Creative Agency Account Manager Podcast

Welcome to episode 105, I have invited two of my most popular podcast guests back for a second time, sales trainer legends; Marcus Cauchi and Benjamin Dennehey.‌Both have been sales trainers for years and have worked with many agencies and tech companies. They shared some golden nuggets to help you with selling your agency’s services.‌I had to throw away the list of questions I’d prepared and let the conversation flow naturally because I wanted to capture as much of their collective sales wisdom and tips as possible. I hope you’ll enjoy the longer length of this episode and ultimately come away with some practical things you can implement in your sales process.‌‌· An understanding of the importance of having the ability to ask superb questions during the sales conversation with a prospect.· In our chat, Marcus and Benjamin role play a conversation and hopefully you can take the principles away and model some of the language they’re using in your next sales conversation with a prospect.You can reach Marcus Cauchi on LinkedIn, via marcus@laughs-last.com,  visit his website: https://www.laughs-last.com and The Inquisitor podcast.You can reach Benjamin at https://www.uksmosthatedsalestrainer.com/If you’d like to chat to me about selling skills for agency account managers to help you with your your existing client accounts then you can go to my website https://www.accountmanagementskills.com and find out more about how I help build an entrepreneurial mindset in account management through my training programmes.‌

Welcome to episode 104. In this episode, I talk all things agency project management with Joanne Reid, Managing Partner for delivery at Cactus. We cover:- the challenges agencies face with project management- how Joanne assesses how well an agency's project management is working- how project management differs from account management and why she recommends agencies to have both roles- the target level of annual gross profit an agency should reach before investing in both roles- her recommendations for project management tools and how to evaluate whether you have the right one for you- what skills to look for when hiring a project manager - and Jo's thoughts on future trends she's seeing in project management. Make sure you follow her on LinkedIn because she shares some really useful tips for project managers and also agency owners when it comes agency service delivery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-reid-6220744b/If you're an agency owner or you're heading up the agency's account management team and have realised your existing clients just aren't growing, it may be time to provide the right support for your account management team to do it. I'm currently enrolling for my Account Accelerator programme that starts on 11th January 2024. It's a twelve month training and coaching programme for account managers who are responsible for account retention and growth. It's designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset and you'll come away with a proven account management and growth process, an end to end client growth framework, and a proactive client retention strategy for the agency. We already have some really self motivated senior account managers, directors and client services directors joining the programme who are often also responsible for leading a team in the agency. You can find the details of the Account Accelerator programme on my website:https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator

Karl Sakas, an agency growth consultant and author, dives into how agency owners can break free from daily grind. He shares practical strategies for separating account and project management, emphasizing the importance of efficient delegation. Karl also tackles common challenges like work-life balance and outlines the impact of generative AI on agency operations. By fostering an entrepreneurial mindset, he provides actionable advice for streamlining processes and enhancing profitability, guiding owners towards a more strategic, hands-off approach.

Welcome to the final episode in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers.In this episode, I share the key things you need to do to get your account managers adding value from day one and reduce churn. And this comes back to many of the things we've discussed already in this podcast series. I speak to so many agency owners who feel frustrated by high staff turnover. Ultimately, reducing churn and retaining your best talent comes down to one thing - investing in your account managers, and particularly in helping them develop the entrepreneurial skills we've covered in this podcast series. If you haven't had the chance to listen to the previous four episodes, do go back and have a listen. Do let me know what you found particularly useful, along with what you'd like to know more about. You can drop me a line at jenny@accountmanagementskills.com. If you'd like support with upskilling your account managers, check out my Account Accelerator™ programme.  It's a 12 month training and coaching programme that's specifically designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your account management team. It covers all the areas in this special podcast series and much more.  https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator

Welcome to number 4 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers.Why do so many account managers miss out on new account growth opportunities in client meetings? Often it's because they haven't asked the right questions. Or maybe they've asked some of the right questions but didn't have the confidence to probe deeper in their questioning.In this short episode, I share why investing the time to help your account managers ask better questions could make a big difference to your bottom line, particularly when it comes to increasing client lifetime value.If you'd like support with upskilling your account managers, check out my Account Accelerator™ programme.  It's a 12 month training and coaching programme that's specifically designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your account management team. It covers all the areas in this special podcast series and much more. So if you'd like to have a conversation about how I could help your account managers, then email me at jenny@accountmanagementskills.com to find out more. https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator

Welcome to number 3 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers.Agency owners often tell me they wish their account managers were more confident in client meetings, including being confident enough to suggest new ideas for new projects. But, as with everything else, you can't expect your account managers to just know how to run an effective client meeting. In this episode, I share seven things that you'll want to make decisions about in order to approach each client meeting in the right way. If you'd like support with upskilling your account managers, check out my Account Accelerator™ programme.  It's a 12 month training and coaching programme that's specifically designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your account management team. It covers all the areas in this special podcast series and much more. So if you'd like to have a conversation about how I could help your account managers, then email me at jenny@accountmanagementskills.com to find out more. https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator

Welcome to number 2 in my mini series of five bonus podcast episodes created to show you how to build an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers. In this episode we're looking at how to raise the value of account managers by taking them from an 'order-taker' to a trusted advisor. You can't just expect clients to treat your account managers as trusted advisors, because trust has to be earned. In this episode, I cover:- creating a culture where clients trust account managers from the off- creating the right conditions for the relationship to thrive- having the right internal processes in place to support your managers with account growthIn bonus episode 3, I'll be covering how your account managers can run effective client meetings.Everything I'm sharing in this podcast series is covered in depth in my Account Accelerator programme and ultimately it's designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in account management. You can read more about the programme here:https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-acceleratorOr if you'd like to have a conversation about how I could potentially help your account managers, please email me jenny@accountmanagementskills.com. Let's have a chat and see if this might be suitable for you or members of your team.

Welcome to the first in a series of five bonus podcast episodes. I've created this podcast mini series to show you how you can develop an entrepreneurial mindset in your agency account managers, so they can:- help increase the lifetime value of clients- generate more referrals- help you maintain a healthy sales pipelineIn this first short episode, I'll be tacking the 'elephant in the room'. Why do you feel your account managers are not spotting those growth opportunities? And over the next four episodes, I'll then be looking at the key qualities for entrepreneurially-minded account managers. By the way, everything I'll share in this podcast series is covered in my Account Accelerator programme and ultimately it's designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in account management. You can read more about the programme here:https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-acceleratorOr if you'd like to have a conversation about how I could potentially help your account managers, please email me jenny@accountmanagementskills.com. Let's have a chat and see if this might be suitable for you or members of your team. 

Welcome to episode 97. My first ever podcast was with Kate Whittaker, head of corporate communications at DUAL Group, so working on the client side. During that episode she was explaining the exceptional agency who worked with her, particularly about their excellent client service, but also how they really understand her and her business. So for this episode, I invited the leadership team of that agency, Free Partners, to talk to me about how they work and think. You'll hear from Managing Partner, Lorraine Jeckells, Brand Director, Greg Phitidis, and Creative Director, Guy Cornet.  We chatted about:- their agency's specialist positioning, focusing just in the insurance market and why that's beneficial to their business, to their team and to their clients. - their agency values and how they bring them to life through their ways of working. - their internal processes and how the three departments (account management/strategy/creative) work together in a client centric way. They also go deep into the importance of the creative brief, why they have a tactical and a strategic briefing process, and how they grow their own talent from graduate level so that they are moulded into the Free Partners ways of working. And finally, how they delight their clients by being proactive and bringing fresh thinking and initiatives without waiting passively for briefs. If you’re listening to this at the end of 2023 and you want to build a more entrepreneurial mindset in your account management role or your team, I'm enrolling right now for my twelve month training and mentoring program called the Account Accelerator. I created the Account Accelerator because agency owners were telling me they knew their existing client accounts could grow further but they needed their account managers to do three key things:1. Act as trusted advisors rather than order takers, so they understood their clients business objectives and felt confident to have conversations about how the agency could help. 2. Spot upsell and cross sell opportunities and follow them effectively so they could increase retention and generate new business opportunities with existing clients. 3. Ask insightful questions to uncover client challenges and feel confident presenting new ideas and asking for referrals and testimonials so they could help a strong sales pipeline of new leads and capture proof of happy clients. So if all of this sounds interesting, then please visit my website https://www.accountmanagementskills.com, where you can book a call, have a chat with me and see if this might be a good fit for you or a member of your team.

Welcome to Episode 96. My guest is David Meikle, the author of ‘Tuning Up’, a book about improving performance and reducing stress in advertising and marketing. This chat will be particularly interesting for you if you're finding the pressure and stress of working in an agency unmanageable, or you're responsible for creating positive agency environment in which your team can thrive. We discuss:- why David describes the relationship between the agency, the client and the client's procurement department as the triangle of doom. - David’s signature relationship diagnostic tool, The Meikle Matrix, that essentially helps you pinpoint the heart of the problem with any relationship- how this diagnostic tool can help you in practical ways in your agency. I highly recommend you reading this book for me. You can visit David’s website at https://www.tuningup.co.uk for more information about the book and also to road test a prototype of The Meikle Matrix for yourself. If you’re listening to this at the end of 2023 and you want to build a more entrepreneurial mindset in your account management role or your team, I'm enrolling right now for my twelve month training and mentoring program called the Account Accelerator. I created the Account Accelerator because agency owners were telling me they knew their existing client accounts could grow further but they needed their account managers to do three key things:1. Act as trusted advisors rather than order takers, so they understood their clients business objectives and felt confident to have conversations about how the agency could help. 2. Spot upsell and cross sell opportunities and follow them effectively so they could increase retention and generate new business opportunities with existing clients. 3. Ask insightful questions to uncover client challenges and feel confident presenting new ideas and asking for referrals and testimonials so they could help a strong sales pipeline of new leads and capture proof of happy clients. I've had 30 years experience in account management and, having trained account growth since 2016, I know not all account managers have the skills, the experience or the mindset to deliver at this level, and many agencies don't have the right internal processes in place to support their account managers with account growth. But, I believe with the right strategies, systems, processes and the support, your account managers can become more entrepreneurially minded, which could have a big impact on your agency's bottom line. So if all of this sounds interesting, then please visit my website https://www.accountmanagementskills.com, where you can book a call, have a chat with me and see if this might be a good fit for you or a member of your team.