Alyssa Boczar smiles brightly from behind a hot mug of tea on a cold and rainy day in Orchard Park, New York.

Yes, dark clouds have gathered and it’s starting to rain. But the early autumnal gloom is no match for Alyssa’s sunny disposition inside Quilted Squirrel.

She’s beaming, of course, and it’s no surprise. In her role as senior account manager at our creative agency, Alyssa’s positive energy consistently uplifts and inspires colleagues, clients, and partners.

She’s a pro’s pro, it’s true. But how did she get here? What skills and experience have helped her develop such a successful career in account management? For Alyssa, it’s a few different things:

1. Leveraging past experiences.

“I’ve worked in various industries,” Alyssa begins, “which has given me the opportunity to learn a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different things, and that’s helped me relate to clients more easily.”

2. Learning from others.

“I’ve worked with a bunch of different types of people,” Alyssa explains. “When you work with people from different backgrounds and with different personality types, you learn how to be an effective communicator.”

3. Working in marketing.

“I’ve actually done a lot of the things our team of experts does so I know how the process works,” Alyssa explains. “Since I know what goes into all these different types of marketing initiatives, I can better help the team plan or manage the work and keep the client in the loop, too.”

4. Being on the client side of things.

“I’ve been on both sides of the table, as a marketing client and as an account executive,” Alyssa says. “Having both perspectives means I know how I like to be treated, I know what worked for me when I was in their shoes, and I know when to anticipate (or facilitate) the next order of business.”

Related: Alyssa the senior account manager: Pro tips from a true pro (PART 2)

Human dynamics. People skills. Interpersonal relationships. It all makes sense to a highly effective account executive such as Alyssa Boczar. At some point, though, (hu)man must meet machine. So what sort of tools, techniques, or technologies would Alyssa recommend?

Project management software: ProWorkflow

Alyssa says, “There are a lot of software management platforms that work, and they all have their kinks, but Pro Workflow has proven to be the simplest for our team to use. Sharing files and tracking progress is pretty seamless.”

Interoffice communications: Slack

Alyssa says, “To keep up with the team, there is such value in group messaging for quick updates and office banter.”

Editor’s note: Slack is wildly better than Microsoft Teams.

Collaboration: Google Drive

Alyssa says, “I love me some collaboration tools. And not having to worry about version control is the way to go.

Editor’s note: Being able to share work in real time—without having to share multiple variations of the same document—saves a ton of time and energy.

Related: Alyssa the senior account manager: Pro tips from a true pro (PART 1)

We’ve covered tools and strategies that work. But what happens when things go wrong? For example, if a client is adamant about implementing something that you know won’t work—what would you do?

1. Know what you don’t know.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything, especially when it comes to a client’s business,” Alyssa explains. “And that’s okay! Nobody wants to work with someone who thinks they know everything about everything, anyway. So humility and honesty are important characteristics to have.”

2. Ask. Listen. Act.

Alyssa says, “If I am not aware of a certain strategy that might work well for a business, I always ask questions and listen carefully so I fully understand a situation before making recommendations or preparing a rebuttal.”

3. Be flexible.

“If I’m still concerned about the value or effectiveness of a strategy, I will share my concerns with the client and work with them to find a solution,” Alyssa says. “At the end of the day, we’re working to help promote and support someone’s business, and I want to make sure that they’re feeling like we’re doing just that.”

Want to work with Alyssa?

We all know the answer is yes. So follow Alyssa on LinkedIn, give her a call at (716) 202.1279, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay in touch.