Simon Zeidler

In Germany, I believe that candidate feedback should always be collected in the form of kununu reviews. The feedback received there should be presented to the TA Managers as well as the Hiring Managers and the management. For example, on a monthly basis. The aim should never be for someone to defend themselves for the feedback. There should always be a discussion about whether the criticized area should be changed or whether it is okay for the company to continue receiving public feedback on the same topic in the future. Apart from kununu as a platform, in my opinion the talent acquisition managers should collect feedback from the interviews and share it with the hiring managers in the monthly meeting between TA and the hiring managers.

In my opinion, the great added value of candidate feedback lies in understanding the problems and needs of the target group. Candidates have different needs depending on their sector, area of work and life situation, which must be taken into account when communicating with candidates, both in the job advertisement and during the process. With a global acquisition strategy, other variables such as cultural differences are also factored into the equation. In my opinion, the main goal should therefore always be a detailed understanding of the target group, which can be methodically prepared in the form of personas, for example.

A well-maintained calendar is the be-all and end-all for account managers. What I observe again and again is that the right system is not set in stone. The structure should be regularly scrutinized and reassessed. The following key questions can help: Are there meetings that take up my time and I shouldn't attend? Do I have enough time for customer contact? Is my quota of planned appointments increasing? Are the goals and agenda of my appointments clear? „Show me an account manager with lots of appointments and I'll show you a successful account manager.“ In my opinion, investing two to three hours per month in your own calendar management is completely appropriate.

Avoid KPI fever at all costs! Less is more and the development of relevant key figures in account management is a task that never ends, even if the setup remains the same at its core. In my opinion, flexibility is king, which is why there should always be employees in the account management area who, for example, use sql and tools such as Metabase to provide the team with relevant insights and lists for better customer processing. In my opinion, the focus should be on real-time data in particular.

In our team, we use Slack, Asana and our CRM to communicate with each other. The most direct collaboration takes place in Slack, where we communicate almost in real time, for example during calls or in channels where we share successes with each other. In CRM, we communicate with a slight time delay via an internal comment system and tasks that we can assign to each other. Asana is exclusively for projects, the 1on1 structure and asynchronous tasks for which we take more time. By clearly defining when to use which communication tool, everyone can plan their working time and tools better and knows when and where to expect feedback.

The best account managers in my team are constantly working to get the most out of our CRM. What I notice again and again is that a well-maintained CRM system reduces stress. ✅ The more knowledge and tasks are in the system, the less the account manager has to worry about after work. Nowadays, mental workload is more important than ever and yet new account managers in particular often do not understand this added value or understand it far too late. Therefore, to all leaders and managers: explain the added value of CRM to your employees as often as possible in order to have happy and successful account managers in your team!🙏