Effective Work Samples and Role Plays for Enterprise Account Manager Interviews

Enterprise Account Managers serve as the critical bridge between your organization and your most valuable clients. Their ability to build relationships, understand complex business challenges, and drive strategic growth directly impacts your company's revenue and reputation. Unlike many other roles, the skills required for enterprise sales success are difficult to assess through traditional interview questions alone.

Incorporating practical work samples and role plays into your interview process provides a window into how candidates actually perform in real-world scenarios. These exercises reveal a candidate's ability to think on their feet, communicate effectively with executives, develop strategic account plans, and navigate complex sales cycles—all essential competencies for an Enterprise Account Manager.

The best Enterprise Account Managers blend analytical thinking with relationship-building prowess. They must be able to understand client pain points, articulate complex value propositions, and orchestrate resources across your organization. Work samples allow you to observe these skills in action rather than relying solely on a candidate's self-reported experiences.

Research shows that performance in job-relevant simulations is one of the strongest predictors of on-the-job success. For a role that directly impacts your company's bottom line, investing time in comprehensive work samples during the interview process yields significant returns by reducing costly hiring mistakes and identifying truly exceptional talent.

The following four activities are designed to evaluate the core competencies of Enterprise Account Manager candidates. Each exercise simulates a critical aspect of the role, providing both you and the candidate with valuable insights into their potential for success in your organization.

Activity #1: Strategic Discovery Call Role Play

This role play simulates a discovery call with a potential enterprise client, assessing the candidate's ability to build rapport, ask insightful questions, and identify business challenges that your solution could address. Discovery skills are fundamental to enterprise sales success, as they form the foundation for understanding client needs and positioning your solution effectively.

Directions for the Company:

• Select an internal team member to play the role of a C-level executive (CIO, CTO, or CMO) at a target enterprise company.
• Provide the candidate with background information 24 hours before the interview, including:
• A brief company profile of the fictional client
• The executive's LinkedIn profile or a similar persona description
• Basic information about your company's solution (without revealing all potential benefits)
• Any publicly available information about the client's industry challenges
• The role play should last 20-25 minutes, focusing on the initial discovery phase of a sales cycle.
• The person playing the executive should be prepared with some business challenges that align with your solution but should not make it too easy for the candidate.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review all provided materials before the interview.
• Prepare an approach for the first meeting with this executive, focusing on building rapport and understanding their business challenges.
• During the role play, demonstrate your ability to:
• Establish credibility and build rapport quickly
• Ask strategic, open-ended questions that uncover business needs
• Listen actively and respond appropriately to the executive's concerns
• Begin to position your solution's value without launching into a premature pitch
• Set clear next steps that advance the sales process
• Be prepared to explain your strategy after the role play concludes.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the interviewer should provide specific feedback on:
• One aspect of the discovery approach that was particularly effective
• One area where the candidate could improve their discovery technique
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to explain how they would adjust their approach based on the feedback, and allow them to re-do a portion of the conversation implementing the suggested improvement.

Activity #2: Strategic Account Plan Development

This exercise evaluates the candidate's ability to develop a comprehensive account strategy for growing revenue within an existing enterprise client. Strategic account planning is essential for Enterprise Account Managers to identify expansion opportunities and coordinate resources effectively to achieve revenue targets.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a fictional account scenario with the following components:
• Current product usage and spend information
• Organizational chart showing key stakeholders
• Brief history of the relationship (including any challenges)
• Competitive threats within the account
• Potential growth opportunities
• Provide these materials to the candidate 24 hours before the interview.
• Prepare questions to probe the candidate's thinking about prioritization, resource allocation, and risk management.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the account information provided and develop a 12-month strategic account plan.
• Your plan should include:
• Analysis of the current relationship status and areas for improvement
• Identification of 2-3 key growth opportunities within the account
• Specific strategies for expanding relationships with decision-makers
• Revenue targets with timeline and probability assessments
• Required internal resources and potential roadblocks
• Competitive positioning strategy
• Prepare a 15-minute presentation of your plan, followed by 10 minutes of questions.
• Focus on demonstrating your strategic thinking and ability to balance short-term wins with long-term relationship development.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should provide feedback on:
• The most compelling aspect of the strategic plan
• One area where the approach could be strengthened or risks better mitigated
• Allow the candidate 5-7 minutes to address the improvement area by revising their approach to that specific element of the plan.

Activity #3: Executive-Level Solution Presentation and Objection Handling

This exercise tests the candidate's ability to articulate complex value propositions to senior executives and handle objections effectively. Enterprise Account Managers must be skilled at communicating ROI and business impact while addressing concerns that could derail a potential deal.

Directions for the Company:

• Develop a scenario where the candidate must present a solution to a panel of 2-3 interviewers playing the roles of executives.
• Provide the candidate with:
• A description of your solution and its key differentiators
• The business challenge the client is facing
• Background on the "executives" they'll be presenting to (roles, priorities)
• Budget constraints or other relevant parameters
• Prepare a list of common objections that the panel will raise during the presentation, such as:
• Concerns about implementation timeline
• Questions about ROI and cost justification
• Competitive alternatives being considered
• Internal resistance to change

Directions for the Candidate:

• Prepare a 10-minute executive-level presentation that:
• Clearly articulates the business value of the solution
• Aligns features and benefits with the executives' specific priorities
• Includes a compelling ROI or business case
• Addresses potential concerns proactively
• Be prepared to handle objections professionally and turn them into opportunities to highlight your solution's strengths.
• Focus on business outcomes rather than technical features.
• Demonstrate executive presence and confidence while remaining adaptable to the conversation flow.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation and objection handling, the panel should provide feedback on:
• The most effective aspect of the presentation and objection handling
• One specific area where the candidate could improve their executive communication
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to re-present a portion of their solution addressing the improvement area, demonstrating their ability to incorporate feedback quickly.

Activity #4: Cross-Functional Collaboration Scenario

This scenario evaluates how effectively candidates can navigate internal resources to solve client problems. Enterprise Account Managers must excel at orchestrating cross-functional teams to deliver complex solutions and resolve issues that arise during implementation or account management.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic scenario involving a client issue that requires coordination across multiple departments (e.g., product, implementation, customer success, and finance).
• The scenario should include:
• A detailed client complaint or escalation
• Competing priorities among internal teams
• Timeline constraints
• Potential impact on renewal or expansion opportunities
• Assign 2-3 interviewers to play the roles of internal stakeholders from different departments, each with their own priorities and constraints.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the client issue and prepare to lead a 20-minute meeting with the internal stakeholders.
• Your objectives are to:
• Clearly communicate the client's needs and the business impact of the issue
• Understand each department's constraints and perspectives
• Facilitate a discussion that leads to a viable solution
• Establish clear next steps and responsibilities
• Demonstrate leadership without authority
• Focus on building consensus while maintaining urgency and client advocacy.
• Be prepared to handle potential resistance or conflicting priorities among team members.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the interviewers should provide feedback on:
• The most effective aspect of the candidate's facilitation and problem-solving approach
• One area where the candidate could improve their cross-functional leadership
• Allow the candidate 5 minutes to explain how they would adjust their approach based on the feedback, focusing specifically on how they would handle the identified improvement area differently.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time should we allocate for these work samples in our interview process?

Each activity requires approximately 30-45 minutes, including the exercise itself, feedback, and the improvement opportunity. We recommend selecting 1-2 activities that best align with your specific needs rather than attempting all four in a single interview process. The Strategic Discovery Call and Account Plan Development exercises provide the broadest assessment of core Enterprise Account Manager skills.

Should we use real client information in these exercises?

While using realistic scenarios is important, we recommend creating fictional clients based on your typical customer profile rather than using actual client information. This protects confidentiality while still providing relevant context. If you do reference real clients, ensure all identifying information is removed and the scenario is sufficiently disguised.

How should we evaluate candidates who have experience in different industries?

Focus your evaluation on the fundamental skills being demonstrated rather than industry-specific knowledge. A strong Enterprise Account Manager can transfer their strategic thinking, relationship building, and sales execution skills across industries. Provide enough industry context in your materials to allow candidates from different backgrounds to demonstrate their ability to quickly understand new business environments.

What if a candidate performs poorly in the initial exercise but shows significant improvement after feedback?

This actually provides valuable insight into the candidate's coachability and adaptability—both critical traits for success in enterprise sales. Consider weighting their improvement and receptiveness to feedback as positively as their initial performance. Some of your best hires may be those who demonstrate exceptional ability to incorporate feedback quickly.

How should we prepare our internal team members who will participate in these role plays?

Provide them with clear guidelines about their character's motivations, concerns, and communication style. Ensure they understand the purpose is to create a realistic but fair challenge—not to trip up the candidate. Brief participants on the importance of consistency across candidates and remind them to take notes on specific behaviors rather than just general impressions.

Should we share evaluation criteria with candidates beforehand?

Yes, transparency about what you're measuring helps candidates prepare appropriately and reduces anxiety. You don't need to share the specific scenarios, but informing candidates about the competencies you're evaluating and the general format of the exercises sets expectations and demonstrates your commitment to a fair process.

Enterprise Account Managers are critical to your organization's growth and client relationships. By incorporating these practical work samples into your interview process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities and make more informed hiring decisions. The investment in a thorough assessment process pays dividends through improved hiring outcomes and reduced turnover in this pivotal role.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also explore our complete Enterprise Account Manager job description for additional insights.

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