Growing our clients
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What role should your AE play?
The reality is that today, all of you have a choice. Your account people can be trained and groomed and held responsible for being the strategic Sherpas of your clients, guiding them in business decisions and marketing decisions, really being their thinking partner or they can be the relationship holders. And it's not that they can't do a little bit of both, but you have to decide where you'll lean in with your training, your recruitment, who you keep, and how you groom and grow your account service team. A strategic business partner is very different from someone who just takes the order, ensures the work gets done on time, and builds a relationship with the client. As you think about that, don't forget to do the math. What would that mean for you on the salary side, on the payroll side? So there's no right or wrong. And for many of you, there's a clear path one way or the other. And in some cases, that depends on the sophistication level of your clients; it might be dependent on the kind of work that you do for clients. It might be dependent on the people you already have on staff. How do you want to show up in front of clients and prospects, and how do you want them to see the account service people and where they get their strategy? Worth giving some thought. Watch »
10% growth
An account person's job is to get the work done. But another part of that job is to focus on the client's goals and what else the client can be doing to achieve those goals. Sometimes, those ideas that we take our clients don't have anything to do with the agency. It might be about distribution or pricing or something else. That's us being a good partner, but a subset of the ideas that we should regularly take to our clients to help them accomplish their goals would also generate additional revenue for the agency. It might be putting more gasoline on a fire or something we already do. It might be trying something different. It might be beta testing something with AI. Doesn’t really matter what it is. But your account person's job is to know the client well enough that they can prescribe other marketing activities or other business activities that will help the client accomplish their goals. Watch »
How can I help my client?
One of my favorite questions for our account people to ask their point of contact inside the client – super simple, but delivers big results – is hey client, while we're building out the marketing plan, what we're thinking about the company's ROI and their goals, I'm curious for you personally what has been outlined for you at the end of the year? What activity, what ROI, and what accomplishment will earn you a raise, a bonus, or a promotion? Once they share that with you, bake it into the plan. Make sure it's part of what you want to deliver by the end of the year. It's going to do a couple of things. It's going to tell your client that you're on their side. Number two, it's going to elevate a conversation from being an order taker to being a thinking partner and a marketing partner. Number three, it's going to create a champion inside that organization for you, because everybody loves somebody who will help them get a raise, bonus or promotion. So it's a super simple way to have a more in-depth conversation with a client that demonstrates that we understand that their job is on the line, their success is on the line, and we're a huge part of whether or not they accomplish their goals, both professionally and personally, and that we want to contribute to that in every way we can. Watch »
Are you a sales surfer?
What I admire about surfers is their tenacity. Rain, shine, cold or scorching hot -- they are out here every day, practicing their craft. That's how agency owners need to approach sales. Watch »
Why your best clients are at risk
One of the top reasons clients give for firing an agency is that after awhile, they think we start to phone it in and stop bringing them big ideas. There's a simple fix for this and it doesn't have to cost you a ton of time or money. Watch »
How many non-billable people should your agency have?
AMI's Drew McLellan talks about a financial metric that helps you determine if you have the right number of non-billable FTEs. Watch »
The importance of face time
Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute, offers a weekly agency management tip to agency owners. Watch »
