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An agency account manager’s role
According to my colleagues and peers, I’m not alone in thinking that being an account manager in a creative agency can lurch from being in heaven one minute and then like being in hell the next.
If you are working with a great agency, team and client things can be pretty exciting. You’re surrounded by creativity, a fast-moving environment, no two days are ever alike, you’re switching from one brand and project to another sometimes multiple times a day and there is always the incredible buzz of pulling together as a team and being triumphant when the client approves your work or you win a pitch.
But if you find yourself with a poison challis project, an angry client, a micro-managing boss and disgruntled colleagues, things can be tough.
You’re a miracle worker
An account manager’s job is to keep the client happy, be highly organised, professional, knowledgeable, be one step ahead of the client and drive projects through to a superb end product, on time and on budget while keeping the whole team motivated and informed. In short, a miracle worker.
That takes energy and skill. Particularly when you’re dealing with difficult clients, colleagues and situations.
No coaching and mentoring
That’s why it still surprises me that agencies don’t offer their account staff coaching and mentoring to help them deal with the pressures of the role as well as techniques, tools, models and tips to help them navigate the softer elements of managing and developing client business.
It wasn’t until much later in my career that I received lots of formal training and worked with a coach, Marcus Cauchi, a Sandler sales trainer for nearly two years.
It made a big difference to my confidence and the bottom line! I realised that I’d spent much of my 20 years ‘hoping’ that my client would like me enough to buy more stuff. Not exactly a sound strategy.
A free online course for developing client business
On my mission to support other creative agency account managers who may be struggling with no guidance or support, I’ve pulled together some of the principles, concepts and models that helped me navigate the role and develop client business in this free 6 module online video course.
In this course, we’ll cover:
Module 1 – what is client development and why do it?
This module you’ll learn why it’s far more lucrative to develop existing client business than focus on new business. You’ll also discover the easiest way to grow business right now without coming across too salesy!
Module 2 – What you think you are selling and what your client is really buying
Find out why the words you use with your clients may be causing a barrier to you developing more business and how you can overcome that by focussing your presentations and conversations on talking the client’s language.
Module 3 – The core principles of client development, a client prioritisation model and how you can adapt to your client’s communication style
If you’re short on time because you are overwhelmed with too many clients, you’ll see how you could use a model to help you prioritise where you focus your time. You’ll also see how another communication style model could help you connect more easily with your client.
Module 4 – Why you need a contact strategy and how a feedback meeting can turn into more business
We’ll look at what a contact strategy is and why you need one. I’ll also be interviewing Marcus Cauchi, my sales coach, who’ll give you a flavour of working with the Sandler selling system by explaining a simple 5-step process to help you generate more business during a client feedback meeting.
Module 5 – Understand the client’s world
In module 5 you’ll learn some key questions you can use during client conversations to help position you less as an ‘order taker’ and more like a strategic partner.
Module 6 – Provide value-added solutions and create a client development plan
Finally, we’ll look at the types of solutions you could develop to address the client’s business problems and why you need a client development plan to act as a strategic roadmap. This roadmap is useful, not just because you can use the plan template over and over with different clients but you can also present the plan internally to show your senior management team that you have a strategy for developing the business.
You can sign up right now.
I hope you find some value and if you have any questions or comments about the content I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below or write to me at jenny@accountmanagementskills.com.
