Technical Account Manager: Your Solution to a Well-Constructed Ecommerce Site

As a BigCommerce Enterprise Plan customer, you have the ability to work with additional teams designed to grow your ecommerce business, such as our Technical Account Managers (TAM). This valuable resource is an added service of our Professional Services teams, specifically intended for large enterprise customers.

We understand how much goes into having a successful online store, which is why we maintain a team of industry experts to support customers as they grow their ecommerce business.

To show customers how to maximize these teams’ benefits, we’ve launched a blog series that breaks down each team’s role, how they can help you, and best practices for working with them.

In Part 3 of our series, we interviewed Maggie Castillo, Technical Account Manager at BigCommerce to gain insights into how her team helps BigCommerce customers see success.

What does a Technical Account Manager do for customers?

Maggie Castillo: “The TAM role is an added service specifically geared toward large enterprise customers. We give recommendations from a technical perspective that are tailored specifically for each customer. TAMs have the technical understanding to recommend best practices and offer solutions customers may not be aware of.

“We begin work the very moment a client signs their contract with BigCommerce. We start by gathering information and understanding requirements during the discovery phase. It's extremely valuable for us to start building a relationship with them and understanding their ecosystem from a technical perspective right out of the gate. That gives us the context we need to best support them in the future.”

What is the difference between a Technical Account Manager and a Customer Success Manager?

Castillo: “A Customer Success Manager (CSM) focuses more on the strategic side of your project and can advise you on where to go for help if something is not working properly on your site. Meanwhile, a TAM has a deep understanding of what your integrations look like, so we can review things from a problem-solving level. 

“We are the internal escalation point for technical issues and have relationships with our support teams, the engineering departments, and developer agencies. If you have a TAM, you can bypass the process of investigating your issue and be on your way to troubleshooting faster.”

How do you work with customers to solve a problem?

Castillo: “When a customer encounters a problem, we take the time to understand the issue and ensure everyone is on the same page. This enables us to provide the Engineering Team with the clearest information and determine the best way to approach the issue.

“However, the role of a TAM is to be proactive, so we try to catch problems before they begin. To do this, we focus on building a relationship with the customer and asking a lot of questions. Then, we can tell them the downstream impacts we foresee before they become an actual problem.”

What are the most common issues that brands run into, and how can they avoid them?

Castillo: “We get customers who move to BigCommerce and think they can make a lot of technical developments without the help of a TAM but then run into challenges. If a customer fits a certain set of criteria where their architecture is complex enough, they need a TAM. 

“To help avoid this, we've developed a Smart Start program where they get 20 hours with a TAM over the course of two to three months. They can then decide if they want to keep the TAM. Having somebody who can sit down, review your architecture, and advise on how you should implement features makes a huge difference.”

How can a customer’s point of contact advocate for the TAM service to their company?

Castillo: “They can connect us with an executive responsible for deciding if they want to pay for the service. We then have the opportunity to show what we can do to help their company and why we’re a valuable resource worth paying for. We try to stress how important it is for the customer to work with us.”

What’s your favorite BigCommerce feature?

Castillo: “I like the B2B Buyer Portal and think more people should take advantage of it. It provides a lot of features in B2B Edition, such as quoting and invoices.

“It gives customers more control over the products available to the companies buying from them and more visibility and flexibility around how they want to manage that.”

What are some of your favorite BigCommerce brands?

Castillo: “Zagg is one of my favorites because they have a lot of goals and aspirations. They want to do things the right way. They've been absolutely amazing in that they are excited and willing to hear us out on best practices.”

What are your top tips for a successful launch on BigCommerce?

Castillo: “Have clear communication and visibility with your Professional Services teams. For us to best support our customers, we need to ensure an open line of communication. This helps us know what's going on and what we need to prepare for. We have some of the best minds working behind the scenes to make sure that everything is stable, prepared, and ready for launch.

“Also, ensure you check your launch checklist, which your Implementation Project Manager will provide. That will make your launch go a lot smoother.”

The final word

Working with a Technical Account Manager is one of the most effective ways to identify potential problems with your ecommerce site and make adjustments to prevent them from occurring. With their help, you can implement best practices to ensure your site is always running smoothly and can scale successfully.

Check out our other Professional Services teams and join the BigCommerce Community on Facebook to collaborate, share advice, and learn from the success of other customers on our platform.