Why the account manager ‘permission line’ is stopping growth
When agency owners seek training for their account managers, they typically want to fix their team’s lack of ability to deliver good client service.
The behaviours they often describe that need fixing include; not being responsive to client needs, not being organised enough, overlooking key project processes, appearing unconfident in client meetings etc.
But while some agencies have been upskilling their account managers in better client service, others have been teaching theirs to sell.
Why account managers struggle to sell
In 2019 Gartner conducted a study among clients and account managers to understand why the latter were ineffective in growing existing client business.
The study revealed a difference between what account managers believed was required to grow an account and what actually did.
They found the prevailing mindset among AMs (88% in fact) was if they went ‘above and beyond’ on service, it lead to account growth.
This mindset translated into a concrete order of actions;
Step 1: Deliver on commitments
Step 2: Drive product/service consumption
Step 3: Exceed client expectations
The account management permission line
The study uncovered that account managers thought that only once they’d exceeded a client’s expectations (step 3) they had ‘earned’ permission to sell more to the client.
In practice however, there’s no upper limit to “exceeding” client expectations so account managers tend to cycle through steps 1 to 3 under the belief that continuing to do so will eventually yield growth.
Steps 1 to 3 were found to lead to retention but not growth.
What it takes for account managers to grow your agency client business
The Gartner study concluded that to grow existing client business requires making a ‘new sale to an existing client’ and for account managers to have ‘client improvement conversations’, broken down as:
- Paint a picture for improving the client’s business
- Outline the ROI on the client relationship
- Have a critical perspective on improving the client’s business
Since 2016 I’ve been training account managers to ‘develop client business’- I rarely use the word ‘sell’ because it has such a negative connotation.
What I’ve learned during that time is that understanding what it takes to grow an account (Gartner’s findings) is just one of many reasons why account managers don’t do it (or don’t do it well and consistently).
Other contributing factors include; lack of accountability, no growth specific KPIs, absence of requirement to sell in job description and hiring processes, undefined internal account growth processes, poor quality coaching, no time to be proactive (due to business structure/model and pricing), lack of intrinsic motivation, fear of getting it wrong etc.
The reality for agencies
The account management role represents an untapped opportunity for an agency to grow profitably through existing account growth and expansion.
In 2023 and beginning of 2024 pipelines stalled and agencies found it took longer to convert new business – many turned to expansion of existing accounts as a way of firming up the forecast.
New business costs 5 to 25 times more than growing existing business and yet far too little focus is placed on upskilling account managers – who are perfectly placed to grow accounts.
But as Gartner says ‘if your account manager is either unwilling or unable to grow an account, the whole growth engine stalls’.
Jenny Plant is the owner of Account Management Skills, a training company helping client-centric agency owners make client retention and account growth more predictable.
Jenny’s training and coaching programmes are aimed at those responsible for account growth – including Client Services Directors looking to hardwire repeatable account growth processes into the agency.
If you have client-facing team members responsible for account growth and would like to discuss training and coaching, DM me on LinkedIn or send an email to me.
