Time To Allow Account Management To Do Its Job Again

There is no question in my mind that fees have truly hurt the client/agency relationship.  And while clients pay the bills and now make the rules, agencies are not fighting back.  They agree to fees that are too low simply to gain or keep the business, but have to cut back on servicing in order to make a profit or break even because of those low fees. 

 

I truly believe that the holding companies have allowed this to happen to their agencies in order to gain business and revenues, regardless of profits.  In fact, their agencies may be losing money and losing out to other services from consultancies to freelancers.  The holding companies, in their race to appease shareholders, have commoditized the business.

I know many stories which indicate that this is so.  One that is particularly relevant is the new president who quickly found that his agency was losing money on an account; they were simply not paying enough and, in addition, no one who worked on it liked them. When the president went to the client and asked for a higher fee, the client refused and so, on the spot, he fired the client. He promised that no staff cuts would be made and, in fact,; the whole incident was great for morale.  Meanwhile, the holding company had a fit and told the president that he had no right to fire the client without holding company permission; the holding company needed the revenue, despite the actual loss on the account.  Of course that is absurd. The president explained to the holding company CEO and CFO that he was, by contract, responsible for the profitability of the agency and his own bonus depended on the profits.  He told the holding company that if they wanted the account, they should call the client and get the account to hire another of its agencies.  They never made the call.

It is a great example of what effective account management can contribute.

Now when someone owns you, it is difficult, but agencies have to find a way to get back to their roots.  Account management has been weakened to the point where it is almost unnecessary. The irony is that I never met a good creative person who did not value an equally talented account person. That is why, even to this day, most new agencies are partnered and started with both creatives and an account person.

I am shocked when I interview junior account people who rarely, if ever, visit their clients, even those who are local.  Juniors are no longer taught how to dig into their businesses so that they become a valuable resource for their clients.  As a result, many clients don’t see any value in their junior account people or sharing vital information with their account executives and supervisors.  The more senior account people are so busy just getting work out that they, too, don’t really learn their clients business, so that all they can do is day-to-day service with not much value added.

A few years ago, I asked an account supervisor when the last time she had lunch with her client.  She had been on the account for four years. Her answer was that she never, in those years had lunch alone with her counterpart.  I asked her when was the last time she spent a day with her client – alone, just the two of them, working on a project.  It had never happened.  So I begged her to call her client and just go to visit them (in New Jersey, so no big deal).  I told her to tell her brand person that she just wanted to spend more time with her and get to know the business better and had no specific agenda.  The account supervisor was actually reluctant, fearing that the management supervisor she reported to would be angry and not approve her car rental.  I assured her that it would work out and the auto rental would get approved.

It took a little convincing on my part, but she did it.  And guess what?  She spent the day just hanging. It was a really successful day that resulted in her getting closer to her client both business wise and personally.  And she was actually able to make a contribution at a packaging meeting.  When she got back to the agency her supervisor actually did give her a hard time, but approved the car rental.  The visit was so beneficial that the client involved her in many projects that she had previously been excluded from.  Seven or eight months later when the account was moved to another agency, the account supervisor was the only person asked to move with the account.  She also got a promotion.

There is no substitute for getting to know the client and their business.

The more visible the agency is to its clients, the better the relationship.  And this is the responsibility of account management.  It can’t be done by creative or planners or project management. 

Strong and well trained account management can pay significant dividends.