Account Manager

KPN Group Belgium nv/sa is a 100% subsidiary of the Netherlands' Koninklijke KPN, one of the most important telecom operators on the European market. Until 1 June 2009, KPN Group Belgium was called BASE nv/sa. The new legal denomination ‘KPN Group Belgium nv/sa’ enables us to reflect the company’s multi-brand strategy developed by BASE nv/sa the last years. All brands of BASE nv/sa were integrated into one organisation. The name change allows us to further grow as a communications company aiming to be considered in the near future as the multi-brand factory in the Belgium communication landscape and helps us to support our partners even better in the future.

At the end of 2010, KPN Group Belgium had 773 employees (BASE and ALLO telecom) and a market share in number of mobile customers of ca. 26%. In 2010, KPN Group Belgium had a turnover of 785 million euro. The company’s headquarters are situated in Brussels. KPN Group Belgium positions itself as an innovator in mobile and Internet products and services via a segmented, multibranded approach. KPN Group Belgium commercializes the brands BASE, Ay Yildiz, Simyo, ZONIQ and BASE business.

KPN Group Belgium keeps on investing in the optimization of its network. Through the implementation of modern extended GSM technology both indoor and outdoor coverage was improved. Today nearly 100% of the Belgian population has coverage with the KPN Group Belgium network. KPN Group Belgium is also implementing EDGE and UMTS. After reaching the regulatory target of 50% coverage in 2007, KPN Group Belgium’s focus has shifted to the launch of HSPA. At least 50% of the population is now covered by UMTS. A further roll-out is planned during 2011.

KPN Group Belgium distributes its products and services via 69 BASE shops (BASE, SudPresse mobile, Allo RTL, ...) , 750 dealers, Internet (www.simyo.be), and in 80 ALLO telecom shops. ALLO telecom remains a separate entity and continues to act under its own brand.

The Account Manager is responsible for a specific region in Belgium, where his/her mission is to:

1) Increase the BASE penetration rate in the Business segment by focusing on Small and Medium sized Enterprises as defined by the Business Unit Manager. The objective is to enlarge the customer base, to prospect, to negotiate and close sales.
2) Offer a professional and high quality service and follow up to Business Customers in order to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, with a focus on the renewal of existing contracts and up-selling.

To achieve this the Account Manager will be responsible for :

1) Gaining market share and increased sales by acquiring and managing an account portfolio:
a) Determine optimal support to the portfolio.
b) Initiate and maintain commercial relationships.
c) Manage and set budget.
2) Being the commercial SPOC/SPOR on all Business Customer needs/requirements, being the accountable interface between BASE and the Business Customer.

I. Build knowledge and relationship with potential prospects:
a. Identify where SME’s are located and concentrated in the region (via internet, B2B magazines and books, business organizations (like Voka, Unizo, Chamber of Commerce)
b. Build relations with potential prospects in order to open the possibility to visit and take BASE Business into consideration.
• Regularly meet decision takers via business organizations (Unizo, Voka, Chamber of Commerce, ...)
• Regularly invite potential customers to (sponsored) sports-events or other events.
• Organise your own business meetings in the region
• Have yourself invited to other business organization
• Visit business fairs where your potential customers are

II. Planning :
Come up with prospection-, call- and visitplan in order to approach the identified potential SME’s in a systematic and efficient way


III. Sales in dedicated region:
a) Prospection visits:
o take the necessary initiatives in order to make the appointments and reach the required target of visits. (e.g. Telephone Calls, Foot Calls, ...)
o Use leads that come in via other ways than yourself (suppliers, marketing, website, etc.)
o take the necessary actions to reach the set target in terms of activations and/or revenue.

b) Retention: visit existing Business Customers in order to protect revenue by maintaining, expanding and initiating commercial relations. Continue to develop relations and sign new contracts.

c) Increase the share of the right product mix in the client portfolio. (E.g.; Base Business Unlimited, BlackBerry, ...).

d) Respond to requests and needs of business customer if cannot be treated by consumer or business support.

e) Exploit sponsoring opportunities for prospection and retention. Take the lead in follow-up of BASE sponsorships in your area if any and/or come with proposals to start new one’s:

o Go regularly to these events, build relationship with key decision takers, potential and existing customers.
o Go to business sessions organized by some of these BASE sponsorships (business meetings with sponsors and relations)
o Organise and go to meetings with decision takers in order to identify potential leads at BASE sponsorships that work in a pay for performance system.

IV. Result management a) Monitor key performance indicators and measurements (volumes, visits, ...)
b) Manage the related sales budgets
c) To report on results and to advice on sales strategy, objectives and productivity:

- Organise and make visit reports, request business reviews and make the sales forecasts for your Business Customer.
- Manage customer base by means of SalesForce.Com
- Use SalesForce.com to the max: visit planning, visit preparation, visit argumentation, volume reporting, visit report and task for follow-up
- Be responsible to keep all Business information of every visit and assuring the correct registration of this updated information via SalesForce.com.
- Analyse and report on the Business customers and their activity and Key performance indicators; prepare and submit the required status reports, highlight trends and other general areas of interest and concern.
d) Give feedback on ways to improve the approach to Business customer, on market development and on customer needs in value added services.
e) Come up with local marketing initiatives to increase sales in specific areas or within a specific segment report and follow up on Network issues reported by customers.

Required education level
Minimum Bachelor Degree or equivalent through experience.

Required previous professional experience
At least 2-3 years of practical experience in Sales and Account Management, preferably with clear and proven hunting and networking skills.

Required technical & professional skills
• Influence and persuasion : ability to convince others to your a point of view, to gain acceptance, support and commitment
• Selling capabilities: ability to efficiently detect opportunities, to engage swiftly into conversation and to smoothly close deals.
• Business knowledge: thorough knowledge of BASE products & services, competition, regional business potential, etc.
• Prospection capabilities : able to identify new business leads, efficiently engage into first contact, strong cold calling skills, able to generate a high success rate in calls vs. planned visits.
• Administration and back-office skills : correct usage of reporting and management tools (e.g. salesforce)


Required interpersonal & communication skills • Transparency: able to express ideas and information clearly and correctly so that the essential message comes across and is fully understood.
• Networking capabilities: able to build and maintain networks of business contacts in and beyond the company who may contribute to success.
• Team building capabilities: Able to actively contribute to team spirit, contribute actively to departmental synergy and success.
• Information seeking capabilities: ability to obtain and use all relevant information from a variety of sources to better understand situations/people/issues/etc.


Required personal skills
• Entrepreneurship and Business Awareness: able to identify business opportunities and undertaking action
• Creativity and Innovation: able to come up with new and original ideas, approaches and solutions to problems. Look further than conventional approaches and established methods.
• BASE ambassador: the willingness to align actions and competencies with the needs, priorities and goals of the organisation.
• Resilience : Willingness to go the extra mile, maintain control and performance during stressful moments
• Result orientation: set high goals, focusing on the delivery of intended results. Constantly strive to meet or exceed expectations.