Service Account Manager; SAM

Overview

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We’re Hitachi Vantara, the data foundation trusted by the world’s innovators. Our resilient, high-performance data infrastructure means that customers – from banks to theme parks – can focus on achieving the incredible with data. The team is part of Hitachi Vantara’s Global Customer Success and Support organization. The Product Support group is responsible for service enablement and support lifecycle management of our solutions, collaborating with other Hitachi organizations to ensure high quality service, customer satisfaction and cost effectiveness.

The role acts as the single point of contact between Hitachi Vantara’s service organization and its largest accounts, driving value for both the customer and Hitachi Vantara by proactively addressing customer needs and developing strong relationships with key individuals in the customer’s organization.

• Single point of contact:
  Own the management contact and escalation point for delivery of all Hitachi Vantara services. Proactively share updates and information, both technical and non-technical, with the customer on a frequent basis.
• Relationship development:
  Build networks within the customer organization beyond primary contacts. Maintain vendor relationships for all products deployed within the storage infrastructure (e.g., disk, fabric, software).
• Meetings and reporting:
  Organize regular meetings with key teams/individuals to review account status and ensure customized reporting and customer satisfaction with service delivery.
• Solutions assurance:
  Ensure solutions being sold, installed, and implemented meet customer needs. Own the solutions assurance process, coordinate implementation consultants and oversee the Solutions Assurance Document (SAD).
• Service escalations:
  Lead escalations by coordinating customer meetings, communicating with the customer, and aligning the escalation team with the customer’s internal team. Facilitate smooth handoffs with data prepared for the escalation.
• Rebuild after escalation:
  Complete incident review detailing events, root cause, lessons learned and actions. Communicate post-mortem results, solicit feedback, and drive improvement actions.
• Sales and pre-sales involvement:
  Act as a full member of the account team, keep the team informed of customer developments, attend internal and external meetings, and explore opportunities for Hitachi Vantara products and services.
• Business development:
  Be Hitachi’s internal expert on the customer’s system and business objectives. Ensure teams have customer knowledge to deliver solutions that meet business needs.
• Pre-install and implementation:
  Own the account support plan and coordinate a smooth install. Work with CS&S engineers, Resource Management and Global Support to resolve incidents in a timely manner.
• Account risk mitigation:
  Develop and implement a robust risk mitigation strategy, monitor for issues, reduce risk, and foster trust with customer stakeholders.
• Routine maintenance:
  Lead delivery of maintenance services, coordinate field engineers, inform customers of updates, and manage third-party activities as required.
• Continuous improvement:
  Identify opportunities to improve customer care and proactively address issues affecting support effectiveness.
• Customer Success:
  In some cases, take on Customer Success responsibilities to drive product adoption, retention, expansion and advocacy. Build and execute a Customer Success Plan and monitor Account Health, coordinating with Hitachi Vantara stakeholders to optimize outcomes.

The SAM role is hybrid, requiring both account management and technical leadership. If someone has strengths in one area, training may be needed to build the other.

• Account Management
  
  Skills:
  
  Comfortable reaching out within the customer’s organization, proactively maintaining and expanding relationships. The SAM is not a sales role, but should be able to discuss products and solutions in meetings.
• Technical Leadership
  
  Skills:
  
  Able to communicate technical details internally and with customers, understand the customer’s system…