The Art of Account Management: Not Being Afraid to Ask Questions with Lillie Price

Always leading with energy, Lillie is passionate about getting the most creative campaigns out into the world by creating fun and inclusive working environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.  

As head of account management at Mr. President, Lillie runs key pieces of business, plays an active role in the agency’s New Business team and proudly leads her team of amazing account managers.  

Prior to this, Lillie worked at international network agency Mullen Lowe where she delivered campaigns for Unilever haircare giant TRESemmé across UK, US and Latin America. She was also a regular at Cannes Film Festival in her work with Magnum ice-cream.  

Lillie’s on a mission to demystify the creative industry and help get more people a seat at the table via mentoring taking part in secondary school seminars.  

Outside of work. Lillie’s a big believer in the power of nature, trying to get outside as much as possible in her spare time. So if you can’t find her jazz-handing her way through the office, most likely she’ll be at Hampstead Ladies Pond.

LBB> How did you first get involved in account management and what appealed to you about it?

Lillie> I happily stumbled into my first job after a chance lock-in at a bar, where I had met the wife of a design agency owner. I got a job doing the agency’s marketing and PR. But when I arrived, I met Rebecca…

It seemed to me that the agency revolved around her. She was the fountain of knowledge and the driving force behind getting everything done. She got to be in every interesting meeting. And her voice was valued by everyone in the building as well as the clients. 

I’d never heard the job ‘account manager’ before. But I was in. 

LBB> What is it about your personality, skills and experience that has made account management such a great fit?

Lillie> I’m a stereotypical Leo: energetic, enthusiastic, creative, and with a penchant for the limelight. All of which are natural strengths for account management. I love the work, being surrounded by creative people making new things together. But I also care a lot about the ‘vibes’... making sure everyone - clients and the team -  are having as much fun along the way as possible. 

Sounds obvious, but I’m also a grafter. I’ve had to work my butt off on the things that don’t come as naturally to me…

At MullenLowe I had an amazing business director (another Rebecca!) who drilled me on the art of getting into the detail and being diligent. Aka Account Management 101.

And at Mr. President, Claire and Chris (CEO and CFO) invested a lot of their time helping me get to grips with the bigger financials. I now find authoring a brilliant commercial proposal to be a source of huge pride and I appreciate that a banging scope of work is the critical first step to forging a successful client-agency relationship.  

LBB> What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in account management?

Lillie> Be curious. 

When you’re in account management you have the keys to the castle! It’s in your remit to poke around to find what everyone is up to. So talk to people. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even the ‘dumb’ ones that you think everyone else knows the answer to - because nine times out of 10 the answer will help clarify things for everyone in the room. 

LBB> Thinking back to some of your most challenging experiences you’ve had in your career, what do you think tends to lie at the heart of the more tense or difficult client-agency relationships?

Lillie> A toxic combo of bad communication and unhealthy precedents being set.

LBB> And what are the keys to building a productive and healthy relationship?

Lillie> Properly getting under the hood of your clients business and understanding the landscape they are working in - beyond their marketing needs. Understanding how everyone on the team communicates best.  What’s everyone’s strengths? What are the pressures on the team we don’t necessarily see? Can we agree on a joint ambition for the next one / three / five years working together? 

LBB> What’s your view on disagreement and emotion - is there a place for it and if not, why not? If so, why - and what does productive disagreement look like?

Lillie> Working without emotion would be impossible for me. If someone is thrilled / angered / anxious it’s because they care. If a client is ambivalent then the work probably isn’t good enough. 

But what’s important is to keep those more heightened emotions in balance. Clocking what’s at the root of a disagreement and then trying to find the middle ground. It’s always a heck of a lot easier if the client-agency team has a shared vision for the work in the long-term.

LBB> Historically, account management has been characterised as the mediator in an adversarial client and creative relationship - what do you make of that characterisation, is there any nugget of truth in that or is it wildly inaccurate?

Lillie> Sometimes there’s heated agency/client conflict to be negotiated. But for me, the art of account management is diplomacy rather than mediation. Mediators are middle-men: passive and impartial, whereas diplomats lead the outcome.

A good account manager finds the middle ground and opens better communication channels - all in the service of getting the work to a place that’s creatively excellent, as well as meeting the clients’ business needs. 

However if you’re only ever in high-stress diplomacy mode, it’s a sure sign that there’s some misalignment. Maybe the vision of the agency and client no longer match, in which case it might be time to say goodbye. 

LBB> These days, agencies do so much beyond traditional campaigns and as account management you’re pulling together creative, experience, data, e-commerce, social and more - and that complexity can often be mirrored on the client stakeholder side too? What’s the key to navigating (and helping the client navigate) that complexity?

Lillie> Hunt for the big idea that’s deep and stretchy enough that it’ll act as north star regardless of channel - then socialise it properly throughout the clients business so everyone truly gets it. 

LBB> What recent projects are you proudest of and why? What was challenging about these projects from an account management perspective and how did you address those challenges? What was so satisfying about working on these projects?

Lillie> Our work for Woodsman Whisky was a joy. We landed on a brilliantly simple, entertaining idea. But producing a category-disrupting idea in a restricted category is hard. We had a lot of ASA and Clearcast hurdles to overcome. There were plenty of moments when the client could have thrown the towel in, avoided the risk and gone with a safer/blander idea. Our amazing clients had the balls to run with it without fussing over it or adding unnecessary complexity. Together, we created a culture of openness and over-communication. My amazing account director Julia was Chief Clearcast worrier, and her diligence throughout the process meant that even in the stressful moments, it felt like we (agency and client) were one team in it together. 

And the work has gone down a storm. According to System 1 it’s in the top 1% of ads for over 44 year olds and one of the best performing whisky ads worldwide 🤯 Plus the client are on track to smash all their sales targets. It just goes to show that brave ideas translate into business results - but without a strong relationship with the client that work will never see the light of day.