Creative Agency Account Manager Podcast

Welcome to episode 92. This episode is for you if you’re curious to know how an SEO strategy agency is using AI tools to reduce the amount of repetitive, tedious tasks and free up the team to work on more of the strategic thinking for their clients.Dale Bertrand, Founder and President of Fire&Spark shares with me:• How AI tools have reduced his team’s workload and improved efficiencies • A step by step breakdown of his internal automated workflow• Why creating predictive models might end up being your agency’s secret sauce• What Dale now looks for when hiring new team members I think you’re going to enjoy this chat and hopefully come away with some inspiration to look more closely at your internal processes to see where you can speed them up or eliminate them altogether.I’m now sharing examples of relevant AI tools that account managers can use for those who come on my Account Accelerator training programme. The training is designed to help those in agency client service at every level to have a more systematic and predictable approach to client growth. The client-centric learning outcomes include being more consultative with clients, adding more value proactively and having sales conversations without feeling salesy.If you or a member of your team is interested to find out more, all the details about the 9 week Account Accelerator programme as well as my shorter 1 week Account Booster programme are on my website: https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Welcome to Episode 91.This episode is for you if you're interested in how the AI landscape is changing for agencies and what you need to know from a legal perspective about your use of AI.   I chatted with Sharon Toerek, Founder and Owner of Legal + Creative| Toerek Law. The topics that we covered include:- the ownership of the outputs- potential protection of your inputs- designing policies and contracts, including clauses that will cover your freelancers and relationships with contractors, and not to mention your strategic partnerships with other agencies. - future developments and what's foreseen to happen, as well as the current US legal environment. So lots and lots of different topics that we're going to cover today. We will include all of her details in the show notes on my website here: https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/podcastWe also ran an AI for Account Managers webinar recently together with Roy Murphy and the recording has been asked for several times. If you don't want to miss out on any future mini trainings we're doing in this area, then please sign up for my newsletter via https://www. accountmanagementskills.com and we'll make sure that you get notified of future podcast episodes and any mini trainings. 

Welcome to episode 90, which is for you if you’d like to know what a non-billable CSD does in an agency.Luke Bowler from Therefore Interactive joined me and he shares:· How he went from studying to be a designer to moving to the account management role· Why his CSD role is non-billable and how he decides where best to spend his time· How he interacts with the project management team who are running the day to day projects· How he cleverly keeps abreast of his client’s industry news despite the fact they’re spread across multiple industries· The project management tools his agency is using as well as how they’re incorporating AIIf you’re listening to this episode before 20th July 2023 I’m running a free webinar on AI for account managers. Roy Murphy from Synthetic is going to provide an update on the current AI landscape, how brands & agencies are using AI, ethical considerations and challenges and we’ll be sharing some specific use cases for account managers. You can sign up to join live and also receive a recording. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Pxcr6NIuSZ-rs84h7Lap3AIf you don’t want to miss out on future free trainings, you can sign up to my newsletter by going to https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Welcome to episode 89. This episode is for you if you're curious to understand what a senior account director does in a brand strategy agency. I chat to Andy Kaye, senior account directory at Mr B & Friends and we discuss:-  the importance of being proactive with clients and staying informed about industry trends- share tips on staying up to date with your clients business- discuss how often you should be looking at your forecast- why and how to build strong client relationships that result in clients coming back to you- and how to transform your internal briefing process to make it more experiential- and lots more... You're going to take away some great tips from this episode that you can go back to your agency and use. And if you're in an agency account management role and you're keen to be seen by your clients as more of an advisor than a reactive order taker, then check out the details of my account management training courses. We are kicking off both the one week training and the nine week training in mid July 2023 and you can find all the details on my website:https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Welcome to Episode 88. My guest is Rob Da Costa, an agency growth consultant from Da Costa Coaching. We discuss a myriad of topics, including:- the process for hiring the right account manager at your agency- examples of how to set client expectations and boundaries- why having a written scope of work is key to successful project delivery- and Rob's thoughts in general on the agency landscape and the future of agencies.During our chat, one theme keeps emerging, which is ensuring you have the right systems and processes in place in your agency. You’ll therefore understand why he wrote ‘The Self Running Agency’, which free to download on his website. https://dacostacoaching.co.uk/

Welcome to episode 87.  In this episode, I chat to Mike Lander, CEO of Piscari, a former procurement director who now assists sales teams in negotiating with procurement departments. Mike and I discuss:-  the common mistakes agencies make when negotiating with procurement- what procurement looks for when selecting an agency-  and why they are interested in your financials. We also dive into a five-step framework to help you negotiate more effectively and shed light on some questionable tactics employed by less experienced procurement professionals. During this conversation, you'll gain valuable insights into the world of procurement negotiations. Be sure to follow Mike on LinkedIn and grab a free copy of his guide from his website.https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelander/https://piscari.com/negotiation-guide/

Welcome to episode 86, where I'm joined by Konrad Sanders, CEO of The Creative Copywriter agency, to discuss the impact of generative AI on copywriting. In this episode, we covered:- How Konrad's team is adopting AI tools and the most useful tools they've found.- The limitations of AI-written copy and what clients are saying about AI.- Advice on managing the process of change within your team and integrating AI into your workflows.https://www.linkedin.com/in/konradsanders/If you're interested in exploring AI tools to speed up your workflow or want to keep up to date with how other account managers are using AI, sign up for my newsletter on my website at https://accountmanagementskills.com. Additionally, if you're considering account management training to add more value and grow your accounts, check out the details of my Account Accelerator programme here:https://accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator/ 

Welcome to episode 85. This episode is for you if you're interested in understanding how a project management team and an account management team work together in an internal communications agency.Sara and Lindsay are heads of department at US-based Brilliant Ink. They joined me to talk through their years of experience running this model.This episode could be interesting for you, if you're an account manager doing both project management and account management and you're curious to see how an agency separates them. It could be that you're a head of department and thinking about setting up this model to work for your agency and you want to know the nitty-gritty, because Lindsay and Sara really share all the details. They share:why they did this in the first placehow it was working before how it's working nowwho manages the client relationship and what does each role do If you're interested in finding out about account management training, I've just updated my website with all my courses and prices. https://www.accountmanagementskills.comI'm also launching a new training course, 'Managing Difficult Client Conversations'.  If you'd like to get onto the waitlist to be notified as soon as we go live, please use this link to register your interest: https://accountmanagementskills.activehosted.com/f/5

Welcome to Episode 84. If you're interested in the fast-changing world of generative AI, and how clients and agencies are using it, then you will love this conversation. Roy Murphy is the founder of Synthetic, an agency specialising in emerging technologies. Roy shares with me:- the main pain points that generative AI is solving for clients, and how he's currently advising his clients. - what you need to know right now as an agency account manager about the AI industry- how he thinks the AI landscape will evolve in the future- and why agencies should be looking to partner with AI experts to help position themselves one step ahead of their clients. There are not many people in the agency world who have such a deep understanding of emerging tech, so I was very lucky to grab his time. Please do get in touch with him if you're keen to discuss any aspect of what we covered. If you'd like to talk to me about agency account management training, I've just updated my website to include three of the main courses that I run to help you retain and grow your existing client relationships. I'm also launching shortly a ‘managing difficult client conversations’ training. If you're an account manager and you'd like to be notified when this goes live, please sign up for my weekly newsletter, also via the website.https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Welcome to Episode 83. On this episode, we're talking about the split between the agency Account Manager and the agency Project Manager role, with Kate Vines and Kio Aghoghogbe from Hallam.This is going to be particularly interesting for you if you're working in an agency with a hybrid account management role, you're doing both sides of the role currently, you might also be an agency owner who's looking at splitting the roles out and not really sure exactly how each function is going to work together. Kate and Kio from Harlem are brilliant at breaking down what they do. We talk about:- how the roles and the skill sets are different- how they work together on projects and retainers- how they manage the client relationship- what friction points can occur and how they overcome them- their advice for agencies thinking of moving to an AM/PM model. As Kio says, the pure account management role is very much about understanding the client's business and market, looking proactively at how the agency can bring more value and having those client improvement conversations. And if that's something that you'd like to improve your skills in, you can go to my website, https://www.accountmanagementskills.com and book a quick call with me to see if training might be the right fit for you are a member of your team.