Looking to score a job as an Account Manager?
You're going to need an awesome cover letter. This guide is your one-stop-shop for writing a job-winning Account Manager cover letter using our proven strategies, skills, templates, and examples.
All of the content in this guide is based on data from coaching thousands of job seekers (just like you!) who went on to land offers at the world's best companies.
If you want to maximize your chances of landing that Account Manager role, I recommend reading this piece from top to bottom. But if you're just looking for something specific, here's what's included in this guide:
- What To Know About Writing A Job-Winning Account Manager Cover Letter
- The Best Skills To Include On An Account Manager Cover Letter
- How To Address An Account Manager Cover Letter
- 3 Account Manager Cover Letter Examples
- The 8 Best Account Manager Cover Letter Templates
- 3 Tips For Writing A Job-Winning Cover Letter
Here's the step-by-step breakdown:
Account Manager Cover Letter Overview: What To Know To Write A Cover Letter That Wins More Job Offers
What do companies look for when they're hiring an Account Manager?
Companies want candidates with a blend of sales, customer service, communication, and technical skills. They look for individuals with a proven track record of delivering results, strong organizational skills, and the ability to manage complex relationships. Employers also value industry knowledge and strategic thinking, along with the ability to build strong relationships with customers.
Your cover letter should show the company that your personality and your experience encompasses all of these things.
Additionally, there are a few best practices you want to follow to write a job-winning Account Manager cover letter:
- Customize your letter: Start by addressing the hiring manager by name, if possible, and mention the specific account manager role you are applying for. This shows that you have taken the time to personalize your letter.
- Highlight your qualifications: Emphasize your relevant experience and skills, such as your ability to build and maintain relationships with clients, your experience in sales and account management, and your strong communication skills. Make sure to include measurable metrics and outcomes whenever possible to illustrate your value.
- Demonstrate your knowledge of the company: Show that you have done your research on the company and explain why you are interested in working there. Mention specific projects, products, or services that you admire.
- Be concise and clear: Your cover letter should be short, concise and easy to read. Stick to one page and focus on the most important information.
- End with a call to action: Conclude your cover letter by asking for an interview or expressing your interest in discussing the opportunity further.
- Proofread: Make sure to thoroughly proofread your cover letter for any grammatical errors or typos. A well-written, error-free letter can make a strong first impression. I recommend using Hemingway App to do this.
Let's dive deeper into each of these so you have the exact blueprint you need to see success.
The Best Account Manager Skills To Include On Your Cover Letter
Keywords are one of the most important factors in your cover letter. They show employers that your skills align with the role and they also help format your cover letter for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
If you're not familiar with ATS systems, they are pieces of software used by employers to manage job applications. They scan cover letters for keywords and qualifications and make it easier for the employers to filter and search for candidates whose qualifications match the role.
If you want to win more interviews and job offers, you need to have a keyword-optimized cover letter. There are two ways to find the right keywords:
1. Leverage The 20 Best Account Manager Keywords
The first is to leverage our list of the best keywords and skills for an Account Manager cover letter.
These keywords were selected from an analysis of real Account Manager job descriptions sourced from actual job boards. Here they are:
- Communication
- Sales
- Relationships
- Management
- Campaigns
- Marketing
- Growth
- Product
- Data
- Development
- Salesforce
- Partnerships
- Account Management
- Creativity
- Leadership
- Organization
- Insights
- Passion
- Motivated
- Proactive
- Budget
2. Use ResyMatch.io To Find The Best Keywords That Are Specific To Your Cover Letter And Target Role
The second method is the one I recommend because it's personalized to your specific cover letter and target job.
This process lets you find the exact keywords that your cover letter is missing when compared to the individual role you're applying for.
Here's how it works:
- Open a copy of your updated Account Manager cover letter
- Open a copy of your target Account Manager job description
- In the widget below, paste the job description and hit scan!
ResyMatch is going to scan the target job description and show you the exact keywords and skills that are relevant for the role and that you should weave into your cover letter.
If you're ready to check it out, grab your target job description and run your first scan here:
If you're more of a visual learner, here's a video walking through this whole process so you can follow along:
How To Address An Account Manager Cover Letter
Personalization is what makes a cover letter stand out. That starts from the very first sentence where you greet the person reading your cover letter! There are two ways to do this well:
1. Use The Hiring Manager's Name
The first, and best, is by including the hiring manager's name. Let's say that you discovered the hiring manager's name from a post on LinkedIn or via an informational interview.
This is the jackpot! All you need to do is use their name in the introduction, like this:
But we won't always have the luxury of knowing the hiring manager's name. Here's what you do in those cases:
2. Use This Formula: To The [Department] Team at [Company]
If you don't have the hiring manager's name, no problem! You can address your cover letter to the team that you're applying to.
For example, if you're applying to for a Product Marketing Manager role at Discovery Education, you might start you cover letter like this:
This shows the reader that this letter has been written specifically for them and the content inside of it will support that.
It's much more relevant and personal than “To Whom It May Concern!”
For more advice on writing a strong opening to your cover letter, check out this guide.
3 Account Manager Cover Letter Examples For 2023
Now let's take a look at all of these best practices in action. Here are three cover letter examples for different situations from people with different backgrounds that are all applying for Account Manager roles:
Account Manager Cover Letter Example #1: A Traditional Background
Our first example is a cover letter written by a candidate with traditional Account Management experience. Here is what an example of their cover letter might look like:
Account Manager Cover Letter Example #2: A Non-Traditional Background
Our second cover letter example comes from a candidate looking to transition from hospitality into account management. This cover letter illustrates how they identify and speak to their transferable skills:
Account Manager Cover Letter Example #3: Making A Vertical Leap From AM to Enterprise Despite A Career Gap
Our third example highlights a candidate with Account Management experience who has a gap in employment but wants to transition into an Enterprise Account Manager role. Here is what their cover letter might look like:
The 8 Best Account Manager Cover Letter Templates
At this point, you know all of the basics you'll need to write an Account Manager cover letter that wins you more interviews and offers. The only thing left is to take all of that information and apply it to a template that's going to help you get results.
We made that easy with our CoverBuild tool. It has 8 proven templates that were created with the help of recruiters and hiring managers at the world's best companies. These templates also bake in thousands of data points we have from the job seekers in our audience who have used them to land job offers.
Just click any of the templates below to start building your cover letter using proven, recruiter-approved templates:
Free Job-Winning Cover Letter Templates, Have AI Write Yours in Less Than 2 Minutes.
Choose A Cover Letter Template Below To Get Started:
Great Choice! Now, how do you want to write your cover letter?
3 Tips For Writing A Job-Winning Account Manager Cover Letter
You're off to a strong start! But I've got a few more tips to help you take your cover letter to the next level:
1. Use ChatGPT To Write Your Cover Letter In <30 Seconds
All of these tips and best practices work, but you still have to implement them. Normally, that'd mean you sitting down and spending hours brainstorming ideas, typing, deleting, and typing again, and then feeling absolutely drained.
Now there's a way to work around all of that so you save your best energy for the writing and edits that matter most. Here's how it works:
- Head to ChatGPT (you'll need to create an account – it's free)
- Ask ChatGPT, “Please write me a cover letter for an Account Manager role. The role I'm applying for is [Job Title] role at [Company]. Here is the job description: [Paste Job Description]. And here is my resume: [Paste Resume].
- Watch ChatGPT write up a pretty darn good cover letter base!
Here's a video of me doing this with a real cover letter if you want to see the steps in action:
Note:Â IÂ do not recommend or advise that you simply copy and paste the content from ChatGPT into your cover letter and submit your application. ChatGPT is great for doing 80% of the baseline work, but you still need to review, revise, and personalize the content yourself.
2. Include Measurable Metrics And Outcomes
Too many job seekers only focus on the actions that they took and not the outcomes that resulted from those actions. As a hiring manager, it's impossible to differentiate between a dozen candidates who were all “Responsible For Managing A Book Of Key Accounts.”
If you want to win, your cover letter should speak to the specific outcomes that you drove in previous roles. That could be:
- The amount of revenue you drove
- The number of clients you managed
- The retention rate of your clients
- The satisfaction rate your clients shared
- Etc.
These numbers will show hiring teams what you're capable of and make your value crystal clear!
3. Match Your Cover Letter And Resume Design
Design has a big impact on perceived quality. Take the below image for example, which car is worth more?If you said Car A, you'd be wrong!
They're the exact same car, down to the year, make, and model. The only difference is the way the product was presented. Like I said, quality impacts perceived value.
One of the best ways to boost the quality of your cover letter is to make it look clean, professional, and have it match your resume. That's why the resume templates in our resume builder tool match the cover letter templates in our cover letter builder:
If you use both tools to create your cover letter and your resume, your entire application is going to be top notch.
Key Takeaways To Wrap Up Your Job-Winning Cover Letter
You made it! We packed a lot of information into this post so I wanted to distill the key points for you and lay out next steps so you know exactly where to from here.
Here are the 5 steps for writing a job-winning Account Manager cover letter:
- Start with a proven cover letter template from CoverBuild.io
- Use ResyMatch.io to find the right keywords and optimize your cover letter for each role you apply to
- Start your cover letter with a personalized greeting for the hiring manager or team name
- Emphasize the measurable outcomes and value you drove in previous roles (include metrics!)
- Compare the draft of your cover letter to the examples on this page to make sure you're on the right path
- Use a tool like Hemingway App to proofread your cover letter before you submit it
If you follow those steps, you're going to be well on your way to landing more Account Manager interviews and job offers.
Now that your cover letter is taking care of, be sure to check out our guide on writing a job-winning Account Manager resume (with examples!).