Why Sales is Not a Dirty Word in Agency Account Management
Quick answer
Most agency account managers resist the word “sales” because it conjures images of pushy 1950s spivs and hard-closing tactics that feel at odds with the client relationships they’ve spent years building. But the skills clients consistently say they want from their agency (proactive strategic thinking, genuine understanding of their business, reliable delivery that proves value) are commercial skills in everything but name. The resistance to the word “sales” is creating an identity gap that costs agencies growth. This post explains where that gap comes from, why it persists, and what good commercial account management actually looks like in practice.
I was interviewed on the PharmaBrands podcast recently and told the host, Neil Follett, about my 2009 epiphany.
When I was promoted from Client Services Director to General Manager at Publicis LifeBrands, I was assigned a sales trainer: Marcus Cauchi, a Sandler Trainer at the time. It was the first formal sales training of my career, and I’d been in agency account management since the early nineties.
When I met Marcus, I felt like someone had handed me magic glasses.
Suddenly I had language for things I’d always known but never articulated the same way. Pipeline. Qualifying. Conversion rates. Lead generation. So enthralled with my newfound vocabulary and the energy it gave me, I asked Marcus to run a session with my team.
The team was a mix of account executives, account managers, account directors and group account directors. The impact on their behaviour was profound. They started coming back from client meetings saying things like “I’ve got another project” and “He said he’d introduce me to X.” Better questions were being asked. Referrals were being requested. New projects and leads followed.
I could just imagine my CEO’s face at the next forecast update.
Why does the word “sales” still make agency account managers uncomfortable?
Back on the podcast, Neil asked me something that took the wind out of my sails for a moment. After I’d explained how we’d all been introduced to sales skills, he said:
“How could you and your team have been seen as high performing, yet missing those skills?”
It’s a good question. And it came back to me after my AI for Account Managers workshop for the Alliance of Independent Agencies. Most of the feedback was generous, but one comment stood out:
“It felt more tailored to sales-based account management rather than creative agency account management.”
Seventeen years after my epiphany with Marcus, the word “sales” is still being treated as something separate. Slightly grubby. Not actually part of the job.
In most other industries, account management is synonymous with being commercial. In creative agencies, it’s treated like a different discipline entirely, one that belongs to someone else.
What is the “identity gap” in agency account management?
The identity gap is the disconnect between what clients say they want from their account managers and what agency account managers believe their job actually involves.
I understand why account managers push back on the word “sales.” I did too.
“Sales” is a polarising word. It can repel people. No one wants to be sold to, and no one wants to feel pushy, like a 1950s spiv hard-selling his wares. The old-school “always be closing” mantra needs to stay locked in a cupboard in the 1980s.
And like me, most account managers are fiercely protective of the client relationships they’ve spent months or years building. The fear is that introducing anything that smells like sales will damage that trust. That’s not cynicism, it’s care. The problem is that the fear is misplaced.
What do clients actually want from their agency account managers?
I recently reviewed ten major client-agency studies from the last two years to see what clients most consistently ask for. The findings have barely changed since I started out in the early nineties.
Clients want three things:
1. Proactive strategic thinking - ideas and challenges that arrive before they’ve been asked for
2. Genuine understanding of their business - real knowledge of their pressures, priorities and internal politics
3. Reliable delivery that proves value - work connected back to outcomes the client actually cares about
Are those not commercial skills?
To be proactive, you need to spot opportunities and propose ideas relevant to the client’s business goals. To understand the client’s business, you need to ask better questions, the kind Marcus taught my team. To prove value, you need to connect the work to outcomes the client cares about, not just outputs the agency is proud of.
That sounds an awful lot like good account growth skills to me. Which is another way of saying sales.
What do PE-backed agencies reveal about commercial account management?
I’m seeing the same dynamic from a different angle with PE-backed agencies. I’ve worked with several over the last six months and, just like Publicis, forecasting is central to how they operate.
Client success teams are expected to know what is confirmed, what is probable and where future growth might come from. At Publicis, the forecast was the bible. Updated weekly, reported upwards quarterly. You couldn’t drift into client meetings and hope that useful work appeared. You had to understand where the account was going, what the client might need next, and what conversations needed to happen to get there.
That discipline - knowing the account, planning ahead, having the commercial conversation before the client brings it up - is exactly what the best account managers do. It’s also exactly what most agency training programmes never teach.
What does good commercial account management actually look like?
Hard-nosed sales tactics would damage trust. That’s true, and it’s worth saying clearly. But when an account manager spots a client problem early, asks the question nobody else has thought to ask, brings a relevant idea to a meeting, or opens up a conversation about what’s coming next, they are not damaging the relationship.
Done well, they deepen it.
The account managers who do this consistently aren’t the ones who feel pushy or manipulative. They’re the ones clients describe as “understanding our business.” They’re the ones who get called first when a new project is in the air. They’re the ones the client would miss if they left.
So maybe the better question to ask is this: are we expecting account managers to grow clients while simultaneously teaching them that sales is grubby and someone else’s job?
Summary
Agency account managers resist the word “sales” because it feels at odds with the trusted adviser role they’ve worked hard to build. But the skills clients consistently ask for - proactive thinking, business understanding, and value-connected delivery - are commercial skills in everything but name. The identity gap between “account management” and “sales” costs agencies growth and leaves account managers underprepared for one of the most important parts of their job. Commercial confidence, curiosity and disciplined follow-up are not threats to client relationships. Applied well, they strengthen them.
FAQ
Why do agency account managers resist the word “sales”?
Because “sales” still carries connotations of pressure, manipulation, and pushy tactics that feel incompatible with the trust-based client relationships agency account managers spend years building. The fear is understandable, but the word has become a barrier to a skill set that clients are actively asking for.
Is account growth the same as sales in an agency context?
Yes, functionally. Account growth requires spotting opportunities, asking better questions about the client’s business, connecting agency work to client outcomes, and having proactive conversations about what comes next. Those are sales skills under a different name, and most agency account managers are never formally taught them.
What sales skills do agency account managers actually need?
Not hard-closing tactics. The skills that make a real difference are: asking better qualifying questions, understanding where an account is going and what the client might need next, being able to spot and articulate the commercial value of the agency’s work, and having the confidence to open a conversation about future projects before the client brings it up.
How do PE-backed agencies approach account management differently?
Client success teams in PE-backed agencies are typically expected to maintain a live forecast, tracking what is confirmed, what is probable, and where future growth might come from. That commercial discipline forces account managers to think ahead rather than react, and to understand the account as a business relationship rather than a delivery project.
What’s the difference between pushy sales tactics and good commercial account management?
Pushy sales tactics prioritise closing over the client’s interests. Good commercial account management is the opposite: it means understanding the client’s business well enough to spot problems and opportunities they haven’t articulated yet, and bringing those to the conversation in a way that deepens trust rather than exploiting it.
How can agencies bridge the identity gap between account management and sales?
Start by retiring the word “sales” internally if it’s causing resistance, and replace it with the behaviours: proactive thinking, commercial curiosity, value-connected delivery, and disciplined follow-up. Then train for those behaviours explicitly. The account managers who do this well don’t feel like salespeople, they feel like the most valuable person in the room.
Are you expecting your account managers to grow clients, while teaching them that sales is someone else’s job?
This is something I cover in depth in my Account Accelerator™ programme and the next cohort starts in September 2026. Why not book in for a no-obligation chat with me?
