changes with the customer and assesses what is needed to make IT better for their business. The TAM focuses on building relationships with customers, they are responsible for physically checking that all technical equipment is running smoothly, tools are installed properly, notifications are working, and all services are operational. The TAM also gathers all necessary information about the customer and documents it for the Yardstick Service Department to reference when issues occur.
Why is a Technical Account Manager (TAM) Important?
The Technical Account Manager is important because they foster genuine and authentic relationships between Yardstick and our customers. They work closely with customers to understand their technology, the challenges they face and they identify solutions for these challenges. With the support of a TAM, we ensure our customers businesses are functioning as efficiently as possible.
A Day in the Life of a TAM
Now the fun part! Below are a few questions we ran by a TAM to get more insight on their role…
1. Describe a typical day in your work life?
Typically, it is spent at a customer’s site. I travel to the customer’s office first thing in the morning and set up shop making sure to meet and greet everyone I can! I then meet with the site champion (our main contact – usually a key stakeholder in the company) to discuss my plans for the day at their site, and to see if there are any issues or anything that has been happening since my last visit. After that, I complete all my checks for the customer and start digging through any issues and research that is required for the day. I also work on any future plans we have discussed with the customer. I make sure to document any new findings or changes noticed while I am on site. Before the end of the day, I follow up with the site champion to let them know how things worked out, if anything was found, and if anything is required down the road.
2. Can you tell me about one of the highlights of your role?
No two days are the same! Especially when dealing with customers in different business verticals who face various technology challenges and require different solutions.
3. What is the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is trying to have a schedule that is built out for two months while also trying to be flexible when important items come up. Not everything can be done in a day! Also, keeping up with various types of technology is like “drinking from a fire hose”. Technology is constantly evolving so it is very important for us to stay in the loop so we always provide our customers with the best recommendations.
4. What do you enjoy most about your job?
My favorite parts of my day are meeting with the site champion to catch up with them about their personal and business lives, creating plans to better their business, and of course, seeing it be implemented and the improvements working! In short, contributing to solving business problems with technology.
5. Anything else you would like to share?
There are a lot of aspects to this role that fits with me, and it is wonderful to be able to embrace them. Every day is different, and I can be creative and social while getting out of the office to visit people or work from home. There’s always good data to research and crunch to make meaningful reports to add value to Yardstick and our customers. Plus, the people I work with are amazing – the best in the industry!
The Technical Account Manager (TAM) plays a very important role at Yardstick and provides great value to our customers. Without them, we would have a hard time providing our customers with the proactive and preventative support we offer today. The TAM is responsible for many things, but at the top of the list, it is building strong relationships with our customers that help us solve their business problems with technology.
Are you interested in having a TAM support your business and its technology?
At Yardstick, we invest our time upfront to understand your business and concerns. From there we implement a solution that is in the best interest of you, the customer. Contact us today for a free no-obligation discovery call.
