12 qualities of a great agency account manager
Technology is changing the knowledge needed to be an agency account manager, but the personal qualities required to do the job are timeless.
I founded and ran a creative digital agency for 17 years and employed some wonderful account managers along the way (and one or two not so good ones!) In that time I learned a lot about the personal qualities of the best AMs, experience which I have boiled down to a dozen key traits.
If you are hiring an account manager, this is a useful checklist of what to look out for in the candidates. If you are wondering whether you have what it takes for a successful career in client services, then this article is for you too
1. Plate spinner
Needless to say, if you’re the sort of person who likes to put the head phones on and concentrate on the same task all day, account management is probably not for you! Great account managers (AMs) are not only good at keeping lots of plates spinning, they positively love it.
2. A sense of anticipation
The best account managers are — almost instinctively — one step ahead of the game. If there’s a problem in the pipeline, the AM has given the client a call and managed expectations before she knew anything was wrong.
3. It’s good to talk
It’s so tempting to hide behind email isn’t it? Great AM’s know that email is fine for the admin side of running an account, but it does not build relationships. When there’s bad news, they deliver it in person (or at least on the phone). Great AMs use every opportunity to build personal contact and trust with their clients.
4. Bring home the bacon
In the majority of agencies AMs are at the pointy end of the commercial side of the business. It’s their job to bring in the fees. The best AMs articulate the value of work and make sure their agency gets paid accordingly.
5. Gutsy
As the lightening conductor when things go wrong — which they inevitably do from time to time — an AM needs to have a rhino skin and not be afraid to be honest with clients, especially when she isn’t going to like what she is about to hear. The truth always come out — the best AMs are not afraid to take it on the chin early.
6. This charming man—or woman
You cannot underestimate how far likeability and charm will get you as an AM. It’s not something you can teach. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
[Hurrah…I have managed to sneak a Morrisey lyric into this essay!]
7. Lead by example
Hey, working in a creative agency is not a bad way to earn a crust is it? But it can be a pretty stressful and demoralising line of work at times. The mercurial creative team can get quickly distracted and — if not handled with care — easily demotivated. The best AM is even of temperament, always positive and upbeat. When things are a little flat, they galvanise their colleagues and keep them motivated.
8. Can see the bigger picture
AMs are in charge of the overall profitability of an account. They understand that you don’t make money on every job. On the flip side, AMs know that so long as the net effect is a decent margin, eroding the relationship with the client arguing over a disputed £75.00 amend is probably counter-productive.
Lose the battle, win the war.
9. Networker
For most people networking is a contender for a Room 101 experience. But not the great AM. They thrive on meeting new people and they know that their network is one of the greatest assets they bring to their agency.
10. Facilitator not dictator
AMs knows that they need to build a great relationship with the creative ‘talent’ almost as much as they need to build a relationship with the client. Most of the creatives I know hate being ‘managed’ and rarely work in straight lines. They hate deadlines. For the ordered, process driven AM they are a the source of endless sleepless nights. But there’s no point trying to swim upstream. The best AMs get to know how each of their creative team works and uses that crucial quality — charm — to get what’s needed done.
11. Translator
Clients can often have very emotional reactions to creative work. They’re not sure why they don’t like it, they just don’t. Or they are underwhelmed and were expecting more “wow” factor. “Can we add some animation?”
The best AM doesn’t relay back to the creative teams client feedback in literal terms. Instead they translate a subjective reaction into a brief that a creative can work with. More often than not the client is simply saying: “I think you can do better”. And after much grumbling the creatives have another crack and indeed do produce better work (and then feel happy that they were pushed).
12. Listener
Finally, the best AMs are excellent listeners. In fact, I’d say that when dealing with clients they should spend 80% of their time listening and 20% talking (mainly asking questions). Clients need AMs to be their pressure valve.
I would venture to suggest that the most common question AMs get asked by their colleagues is: “what do you actually do?”
And I suspect many of them struggle to come up with a decent answer.
But just as with the best design, the best account management
is only noticed and missed in its absence.
An earlier version of this essay was first published on the blog of my old agency (3Sixty) in 2011. It seemed to be quite popular, so I have resurrected it on Medium. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
