Agency owners often tell me their account managers aren’t leading client meetings confidently.
I hear things like their team are:
“Sitting back and letting the client lead”
“Not building rapport”
“Not asking enough questions”
“Unprepared and unconfident”
“Lacking presence”
But like every other task the account manager undertakes, you can’t just expect account managers to ‘know’ how to lead meetings if:
The agency hasn’t provided any guidance and ‘dos and don’ts’ (or has an internal client service process to follow) OR
The leadership team hasn’t set expectations for what good looks like or given feedback to individuals about their performance and helped them develop their skills
So in the third episode of my mini podcast series “Entrepreneurial Account Management”, I’ve outlined 7 things you want to make decisions about so account managers can approach each meeting in the right way and are set up for success. You can tune in to this short episode here.
How you show up at client meetings informs how the client perceives you and when you read a statistic like the one below, you realise you are a minute part of the client’s day:
“Marketing clients spend an average of 7% of their working week managing ALL their suppliers” Relationship Audits & Management report 2021
In fact you are probably just one supplier of several within that 7% - and therefore you need this micro moment in their week to be as efficient, seamless, frictionless and fruitful as possible!
Therefore being organised matters. Preparedness matters. Professionalism matters. Client meetings are the account manager’s opportunity to shine - to not only deliver a great service and exceptional experience - but also to uncover ways to help the client beyond the brief i.e. to be consultative and ultimately strengthen the client relationship and develop the account further (a key part of the account manager’s role).
What does that look like? For example:
Proposing ideas to help the client’s business grow beyond the current scope/brief – so the agency is providing consultancy (and reminding the client why they bought into you in the first place)
Suggesting more agency services to support the client’s strategy - so the client maximises the value from the full range of capabilities the agency has to offer (that they might not even be aware of)
Helping/supporting other areas of the clients’ organisation – so the client benefits from the potential economies of scale (which their finance/purchasing team would welcome)
If you haven’t already, tune in to my 5 part mini podcast series “Entrepreneurial account management” where I cover this and four other topics. Here’s the run down of the topics I cover:
Why your account managers need entrepreneurial skills(and how this will grow your agency)
From ‘order taker’ to trusted advisor: raising the value of your account managers (and why it’s vital)
Do your account managers know how to run an effective client meeting? If not, it could be hurting your agency …
How to get your account managers to ask better questions (and how it can increase client lifetime value)
How to get account managers adding value to your agency from Day 1 (and reduce churn)
