4 Ways You‘re Sabotaging Your Account Management Team (and How to Fix It)
Account management is the lifeblood of any successful agency. Your account managers are the main point of contact for clients, the ones responsible for nurturing relationships, driving growth, and ultimately keeping the lights on.
So it‘s no surprise that agencies with top-performing account management teams are more profitable, have better client retention, and are well-positioned for sustainable growth.
But here‘s the hard truth: most agencies are unknowingly undermining their account services function, and suffering major consequences as a result. Even seemingly small mistakes in how account management is structured, resourced, and led can have huge ripple effects on client satisfaction, team morale, and the agency‘s overall health.
After working with hundreds of agencies over the years — and conducting extensive research on what separates the most effective account managers from the rest — I‘ve identified four of the most common and damaging pitfalls. Let‘s dive into each one and explore how to fix them.
Mistake #1: Overburdening Account Managers With Competing Priorities
One of the most prevalent issues I see, especially at smaller agencies, is asking account managers to wear too many hats. In an effort to maximize limited resources, leadership will often task account managers with responsibilities like:
- New business development
- Project management
- Subject matter expertise (strategy, copywriting, etc.)
- Operations and finance
In theory, combining these functions might seem efficient. But in practice, it pulls account managers in too many different directions, preventing them from doing any of their jobs well.
The most common example is saddling account managers with new business duties. Agency consultant David C. Baker has seen this firsthand in his research:
"Account service isn‘t more important [than new business], but it‘s more urgent. You have this issue with a client. You can solve it and put off business development for another day."
The result? New business becomes an afterthought that never gets prioritized. One agency owner I spoke with estimated that assigning account managers to new business reduced their outbound efforts by 75% because they were constantly buried in client work.
The Fix
The solution is simple but not always easy: keep account management focused on account management. Avoid the temptation to make them part-time project managers, creatives, or salespeople. Their sole priority should be serving as strategic partners and growth drivers for existing clients.
What about agencies that truly can‘t afford separate roles for functions like new business and project management? My advice:
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Get crystal clear on your account manager‘s primary responsibilities and ruthlessly protect their bandwidth for that work above all else.
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Provide them with support from other team members (or even outside contractors) to handle competing priorities as needed. The key is that those don‘t become a permanent, defining part of the account management role.
Mistake #2: Allowing Clients to Dictate the Relationship
We all know the old saying about the customer always being right. But when it comes to agency-client relationships, there have to be boundaries.
Unfortunately, in an effort to be accommodating and avoid rocking the boat, many agencies allow clients to walk all over them. Account managers become order-takers rather than consultative partners, saying yes to every demand and bending over backwards to fulfill last-minute requests.
The consequences are predictable: scope creep, shrinking margins, missed deadlines, and eventually, complete erosion of the agency‘s profitability and team morale.
As Baker puts it:
"Agencies are giving away time, and account managers, those on the front lines, are letting it happen because agency leadership is not forcing them to balance the needs of the agency with those of the client."
The Fix
Restoring a healthy balance to client relationships starts at the top. Agency leaders must empower account managers to be equal partners with their clients by:
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Establishing clear policies and boundaries around scope, timelines, budgets, and communication protocols. These should be codified in your contracts and statements of work.
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Training account managers on how to confidently enforce these policies through open dialogue with clients. Role-playing exercises can be helpful for building assertiveness muscles.
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Backing up account managers when they do have to have difficult conversations or push back on unreasonable client demands. Don‘t undermine them in the name of people-pleasing.
Will some clients bristle at this? Absolutely. But by proactively setting expectations and sticking to your guns, you‘ll weed out bad-fit clients and build stronger partnerships with the rest.
Mistake #3: Relying on Generalists Instead of Specialists
Another common trap agencies fall into is having account managers play dual roles as both relationship managers and subject matter experts. In a misguided attempt to streamline communication and project workflow, they‘ll have account managers also acting as the lead strategist, copywriter, or even creative director on their accounts.
Big mistake. By making your agency‘s experts too accessible, you diminish their perceived value and authority. Suddenly, they‘re just glorified order-takers with fancy titles.
Baker explains it perfectly:
"Clients don‘t listen to account service people like they want to be listened to, because in developed cultures, experts are inaccessible… If we don‘t have the expert in the background, the agency becomes client-driven, where the agency is just doing what the client wants instead of doing what the agency recommends."
The Fix
The most effective (and profitable) agencies understand that specialization is key. They have clearly defined roles and swim lanes, with account managers focused on client relationships and growth, and subject matter experts focused on developing and delivering top-notch work.
That doesn‘t mean account managers can‘t have relevant experience or industry knowledge. In fact, they should, to be effective strategic partners for clients. But they shouldn‘t be the ones in the trenches creating deliverables.
Build a team of true experts, and give them the space to do what they do best. Have them make cameo appearances with clients to lend their authority and assure them they‘re in good hands. Let your account managers be the accessible ones managing the day-to-day of the engagement.
Mistake #4: Thinking "Great at Process" Equals "Great at Relationships"
Finally, one of the biggest missteps I see agencies make is using the wrong criteria to hire and promote account managers. They‘ll look for hyper-organized, process-oriented individuals and assume those traits will translate to client success.
In reality, those are table stakes for account managers. Being good at managing deadlines and workflows is expected, but it‘s not what moves the needle. An account manager‘s real value is in their ability to grow the business, both by expanding existing client relationships and bringing on new ones.
As Baker puts it:
"The personality profile of an account service manager is somebody who is good at growing the account. If somebody can‘t grow the account, they are not a good account service person."
Hiring for the wrong qualities leads to account managers who are more focused on crossing t‘s and dotting i‘s than proactively finding opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. They may be beloved by clients for their responsiveness and attention to detail, but they‘re not doing anything to meaningfully grow revenue.
The Fix
To build a rockstar account management team, prioritize these key traits in your hiring and development efforts:
- Natural curiosity and a knack for asking insightful questions to uncover client needs
- Comfort with ambiguity and selling ideas/intangibles (even without hard data)
- Emotional intelligence to navigate client politics and dynamics
- Enthusiasm for networking and relationship-building
- Entrepreneurial drive to proactively identify and pursue growth opportunities
Of course, organizational and project management skills still matter. But they‘re not enough on their own. Screen for them, but don‘t make them the primary focus.
Look for people who have a track record of growing accounts through cross-selling, up-selling, and spotting unmet client needs. Ask them for specific examples of how they‘ve done it in the past, and pose hypothetical scenarios to see how they think through growth challenges.
Once you have the right people in place, invest in their development with sales training, leadership coaching, and mentorship from senior leaders. The more you can nurture their relationship-building and business development skills, the more they‘ll thrive — and so will your agency.
Want to Unleash Your Account Team‘s Full Potential?
If you‘ve made it this far, you‘re clearly committed to building a high-performing account management function. That alone puts you ahead of most agencies.
But awareness is just the first step. To truly move the needle, you need to take action. Start by assessing your current account management structure and looking for signs of these four mistakes:
- Overloaded account managers juggling too many responsibilities
- Clients running roughshod over boundaries and policies
- Lack of clear separation between account and subject matter expert roles
- Over-emphasis on process/organizational skills vs. growth abilities in hiring
If you find yourself nodding along to any of those, don‘t panic. Recognizing the problem is the first step to solving it.
Use the tips outlined here to start shifting your account management approach and setting your team up for success. It won‘t happen overnight, but with consistent effort and leadership buy-in, you can transform your account managers from glorified order-takers to true growth drivers.
The payoff is worth it. Not only will you see improvements in client retention, satisfaction, and upsell/cross-sell rates, but you‘ll have a happier, more engaged account team that feels valued and supported in their roles.
Now It‘s Your Turn
I‘d love to hear from you. What‘s your biggest challenge or frustration with your agency‘s account management function today? Shoot me an email or drop a comment below and let‘s discuss.
And if you found this article helpful, don‘t forget to share it with your network. Together, we can help raise the bar on account management and make our agencies more successful, profitable, and fulfilling for everyone involved.
