How to be successful as an account manager

Someone once said that “The job of management is not to select the best ideas; it is to create a system that allows for the best ideas to emerge.”

Being an Account Manager means creating mutually beneficial relationships between the client and the agency and there’s a blend of different traits that help create that relationship.

1. Communication Skills

The ability to communicate clearly and efficiently is a real skill and that’s why it is the first item on our list. It’s the single most important skill an account manager brings to the table. Dealing with people and coordinating with them on a day-to-day basis is, in a nutshell, the job of an account manager.

You’re the point person for your client and you’re also the point person for your creative team. A client will only open up to you and talk to you, if you are nice to them and you are comfortable listening to them. Your team will only trust you with their idea, if you are able to back them up in front of your client.

You have to be extremely social and comfortable talking to everyone. Your initial job is to make people like you, so that you can get the work done.

2. Results Oriented

An account manager is a salesperson. The creative team is tasked with coming up the idea, but the account manager is the one who actually sells the idea to the client. If you are an account manager, the idea should first be sold to you by the creative team. Make sure you like and believe in it before you take it to your client.

A good account manager doesn’t just work for the client’s wishes, he/she works for growing the business. Having a lot of experience in the field of advertising or PR, you know what works best in the media and what gets more coverage, therefore, you need to be the one to persuade the client to buy your idea.

3. Ask Good Questions

As an Account Manager, you’ll be the point person for your client. In order for their needs to be met, you will have to ask them a lot of questions that mostly pertain to their brand. Clients often stick to the necessary details, it is the account manager’s job to ask the important questions to get more information.

The ability to ask good questions is an important life skill which will always help you achieve a milestone in your professional life and it is something an agency looks for in their ideal account manager.

Some of the questions can be:

“What animal would you associate your brand with?”

OR
“What’s the story behind your brand’s name/logo/mascot?”

Asking questions like these provides the opportunity to arrive at fresh strategies and tell a story that identifies with their brand and eventually help reach the objectives.

4. Be A Leader

Being an account manager is a lot like being a parent to a teenager, you need to be a go-to person for your team but you also need to be a leader and be authoritative if the deadlines are not being met.
Check with your team now and then to measure the progress of the project, motivate them if they are stuck, be a friend if they’re in a slump but remember you’re accountable for the project and you’re also answerable to the client, if your team isn’t doing their work, it’s time to be a little authoritative.