As I prepare for the ‘AI for Account Managers’ bonus training in this year’s Account AcceleratorTM programme, I wanted to share a tool that’s been on my radar: Google’s NotebookLM.
If you haven't yet come across it, this AI-powered research assistant could help you feel more confident and prepared in client meetings.
Here’s a quick overview of what it can do:
Brings everything together: Upload PDFs, website URLs, text or even youtube videos and it quickly synthesises the information - unlike ChatGPT it doesn't use your data to train it's own AI model too which means you feel more confident uploading more sensitive data (but be careful about sharing anything sensitive anyway - it's best to check with your agency's AI policy and the client's AI policy beforehand and practice with information already in the public domain)
Extract insights with citations: Ask it specific questions and it provides answers pulled directly from these sources - with proper references to the exact place it was cited in the original information source - all powered by Gemini
Audio summaries: Prefer to listen? It can create a short podcast-style overview of your data. Here's a short example of the kind of conversational style podcast using my own training programme model.
The result? You walk into client meetings not just informed but feeling in control.Here’s an example of how you can practice with this tool using information already published to identify new ideas to suggest to the client:
Upload client materials: For instance, their annual report PDF or if it's a publicly listed company, their investor relations report, their website URL as well as any relevant text from social media posts e.g. you can copy and paste text from a social media post from the company CEO where he/she talks about the future direction of the company etc
Read a quick overview: Once you've uploaded the sources it'll automatically give you a succinct summary - which means you'll be able to get a brief snapshot of what's happening in the client's business in seconds (handy for keeping you plugged in to what's happening - this used to take hours!)
Ask it to find mentions: You can search for mentions of new product pipelines, planned product launches or strategic investments in product development
Spot opportunities: From your findings, try to identify ways your agency could help with the client's future plans. For example if you see the client is investing in new product development in Q4 2025, you know you should be opening up a conversation early about your agency preparing to update/refresh/make changes to any existing work and/or lining you up to help with launch activity - whether that’s refreshing their branding/guidelines, revisiting their website design, preparing the market with messaging and a PR campaign, thought leadership, influencers or preparing a creative campaign.
Enter the room with confidence: Imagine sitting down with the client, already aware of their future plans and ready with suggestions tailored to their needs. It’s a simple way to demonstrate that you’re proactive, commercially aware, and genuinely interested and invested in their success.
This kind of preparation doesn’t just save time - it positions you as a trusted advisor, someone the client sees as much more valuable than a reactive order taker and ultimately someone they would think to ask for advice - rather than ask to get stuff done.That feeling of walking into a meeting confident, knowledgeable and ready to add value is priceless 😎
