Account Management

101

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day!

Why are we here

To understand the elusive creature

Accountious Managimous…otherwise known asan Account Manager

Account Management 101

The Power of Communication

Account Management 101

Relationship Management

– How to deal with external stakeholders…otherwise known as the client…otherwise known as the people who pay our salaries

• Building repertoire and breaking barriers

Understanding the people and the business.

• This can help sell great ideas and creative work. Our rationale for recommending something has to be rooted in why it is right for the client’s business, this will be a much more palatable rationale than because its “cool” advertising. Remember, the client’s thought balloon always says, “What’s in it for me/my business.”)

• An understanding of the client’s business that is shared with the rest of the agency can provide fertile information for the agency to develop proactive ideas.

• An agency that truly knows a client’s business has real value to the the client/agency relationship. This value can help the agency get through the inevitable tough times when an agency error occurs or when we can’t crack the code on a creative assignment.

Account Management 101

Relationship Management

– How to deal with Internal team members

• Personal

• Professional

Account Management role in Creative work

• Become a student of advertising. Know who's doing great work. Know what new techniques are being used. Know who's thinking "out of the box

– This will enable you to make more intelligent comments when you review work internally

– It will demonstrate to your creative team that you recognize and care about good work

• Become adept at selling great creative work to the client

– Determine how to ground the rationale for the work in reasons that are about the client's business, not just because it's cool work

– Find analogous situations in other categories that support the kind of work being recommended

Listen to your creative team talk about creative work, pick their brains, share your ideas. You'd be amazed how productive this can be

The Process

Getting things done. • How to unravel the mystery of a brief

• The follow up process

• The sanctity of a deadline

• The submission of work

Diligent reporting• Importance of documentation & contact reports

• Following up on jobs

• Raising estimates/debit notes

The 7 Super Powers of an AM

• Listening

• Relationship management

• Time Management

• Multitasking

• Passion

• Adaptability

• Understanding the clients business

Push comes to Shove

In terms of push back, obviously every issue is unique and thepush back needs to be customized to fit the situation. Buthere are some generic things to consider:

• Ground your push back or disagreement in a business-related reason. Opinion is important, but if the client/creative/supervisor sees that it is the business that is driving your concern/disagreement, then it takes personal judgment and personality out of the equation and keeps it focused on the content, on which you as the account manager are an “expert.”

• Look for examples in similar situations (in and out of the category) that support your case.

Push comes to Shove

• Have a recommended alternative solution. It’s easy to say, “I disagree,” but it’s a lot more difficult to develop, present and sell a different solution.

• On a selective basis, sometimes it could make sense to bring in your supervisor or someone with greater clout to make your case.

• On a final note, be sensitive to when you need to give up the fight. If you are not going to win, you at least want to get to the point where you have not angered or alienated anyone, but you have gained great appreciation for having a point of view and not being afraid to stand up and support it.

The 9 deadly Sins

Forgetting to deliver on a commitment to a client.• Whether it’s not returning a phone call, missing a meeting or not making a promised due date, all

of these not only are rude, but send a signal to the client that his business is less important to you than other things.

Client catches you in a lie.• Don’t do this! Tell the truth because it’s the right thing to do (and easier to remember). If you lie or

stretch the truth, only bad things can come of it. You make the client angry, you’ll lose credibility and you make the agency look bad.

Failure to keep your boss informed (about the good and the bad).• It’s not necessary that you tell your supervisor everything, but you should use your judgment to

determine what he needs to knowYou never want to have your boss be in the positionof not knowing something he should know when he is talkingto the client. It also enables your boss to be appropriately proactive.

“Dissing” the agency to the client.

Overpromising and under delivering.

• We always want to be in the position of exceeding the client’s expectations.

Making your client look bad in front of his boss.

• Make your client look like a hero in front of his boss. It’s likely to pay dividends in the long run.

The 9 deadly Sins

Not being straightforward to the agency about how the client really feels.• Don’t fudge or soften how the client feels in order to spare people’s

feelings at the agency. First, it wastes valuable time. Second, it can result in the wrong work being done. Third, you’ll lose credibility internally, especially with your creative teams.

Taking personal credit instead of crediting the agency teams.• While clients will always gravitate to specific people on the account, we

need to make sure that they feel great about the entire agency so they do not get worried when we have to make a personnel change.

Bad-mouthing the client.• Irrespective of client behavior or decisions, it is never a good idea to insult

the client back at the agency. It sets a bad example for junior people. It creates poor morale. And, if it ever gets back to the client, it runs the risk of disastrous repercussions.

The 9 deadly Sins

Thank You!