O. Burtch Drake, once said, “the discipline of Account Management has been so inextricably tied into the DNA of the agency business, it has been taken for granted.”I’ve worked in account management my entire career, and I couldn’t agree more. For far too many years, account managers have been derided as smooth talking, over-privileged, hipster Madmen. That may have been the case during the age of the three-martini lunch. But, in today’s age of social solipsism, I hold that there is no role more fundamental and more central to agency success than true account leadership.
No longer is account management simply about “handling” clients. Nor is account management the whipping post of the creative elite (as in this spoof). Agency innovation is now a very hot topic in the C – as in client – Suite. Clients are very interested in re-interpreting the agency model – and account management is at the epi-center.
Every client I know is thinking about innovation – not just across their product lines and marketing campaigns – but across their entire organization. And, every agency I know – should be thinking this way too: How to innovate within their organizational structure; how to create a balance between re-energizing their core and attacking any white space; what types of people they need to staff their innovation function; and what capability gaps do they have that need to be filled.
It’s more important than ever for agencies to re-invent the way that their clients engage with them. Client expectations are higher than ever. They want solutions faster than ever. And, they demand that their agency experience is easier than ever. Believe me, clients aren’t taking good account management for granted – and neither should you.
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