The future role of Account Management

In my agency years (worked for 6 and cooperated on-a-project-basis with more than 20), whenever it was to hire a new person, we were engaged in an internal (irritating for me) ‘debate', about choosing one talent attribute over another. In the creative arena, do you want a great trainer of smaller teams, or a creative mega-genius? When it comes to account people, do you want a brilliant strategist to guide Client's business, or do you want a person talented with organizational and project management skills? Hidden in me, I never wanted to choose like that, because if we are to reduce people to their component talents, we are thinking too narrowly.

Let's take for example the recruiting effort for account managers - middle level (I talk for the function, not the job title!!!). Instead of remembering the distinctions between supervisors, coordinators, managers and directors in account management, to my mind they're all on the front lines with Clients (owning a different experience level). So, if a manager is good, surely he/she can elevate every aspect of the service agency. When so much focus has been placed on reinventing the agency model and innovations in marketing communications, account people are the unsung heroes of the business. They carry the burden of taking the agency's best innovations and convincing Clients that these are not only real, but very useful. So, instead of talking over and over about talent over talent, we should accept that the model that best captures the qualities of a star account person is that of an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs think and bet on an idea. They assemble a team that can bring the idea to conceptual fruition. They often help people see the value of a new product that has not yet been created. They raise revenue, they sustain the agency's economic model, and for that! ...they establish vale-added partnerships. They shape a culture where innovation and collaboration thrive among peers. I don't know, but this sounds a whole lot like the qualities we want in an account person who performs at the highest level.

When you start to think of account people as entrepreneurs, it introduces a new level of potential into the role. They are no longer tie-suits dutifully carrying the ideas to meetings. They become catalysts for new thinking and innovation. But in order for them to grow beyond functionaries managing a piece of business, and become business people who create markets for ideas, agencies need to redefine the qualities that they want in account people.

1. Put curiosity on top of the list, because that's what entrepreneurs do so well (they see possibilities that most of us miss).
2. Look for someone who has the initiative to take calculated risks and who knows when to introduce bold new thinking to Clients so that it will be recognized and (monetary) valued.
3. The instinct when to stay on the highway and when to cut across the field. Systems and processes drive a lot of productive work, but at times they stifle creativity. It takes a finely tuned instinct to know when and what to search / sell.
4. Sense of diplomacy has saved many a great campaign and preserved relationships between agency and Client. Selling ideas requires negotiation skills between multiple parties. Creative teams need to accommodate client demands. Clients may need to be pushed to take greater risks. The best account people have the tact to integrate different points of view while preserving the integrity of an idea.
5. Pure ambition's drive and the insatiable desire to see an idea come to fruition in all its forms. Passion, ambition, and hard work can produce miracles

Of course, you can't ask people to be entrepreneurial if it doesn't emanate from the top. To my way of thinking, an entrepreneurial spirit is what got most marcomms agencies launched in the first place. Management's goal should be to keep that spirit alive, and there's no more essential place than the agency's (any agency) account organization. In the end, few great ideas and innovations will ever see the light of day without the talents of those people. This post was crafted in my mind after a discussion with an old-time friend for "what talent is needed within recession"!