Who Will Put "Accountability" Back in "Account Management?"

How different it is nowadays amp160After the shift to feebased remuneration account management lost its media sales role and with it credibility for advising on the health of brands amp160Social and digital innovations provided a coup de gramp226ce account managers were as confused about media choices as their clients amp160Subsequent years of feebashing agency downsizings and juniorizations demolished account management departments The hiring of strategic planners and project managers took away key responsibilities leaving account managers as notetakers responsible for doing what clients asked amp160Account managers no longer had proactive responsibilities to plan and sellin Scopes of Work since clients assumed these responsibilities amp160Clients and agencies ceased using account managers as gatekeepers for creative work creatives worked directly with clientsWhere does this leave account managers today amp160What are their roles and responsibilities amp160Defining their jobs falls squarely in the laps of agency CEOs amp160What do CEOs expect from account managersamp160 Helping clients achieve improved brand performance amp160Negotiating fair fees for existing SOWs amp160Winning growing fees for growing SOWs amp160Eliminating outofscope work amp160Restoring AOR status amp160Safeguarding relationships from competitors39 incursions amp160Achieving longevity of relationships amp160Retaining rather than losing their clients amp160Meeting defined profit targets amp160Keeping clients happyAgency CEOs think but do not say quotWe expect them to do all these things That39s what their job isquot amp160According to former Saatchi ampamp Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts quota creative agency needs to operate amp8230 like an ant colony where every ant knows its job and has the freedom to do itquot amp160The account management ants though are not trained for their freedoms amp160Unlike ants they are not genetically coded amp160Their performance is not measured or reviewed amp160In any case there are no usual metrics to measure their performance and as we39ve all heard you can39t manage what you don39t measureScopes of Work are a good example amp160Account heads and their teams generally know what their Scopes of Work are for a year but no one above them has the same knowledge amp160There are no agency systems to document and measure Scopes of Work amp160Account heads are expected to use whatever system their clients use whether it be Excel PowerPoint Decideware Word emails texts phone calls or cocktail napkins amp160Managing Scopes of Work goes with the account management job like ant leafcutting food foraging and larvae feeding but it is not a management priority within an agency to know what the SOWs are or whether they are aligned with fees and assigned headcountsHow can account managers be accountable for the health of their relationships when no one above has the slightest idea about what work they are doing amp8211 or even whether it is the right work to improve client brandsAgencies create develop and produce deliverables in the tens of thousands each year amp160Departments crank out massive numbers of strategic studies creative deliverables produced pieces published content and quotworkquot amp160None of this is measured or diagnosed amp160Account managers are isolated and stuck with a huge unmeasured responsibility amp160They are not mobilized by management to improve fees or operations amp160They are left alone to sort things out as best they canIn subscribing to a philosophy of anthill management agency CEOs abdicate important managerial responsibilitiesThe manager should establish targets and yardsticks and few factors are as important to the performance of the organization and of every person in it amp160He or she sees to it that each person has measurements available that are focused on the performance of the whole organization and that at the same time focus on the work of the individual amp160The manager analyzes appraisesamp160and interprets performance amp160As in all areas of this work he or she communicates the meaning of the measurements and their findings to subordinates superiors and colleagues Management Revised Edition Peter Drucker 2009Agencies will not pull out of their current remuneration nightmare until account managers are held accountable and measured for the alignment of SOWs fees and agency resources amp160To do this will require new disciplines like the documentation of SOWs the use of new metrics that measure SOW healthamp160and sophisticated client negotiations that are the outcomes of agency group problemsolvingAgencies are not anthills and account managers should not be isolated as they are today amp160It39s never too late to begin putting accountability back in account management amp160The first step though must be taken by agency CEOsCartoon credit Leo Cullum The New Yorker The Cartoon Bank With permissionClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Who Will Put "Accountability" Back in "Account Management?"

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Michael Farmer

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Who Will Put "Accountability" Back in "Account Management?"

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Michael Farmer

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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