To earn the AMI accreditation, an agency principal must attend and participate in an initial 50 hours of best practices education, taught by a 30-year veteran of the agency business, who is still active in the business today – ensuring that the teachings are current and relevant.
To maintain their accreditation, the agency principal must attend a minimum of 40 additional hours of education each and every year. During these training sessions, industry experts are brought in to provide a wide array of technical, ethical, and practical knowledge on areas like the law, accounting, growing the clients’ business, relationship building, negotiation skills, digital trends, and much more.
Many member agencies go even further, sending their other leadership level and account service staff to workshops and other learning opportunities. The average AMI-accredited agency invests in over 75 hours of ongoing training a year.
Not only must an agency demonstrate to the AMI staff that they’ve earned their accreditation, but they must also re-earn the approval of their AMI peers annually.
How does this serve their clients? AMI agencies:
- Commit to the AMI manifesto, promising to conduct themselves as their clients’ best advocates and partners
- Focus on continual learning of best practices and strategies, emerging trends, and industry issues
- Invest in a minimum of 40 hours of ongoing training annually for agency principals, leadership, and staff
- Maintain and build a strong alliance with other AMI agencies – which extends their boots-on-the-ground resources throughout North America and specific area expertise on behalf of their clients
- Are employers of choice – attracting top-notch talent to work on their clients’ behalf
- Contribute significantly to the communities in which they live by adding to the local economy through payroll and benefits, serving on area boards, and providing many hours of pro bono work
An AMI agency isn’t satisfied with being as good as most.
By seeking, earning, and keeping their AMI accreditation, they demonstrate their ongoing desire to be one of the industry’s leaders – an elite group of less than 100 privately owned agencies that continually invest in their own betterment for their clients’ ultimate benefit.
