account management : managing a client

 

Well.opinion think that

This is about managing a client in a service business and some thoughts I shared about “managing a client” from something I wrote to client service people years ago.

I will use advertising agencies because that is what I am most familiar with but many of the thoughts are relevant in almost any service or ‘partnering with a client’ business relationship.

The internal memo I have almost replicated verbatim is from 2001. That memo was an edited version of something from probably 1991 <I didn’t save that version> … and I used this in maybe 2011 … and I still use it today.

Relevant then. Relevant now.

Oh.

But.

I will admit that this discussion has changed over the years.

Well. Not with me … but with everyone else it seems.

Where has it changed? The word “managing.”

actually i canYup. I often find myself challenged from word one <or power point slide one> on “managing.” A lot of people … let me repeat “a lot” … want it to be ‘listening’ or ‘partnering’ or even ‘servicing’ <which implies ‘do what they want’ which makes me scream … at least on the inside> instead of managing.  For some reason managing has gained some negative aspects I guess I have not become aware of as time has gone by.

I have one word for these people.

Crazy <possibly ‘nuts’>.

Managing doesn’t mean you aren’t listening nor does it suggest you aren’t showing respect or anything negative … it simply suggests you are leading in some form or fashion.

Respect, listening, partnership, etc. are simply dynamics within an overall ideology of ‘leading’ <or managing>. I am willing to compromise by saying things like ‘managing with respect’ or ‘managing with listening’ and stuff like that … but … managing is managing.

Simplistically if you do not manage … you get managed.

In the service business that translates into you have become the tail on the dog.

 

Ok.

Managing a client.

Some basics I believe are … well … basic. There are many many things that make up a successful client partner manager … in fact so many you cannot do them all. You simply pick & choose the best for the situation you are in. theses however are kind of the basics of the basics. If you stick them into your business protocol you really cant go wrong. It may not be enough to guarantee success but it at least keeps you in the possible success game.account management idea execution

 

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1.       Give ‘em ideas. And then give them more.

Oh, ideas. Yes. They will ignore your ideas. Yes. They will suggest that you must not have enough to do if you have time to write them down or present them. Yes. They will disagree with them. But keep on giving them to the client. And in writing … not just emails. I promise you … they WILL remember them.

Plus. Ideas are like boomerangs. You send an idea off to a client … they disappear out somewhere across the field … and then ‘wham’ … when you least expect it … maybe even months later … they seem to come flying back at you.

You may never get credit for it <because so much time has lapsed> but the client knows.

Give ‘em ideas.

 

 

2.       ASK. Ask the client what they want.

Whew. This isn’t really about listening … this is more about simply asking the question. And this question is really only a starting point … but it is a defining moment <and they are good things>. it may not define what YOU want, but certainly identifies quite clearly what you need to do first and foremost before you have ‘permission’ to do anything else. Too often we forget to ASK and just do what we think they want … in combination with simply doing what we think is the ‘right thing’ to do. and in all cases we may actually be right … but it may be easier to swallow if we has asked them what they wanted and wove in that thinking

for example … I took over an existing client relationship once and took them to lunch in the first week. they asked me what I wanted to know about their business … and I suggested I would rather first know what they wanted their advertising agency to ‘be’ and do for them <which would inevitably drive what I should be interested in with regard to their business>. Well. I have never seen 4 more shocked faces … they said no one had ever asked them what they wanted before <in a relationship>.

Such a simple question.

We often overlook the simplest question … a defining question.

 

 

3.       Store checks stink.

This is about getting to know your clients’ business.  With a packaged goods client it is about store checks. Walking in store after store after store seeing how the product is showcased, appears to potential byers and watching buyers interact. Oh. And how the product looks when showcased against the competition. Oh. And all that stuff with regard to the competition.

Store checks stink.

Well. If store checks is not relevant to your particular client’s business … suffice it to say that going out into the real world stinks.

But you gotta do it regardless.

And with the client whenever possible. By the way … they think it stinks too. But. They will always notice something you would never have noticed. And you will have learned something from them.

A tip? Buy something in every store you ‘check.’ Even if it is a piece of gum. You will feel a little bit better about the trip an time as well as you actually have completed the buying process.

By the way … while this stinks when you are first starting out … it exponentially stinks more when you are older and more experienced <because you have done it before>. Well. Suck it up. Even the more experienced have to do it <with clients preferably>.

 

 

4.       No one ever has time for team events.

No one ever has the time or inclination to participate and do team events. Sure. Everyone says they don’t want to do them, but this is like pictures. No one ever wants to take the pictures or have their picture taken … but EVERYONE loves to look at the pictures when it is all said and done. Make the time … in any form or fashion a team event creates a ‘Kodak moment’ for a team.

 

 

5.       Drive the client. Do not be a passenger in the client’s car.

Drive the car … and drive it hard … to its limits as a matter of fact. To win the race you need to find the comfort zone between speed and control. This is the same with managing clients. Control where you go and how fast you go. Couple of huge challenges as you become a race car driver.

First. Note that most client cars do not have seat belts on the passenger side so if you elect to be the passenger it makes riding along even more dangerous <corollary to this is that you assume responsibility for your client’s safety when you put them in the passenger seat>.

Second is that the race can be a confounding variation of the 24 hour Le Mans marathon and drag race. There are bursts of speed and conserving energy for the long run. It is challenging. Even more challenging? If you manage it really really <really> well … you never actually reach the finish line. T is an ongoing race.

 

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fouractions of leadersManaging, in general, is difficult. Managing a client <who is paying you for a service> is exponentially more difficult.

Mostly it is all difficult because it is not following <which is obviously less difficult>.

But maybe that is why not everyone can do it.

 

You manage for a variety of reasons … but the main reason <to me> is that if you do not … you can get pulled in so many directions with the ‘crisis du jour’ or by listening too closely to what a client may say <because there IS a difference between talking out loud and talking about something needed> that without maintaining some overall higher purpose or direction … you can easily become distracted and go down the wrong road.

Managing means making sure you are connected with and articulate the vision for the organization as you guide actions and behavior. Your vision <because … by the way … you are in a business and unless you are the low cost provider you have to build some value outside of simply ‘doing what they ask’> and their vision <because they are paying the bills.

 

If you don’t agree with what I wrote maybe only take one thought away and ponder … if you are not managing you are being managed.

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Written by Bruce