Redesigning Account Management for a More Sustainable Future

Raise your hand if you remember when agency account leaders were great strategic partners, made creative work better, fought hard for time, money and great ideas, and were the most trusted advisors of their clients. As an industry, it’s high time we got back to having confident (dare I say) badass account leadership as the norm, not the exception.

We’ve all seen the articles proclaiming that account management is dead. And the inevitable counter point that’s akin to some version of Mark Twain’s classic line: ‘reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’ 

Death is a definite no. But we wanted to have a better handle on what’s ailing account management.

Most of the information we found is qualitative, so we fielded our own anonymous survey. While the data is still coming in, we can already see validation for some of the anecdotal feedback we hear regularly. (The sample thus far is mostly independent agency leaders across all disciplines, including account management)

Two-thirds of all respondents agree or agree completely that there’s confusion between the role of account management and project management. There was even greater consensus (almost three-quarters agree or agree completely) that promoting to avoid attrition has put juniors into senior roles for which they are not qualified. 

Clearly, these issues are not sustainable and need to be addressed, like, yesterday. What’s interesting is that these particular issues have operational implications…it’s bigger than the individuals in account management. The following verbatim punctuates this insight from a different angle.  

I think we’ve failed account management industrywide. Both the agency and the client teams have turned them into “glorified delivery boys and girls,” often culturally robbing them of opportunity to add any real value. - founder and chief creative officer

On the positive side, roughly half of all respondents agree that some/not all account teams are functioning in a strategic capacity and making higher-level contributions. And this rings true with real life. Clearly there remain bona-fide superstars in our midst. But there are also an awful lot of teams who are underperforming and people whose full potential has yet to be unleashed. 

I have 20+ years in account management and loved (nearly) every minute. But I had the benefit of great, foundational training from a boss with a big agency background and big brand creds. Participation in the strategic direction of ones’ accounts was a fundamental requirement of the job, and so was idea generation. You dared not show up at a planning session without new thinking and rationale for why it was a good idea. Tough love? You bet. And it was competitive too, because business is competitive, and we weren’t f’ing around.  

But that’s when the fun began. It was exhilarating to be a contributing member of a super smart team that enjoyed the thrill of kicking ass with, and on behalf of, our clients. It was never easy, but it was also never dull and completely addicting. 

Why the reminiscing? Because in this case, it makes sense to look back. To move forward successfully in the future, account management needs to take more than a few pages from our past selves when we understood our clients’ business inside and out, practiced critical thinking and came to the table with an informed, strategic point of view. 

Looking back doesn’t always need to be frowned upon. The truth is, we look to our past all the time to build beautiful, lasting things. We can make fresh and vibrant things when we layer what was great about the past with contemporary thinking.  

Our own business offers the most obvious example. None of us would bat an eye if the solution to reinvigorating a mature, languishing brand was found in honoring its revered past. Or, we can look beyond marketing, and think for a moment about interior design. An eclectic home with both classic and modern design elements is celebrated as chic, timeless and inherently livable.

So, yes, account management needs some TLC, but doesn’t everything and everyone at some point? Think of it like a brand refresh…a redesign with an eclectic approach, combining new skills and sensibilities with a renewed commitment to the classic, core disciplines that made our once-great discipline so damn good. That’s our way back to feeling the love and a more sustainable, livable future for everyone. (Cue the sound of champagne bottles popping).