LRA Worldwide

Careers

Current Openings

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Account Director - Horsham, PA, USA

This individual is responsible for day-to-day client relationship management. This includes ensuring that all project deliverables (reports, analysis, timelines, budgets, etc.) are met, interacting and coordinating all activities of the project team, and that new revenue opportunities are pursued and closed.  Strong people skills, analytical skills, and project management skill are required.

Responsibilities:

The Account Director has four (4) principal responsibilities:

1) Relationship Management and Client Retention – you are the point person for maintaining, nurturing, and managing the day-to-day relationship with your client(s), with operational support from QA Operations Managers and/or Research Consultants and Project Managers that are assigned to the account. This requires establishing relationships with senior-level client executives (C-Suite) as well as mid-level managers working with LRA on the project(s).

2) Analytical Insights – with support and input from LRA’s research group, you are responsible for analyzing the data and information collected by LRA on the client engagement, and disseminating, analyzing, and reporting those findings, correlations, insights, and recommendations to client executives.

3) Financial Performance – you are responsible for the financial stewardship of your accounts including contracting, pricing, budgeting, staff utilization, vendor management, tracking variances and related activities.

4) Business Development and Sales – you are responsible for expanding the project and/or business we have with your existing clients, as well as identifying, pursuing, and closing new business with your existing clients. You will identify new or expanded opportunities with existing clients, determine needs, qualify opportunities, and present solutions to close the business.

Relationship Management and Client Retention

• Responsible for maintaining contact with your clients on a continuous basis.
• Responsible for serving as the central point-of-contact between LRA and the client with support from the Operations Manager and/or Research Consultant, the Account Director must resolve any and all issues and/or roadblocks.
• Responsible for scheduling, organizing and leading client meetings. 
• Responsible for scheduling, organizing and leading new client launches and kickoffs.
• Responsible for becoming a trusted advisor and partner to your clients.
• Responsible for working closely with the LRA Operations Manager(s) and/or Research Consultants assigned to the account to ensure the client is being serviced in accordance with the MSA and SOW.
• Responsible, in conjunction with the Operations Manager(s) and/or Research Consultants, for ensuring the highest levels of client satisfaction and retention.
• Responsible for tracking, measuring, and reporting the satisfaction and retention of your existing client base. 
• Responsible for remaining knowledgeable of the Clients’ business, industry, client management, key personnel changes, trends, economic conditions and financial matters which could impact the client’s relationship with LRA.
• Responsible for identifying, calling upon, and influencing, C-level client contacts and becoming a subject matter expert (SME) for your client.
• Responsible for transferring knowledge and information about the Account to the Operations Manager(s), Research Consultants, and as appropriate to LRA Senior Management.
• Responsible for being visible and well-known by your client through continuous client communication and participation in client trade shows and periodic client visits.
• Responsible for being fully knowledgeable of all of LRA service offerings, LRA’s value proposition, and personnel/responsibilities.
• Responsible for participating in the training activities for the account, with a focus on ensuring the entire operations team (Director of Operations, Operations Manager, and AA’s) and/or Research Consultants have a complete understanding of client goals and objectives.

Analytical Insights

• With support from LRA’s Research Group, responsible for analyzing and disseminating client data in order to identify and communicate key insights, trends, behaviors, findings, and recommendations to your client(s).
• Responsible for interacting with other internal and external data providers to seek ways to integrate data and analysis, and provide added value.
• Responsible for seeking and organizing appropriate client audiences, and to lead presentations where LRA’s analysis, findings, insights, and recommendations are presented.
• Experience in quantitative research and report-writing a plus.

Financial Performance

• Responsible, in conjunction with Operation Manager and/or the Research Consultant, for budget preparation on the Account, tracking/analyzing variances from the budget, and taking the necessary steps to correct and or adjust accordingly.
• Responsible for contract administration: creation, negotiation, execution, tracking renewals and contract compliance for LRA and the Client.

Business Development and Sales

• Responsible for identifying opportunities to develop new/or expanded business from your existing clients, and pursuing these opportunities through to close.
• Responsible for articulating LRA’s value proposition, ROI, and/or other quantifiable results that the client/prospect can expect.
• Responsible for developing and pricing the proposal (and/or responding to the RFP) in conjunction with LRA Marketing resources and support.
• Responsible for developing and establishing relationships with your existing clients; networking extensively to build contacts with middle managers and senior executives up and across the decision-making channels, as well as purchasing/procurement, and obtaining new or expanded business.
• Responsible for continuously evaluating the client’s business environment; recognizing opportunities where LRA products and services bring value to the clients acknowledged needs.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or equivalent work experience.
• Three to eight years of account management and business development experience demonstrated by consistently meeting and exceeding growth objectives.
• Strong, conceptual understanding of market research and the ability to evaluate the application of appropriate research methods to support client’s business objectives.
• Strong analytical skills; capable of disseminating streams of data and developing insightful findings, insights and conclusions.
• The ability to sell consultatively at the executive level.
• Experience in LRA’s core verticals (Hospitality, Leisure & Gaming; Sports & Entertainment; Travel & Transportation) a plus, but not required.
• Financial acumen with a thorough understanding of the basics of pricing and determining margins and profitability.
• Demonstrated project management experience.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office including: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, and Contact Management software, including ACT!
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with strong presentation abilities.

About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc., based in Horsham, PA, is a leading consulting and research company specializing in Customer Experience Management (CEM).  As a leader in this rapidly-evolving space, LRA is uniquely positioned to be the "go-to, first choice" provider for leading companies and brands interested in optimizing the customer experience.  LRA’s provides both strategic and tactical activities and services that assess, redesign, implement, and measure customer experiences, service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty and profitability.

We rely on our expertise in the areas of customer experience research, customer and employee satisfaction research, organizational development and effectiveness, change management, performance improvement, training, instructional design, content development, information architecture, knowledge management, and branding to help companies "Operationalize and Internalize the Brand" - translating the brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA clients include a diverse group of leading companies and brands across a number of core verticals, including: Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure, Sports & Entertainment, Travel and Transportation; and non-core verticals including Financial Services, Healthcare, Real Estate, Retail, and Consumer Services.  Clients include Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Foxwoods, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club International, the National Basketball Association, the PGA TOUR, International Speedway Corp. (NASCAR), Churchill Downs Inc., ARAMARK Corporation, Station Casinos, VIA Rail Canada, NetJets, Toll Brothers, Inc., Quest Diagnostic, and many more.

Over the past five years, we've expanded our focus beyond our hospitality industry roots, as companies in other industries have begun to closely examine and work to improve their customer experience in order to gain a competitive advantage: 

Our business is organized as follows:

• CEM Consulting
• Customer Experience Strategy
• Standards Development & Content Management
• Organizational Development & Training
• CEM Research
• Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty Research
• Customer Experience Optimization Research
• Employee Engagement Research
• Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping