In the uber competitive marketing and ad agency realms, account managers work as the idea generators, the front line company representatives and mentors to the junior staff members.
This list is in no way all encompassing! Whoever introduced the concept of “wearing many hats” must have spent the day with an account manager.
Ironically, even though account managers play such an important role in getting projects to the finish line and nurturing clients, more often than not, when a company decides to scrape the budget – their training investment suffers the most. These days account managers need to function at warp speed. They must be able enough to juggle multiple clients with minimum input from the manager and they are expected to accomplish this feat on the basis of past experience. If you are relatively new to the field, you may have difficulty cinching a job. It’s a Catch 22 situation. If you do not have the chops to work with a near impossible degree of perfection, you can’t see the inside of a reputable ad agency. And if you can’t spend time within the system facing actual challenges, it is quite difficult to develop the competency most big names are looking for.
But as Brian Tracy famously quoted “All skills are learnable”, you can indeed prepare yourself for the role of a stalwart account manager by mastering the four main qualities which are non-negotiable when it comes to being one.
1. Ideas – Creativity is a whimsical muse. She strikes when least expected. However as an account manager, you can’t wait around for the elusive grand ideas to put in an appearance. You must be able to call it forth, at a moment’s notice. Sounds difficult? Well there is method to the madness and as with everything else, practice makes perfect.
- Get into the habit of maintaining an “Idea” journal. Whenever you feel the juice flowing, jot down the golden nuggets to use later.
- Being organized does boot the process of generating worthy ideas. Use mind-maps to visualize the flow and logic sequence of a process to flesh them out. mindmup.com is a free tool which is invaluable for brainstorming sessions.
- Study the notable work of the legends of your industry. If you are into advertising and marketing, maintaining a portfolio of the campaigns crafted by David Ogilvy can serve you in crunch time.
In the end, the more you feed, the more the mind yields.
2. Communication – Being a good communicator is a matter of discipline contrary to what many people think. You absolutely do not need to be a talented wordsmith in order to be a good account manager. What you do require is:
- The ability to master the creation of the different assets of your trade like a strategy deck, a point of view letter, data analysis reports and metric trackers. For some of these, a simple project management tool like Workzone can prove to be a life-saver.
- The ability to express yourself simply and succinctly. Alliterations and allusions are not the preferred weapons of an account manager. Meticulousness and objectivity are.
- The ability to research and present convincing business pitches which can win clients over. Again, with sufficient practice you can master the subtle art of pitching.
3. Integrity – You may not be able to showcase your integrity over the duration of an interview. But it is virtue all businesses value. Integrity is what makes you a force to reckon with. In the dog eat dog market place, the best way to inculcate a mindset of integrity is to figure out your personal values and stick to them even in extenuating circumstances. If you work with a business whose culture resonates with you, you will automatically be a loyal employee in line with the enterprise values.
4. Judgment – This is the only pre-requisite that unfortunately comes with experience. Lots of it! However you can get a head start on the process by taking on a business coach from your industry. Most retired professionals are highly amenable to mentoring young individuals with potential. You may connect with relevant people on LinkedIn and persuade them to take you under their wing. Look for a connection that may be able to recommend you in order to break the initial ice. Keep in mind the etiquettes of outreach and you should be fine.
Workzone truly cares about the success of marketing professionals and ad agency mavens. And why not! It was conceived to be a simple yet intuitive solution for these industries. Till the next #ManagementMonday, keep your ideas in line and your potential brewing.
