Enterprise Services at Qualtrics focus on making sure Qualtrics’ largest enterprise clients get the strategic and technical expertise they need day-to-day, as well as long term. The team consists of Technical Account Managers (TAMs), Associate TAMS (aTAMs), and Global Operation Managers (GOMs). Together they help ensure enterprise clients are getting the most out of their XM programs by consulting on best practices for new and existing features.
The team provides technical solutions and configuration services after the point of sale that directly contribute to the long-term success of the customers’ programs. Enterprise Services bridges the gap between Qualtrics teams and clients to client programs operate seamlessly and effectively.
We talked with Jonah Ruhm, Emily May, and Isabel Ritrovato in Provo Utah; Ryley Shuler in Chicago, Illinois; Darren Walsh In Dublin, Ireland; and James Ludowici in Sydney, Australia (all Technical Account Managers) about how their experiences have been on the TAM team and how Qualtrics has helped shape their careers.
Interested in joining them? See open positions to learn more.
Give us the basics: what does Qualtrics do and how does your team support the business?
Jonah: Qualtrics enables users to gather and analyze insights on the experiences that matter to their customers, employees, students - you name it. The TAM team assists our largest enterprise customers with both their day-to-day and long-term strategic use of the platform, ensuring that they are getting the most out of it and able to create great experiences.
Darren: Qualtrics provides a software solution to help businesses garner feedback and experience data from their Employees and Customers. This data can be used to make data-driven decisions to push a business in new and innovative ways.
Our team supports the biggest clients at Qualtrics, helping them in getting the most out of our platform.
Ryley: Qualtrics is an experience management company that allows our clients to act on their customer and employee feedback. Enterprise Services helps manage the largest Qualtrics client’s platforms to enable them to get the best use out of the product.
James: Technical Account Managers work with some of Qualtrics' biggest clients to help guide their programs, and support their efforts to get the most out of the platform.
Isabel: Qualtrics is an Experience Management company. As a TAM, I make sure my clients are successful in managing both their employee and customer experiences. With TAM support, clients are able to advance their programs to gain stronger actionable insights.
Emily: Qualtrics is an Experience Management platform that allows companies and organizations to collect, analyze, and act on crucial data that gives them insight into experience sentiment and provides the ability to improve four key areas of their business — customers, products, brands, and employees. Qualtrics’ Technical Account Managers (TAMs) are highly experienced advocates and technology consultants dedicated to our largest enterprise clients. TAMs provide a strategic thought partnership with clients to accelerate adoption of Qualtrics technology and incorporate Qualtrics into client programs. We play a critical role in expanding existing licenses of Fortune 500 companies through the close relationships we build with our clients, and our reputation as the unequivocal technology experts at Qualtrics.
What is your day to day like as a TAM? What do you enjoy most about your role?
Ryley: My day to day changes almost every day! That’s one of the things I love most about this role. One day you might be talking to your client executives about new features in our product and how it can help strengthen their program, and the next minute you are helping a client build out a dashboard to help display data they have collected. I love helping people, so this role allows me to combine my technical skills with my need to make a difference.
Darren: A day in the life of TAM is always different and exciting. We have the freedom to organize and plan our schedule to best suit the needs of our clients and ourselves. We could be deep-diving into troubleshooting, planning and managing projects, attending calls and working on our own projects or personal development.
Jonah: My days usually entail some combination of meeting with my clients, technical configuration, and working cross-functionally with other Qualtrics' teams to deliver on client projects. I also dedicate a good chunk of my time towards projects geared at growing and improving the TAM team. The aspect of my role that I enjoy the most is the autonomy that I’m afforded, which is especially rare given that I’m relatively junior in my career. My manager entrusts me to do whatever I can to ensure that my clients are happy, and there’s no shortage of internal resources to drive this.
James: I don't have a typical day - that's one of the great things about the TAM role - you flex to client priorities and needs, so there is always something new to do. One day, I may be leading a workshop about setting up Qualtrics ticketing to replace a Salesforce workflow, while making sure the data is still retained in Salesforce. Another day, I might be building out dashboards, the next day, I'll be assisting with a security review.
Isabel: I lead both client-centered and internal meetings. Some days, that means talking with our VP of Customer Experience to improve my client's experience with Qualtrics. Other days, I am working one on one with my client to solve a challenging issue or to strategize on a new build.
Emily: The aspect of my role I love the most is that very day is incredibly different. In a single day, I could train clients on using a new product feature, strategize with key business leaders about a program launch, and coordinate with multiple internal departments to come up with a solution to a difficult challenge. TAMs also have the opportunity to work on projects that best align with their interests. The variety in my day-to-day was one of the key reasons I chose to be a TAM.
What are some of the challenges you face?
Darren: Qualtrics is an ever-growing, changing landscape. One of our challenges is how to build scalable processes and structures to support the inflation we experience day-to-day.
Ryley: Qualtrics has become a big company and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with how fast it is growing. Whether that is new products coming out or new team members on other teams you should be talking to! A huge part of our role is working with other teams in the company and looking out for new features for your clients to adopt, so you have to stay on your toes for any changes.
Jonah: One of the biggest challenges that I face as a TAM is that I have to wear so many different hats. TAMs interface with numerous teams both internally and client-facing, and really have to approach the business from varying perspectives and learn on the fly.
James: You always need to be learning - whether your client has an interesting use-case for which you need to build a novel solution, or if they'd like to deploy a new feature, you need to work actively to get your head around everything.
Isabel: It can be easy to get caught up in your work. The TAM team is a select group of high achieving customer-obsessed individuals. With that mindset, it can be easy to overbook yourself. However, as a company, Qualtrics lives Experience Management. All employees are encouraged to take time off and to maintain a healthy balance.
Emily: Time management is key in this role. The job can be unpredictable at times, but I believe that’s what makes it so exciting. Staying on top of your tasks through thorough planning and prioritization is crucial.
What are the characteristics that make someone successful on your team?
Ryley: Being proactive is I think the number one aspect to being successful in our role. Is there a change to your platform coming in 6 months? Make sure you act NOW – you never know how much work you and your clients will need to put in. The second characteristic in my opinion for success is to be patient. If you get satisfaction in helping someone figure something out when they are frustrated/stressed, and you know you can make their lives a little easier – you will love this job.
Jonah: Someone will be successful on the TAM team if they possess the right blend of technical skills and people skills. A successful TAM is able to simplify complex technical concepts for clients while understanding the underlying business needs driving each project.
Darren: Success in my team is driven by leadership. I don't mean managing a team of individuals, but leading by example. If there is a process gap or a need for innovation, our team can be found taking these issues on.
James: We have a wide variety of career backgrounds in the TAM team - some have been home-grown within the Qualtrics support team, some come from a tech background, while others have backgrounds in Employee Experience or research. At the end of the day, I think the keys to success are being able to quickly wrap your head around changes or new facets to the platform and to be able to effectively manage your clients - whether it be helping them manage prioritization and trade-offs in resource allocation, helping business leaders make the case to expand the program with their exec, or just helping them understand that engineering work can take time.
Isabel: Successful TAMs care about their clients. Technical prowess is a major plus, but if you can empathize with your clients and own their success, you are way ahead of things.
Emily: A successful TAM will be someone who has excellent communication skills while also having terrific command of the Qualtrics platform. Beyond that, a great TAM should be both a great student and teacher. We are constantly learning new skills as well as from each other and from our clients through collaboration, so being a quick learner is a huge asset.
Talk about how Qualtrics has supported you to grow in your role? What have you learned since joining this team?
Darren: Qualtrics has supported me by providing a clear career path for me to grow into. There are always resources provided when I want to develop or practice a skill set.
Jonah: Since day 1, I've felt that I can have an impact on both the team and Qualtrics as a whole. There is an abundance of internal resources and like-minded colleagues that are always willing to help with whatever project(s) I'm working on, and together we've done some pretty cool things; I organized a global, virtual 5k to benefit cancer research, and also implemented department-wide security processes that protect our employees and customers.
Ryley: I have only been with Qualtrics for about 7 months and I have been given more opportunities than I could have imagined! I lead the recruiting effort for our team for external hires and our team is expanding rapidly. Since our team is changing so rapidly I have already been able to give ideas and input to how our team will operate and move forward in the future, which I have never been able to do in previous roles.
James: The team at Qualtrics is amazing - every single person is a high-achiever, and I've been able to learn the most from my colleagues. Beyond that, I'm signing up for more formal training to become a manager, and there's no shortage of information across things like the knowledge base, support site, and internal announcements and resources. The company puts a lot of effort into keeping us up-to-date.
Isabel: I started at Qualtrics a little over a year ago. In that time, I have been promoted to two different roles. It is clear that Qualtrics values hard work and makes every effort to reward those who go above and beyond.
Emily: One of my favorite things about working at Qualtrics is that there are so many opportunities for growth. Whether it be learning a new technical skill through our internal badge program, receiving sage advice from a more senior team member, or working on an engaging project, there are plenty of opportunities to develop professionally.
