A great account person has to have these basic qualities:

• a basic knowledge of how persuasion works on the the human psyche.
• an understanding of the basic strengths and weaknesses of different media.
• an interest in the production process.
• a passion for great creative work.
• a hunger for competition.
• an innate sense of curiosity.
• an ability to shut up and listen.
• an entreprenurial edge.
• an unabiding sense of optimism.
• an ability to empathize with people.
• a keen interest in financial outcomes.
• a proven ability to lead collaboration.
• a nagging (yet managable) sense of paranoia.
• a strong sense of self-worth.
• and finally, experience in the workplace at a junior level.

How much of this can be learned at school or on the job?  The truth is, I think you need both the academic/theoretical experience from school and the practical experience from the college of hard knocks.

There’s nothing like a few real-world mistakes to drive the most critical lessons home.  That’s why experience matters.  In an interview with a prospective account manager, you need to ask the candidate about his or her biggest flops and what they learned from the experience.

You’ll learn a lot about the prospective employee’s character and their desire when you hear the answer.

What’s Missing?
You’ll note one thing I don’t have listed above is the “ability to sell.”

Chalk that one up to experience.

I remember a time early in my career when I would go into presentations with a creative director who – according to the agency’s president – was a great sales person.  Her ploy was to lay the idea on the table, turn on the charm and explain away any questions from the client by sayin gthe idea was “fun.”

That’s it: “fun”.  End of sales pitch.

Needless to say, when you’re selling industrial products, elevators, fertilizer, etc., “fun” is nearly the last thing anyone in the room cares about.  I found, as the account manager, that I stood a much better shot with the client by explaining the details around the “fun” idea.

Specifically, I had to explain the psychology behind the strategy, the details of how we’d produce the piece, the strengths and weaknesses of the media plan, and so on.  Clients felt reassured their money was in good hands because we actually knew what we were doing.

And it never hurt when the idea really was “fun.”

So, who’s responsiblity is it to pull all this together?  The account manager.  It’s the toughest, most thankless job in the agency.  Creatives think you’re a well-dressed delivery boy.  Media sees you as a tool for other departments’ efforts to take their budget away from them while living high on the fat commission they earn for the agency.  Management may  even see you as a scapegoat if client budgets don’t go up year after year.

The fact is, as an account manager, you’re the one at the cross roads inside the agency.  If you’re effective (and nimble), everyone is able to go their own direction at their top speed.

Just don’t get run over in the process.

I’m not sure why clients never understood this … but when it comes to getting the best out of their ad agency or PR firm for the least amount of money, clients turn from being “marketing partners” into “general contractors from hell.”

I an’t tell you how many times I’ve received RFP’s from clients that read more like a purchase order for gravel than a request for our best thinking on a tough marketing assignment.  I’ve always wanted to respond: “Thanks for the bid request – we have a sale on four-color ads this week but we’re a little short on brochure ideas, can we arrange for a two-for-one swap?”

Now comes a study commissioned by Jones & Bonevac that reports at least 30% of marketing agency staff time is ineffective or wasted due to poor communications from their clients.

See, it was just as we suspected … it’s all the clients’ fault.

Ok, not really.

But the observations coming from the study conducted by California-based Greenberg Brand Strategy (and reported on in AdAge) should be of some concern to client-side marketing personnel who manage agency relationships.  Whether you want to believe the majority of agencys responding (54%) who said only 2 out of every 5 briefs given to them were clear or not, there is a list of items that SHOULD be included in a brief that would be of definite assistance to the agency:

• An identified budget (or budget range)
• Desired brand image and positioning
• Competitive information
• Competitive landscape (and an objective view of how the client’s offering ranks)
• No more than three client “champions” who own the process with the agency

A lack of clear direction and a tendency to revise briefs (sometimes for no apparent reason) are two other factors that lead to wasted time, lackluster work and financial stress – especially when the agency has a performance-based compensation scheme in place with the client.

One thing of importance to note on this study … of all the marketing agencies interviewed, most were large firms working with large clients. 

So trust me on this when I say it: this problem gets worse with small and mid-sized clients dealing with small and mid-sized agencies.  And the bad part about this is that for small and mid-sized clients (and agencies), there is no room for waste.  Clients can’t afford to burn the cash and neither agencies (nor the clients) can afford the loss of time.

Maybe a free webinar on preparing briefs to turn over to your agency is in order?  Any thoughts?  Brand Central Station would be glad to host it.

When it comes to advertising creative, it doesn’t always have to come down to an “all or nothing” proposition, does it?  For small and mid-sized businesses especially, the hard reality is that many times the design, content and sometimes finished production of a  piece needs to be done in-house or it won’t get done at all.  Some agencies look the other way, some get all “high and mighty” about it.

Here’s the reality: it’s gonna happen, get over it. 

I lay part of the blame for this conflict on old-line agency thinking (that died off in the early 80′s, although nobody quite realized it then).  Contrary to that particular group-think, the agency/client relationship IS NOT like a marriage.  In fact, it’s not anything like a marriage.

It’s a business relationship – and it’s built on pragmatic, self-interest.

S.A. Habib, writing in the Brand Tracks blog, opined on the dangers of a client taking its creative work inside.  The post made some good points, among them:

[F]or every dollar saved by doing in-house creative, you’re losing five in the erosion of your brand. … I’m not saying that all in-house creative departments are inept. On the contrary, many companies, including some of our own clients, employ talented designers and writers.

The problem is something far more serious — tunnel vision.

Whether it’s a CEO, sales guy or in-house creative person, when people look at the product through the eyes of the company, they’re not thinking about the customer. Over time — and not much time — your brand stops communicating with your customer. Your competitors’ smart ads and creative communications steal your market share, and your marketing director is left trying to explain why sales are down.

But all this good thinking aside, it ignores a financial reality that most small and mid-sized businesses face: sometimes, there just isn’t enough money to use “the experts” on every assignment.

So how should an agency, consultant or hired gun do?  The answer is simple: focus on the big picture.  Make sure the strategy is sound and position yourself to be there if and when the wheels come off.  In S.A.’s defense, he does advocate a collaborative approach between agency and client to make sure the client becomes involved in the process.

From a professional marketer’s perspective, this is about more than just keeping the production work and making the account profitable, though.

At our PR firm, my partner and I concentrate on helping clients define strategy, market position and key messages.  We do a lot of planning and then hand parts of those plans off to other agencies to implement. (Hey, there are only two of us and we don’t want to add a lot of staff.)

But even though it looks like we’re giving away a lot to third parties, we maintain the high ground with the client and help maintain an objectivity that can only be provided by an outsider.

Concentrate on providing the value that can only be provided from outside the four walls of the client and you’ll find plenty of productive (and profitable) middle ground on which to work.

Freelace writer Laura Spencer provides a list of 45 questions for every freelancer to ask a new client (the entire list is posted after the jump).  Looking over that list, though, it occurs to me that many (if not all) of these questions are relevant things for an account manager to ask an agency – or internally – for a marketing manager to ask a new “client” inside their own company.

Some of these questions might be considered a bit mundane.  In my experience, new client relationships are often filled with the excitement of the “win” for the agency and the high expectations of a client who has been wooed by great creative and charming personalities. 

Questions like “Which is more important, quality or speed?” seems to have the potential to take all the romance out of the relationship right away.  (Double entendre intended.)

But the harsh reality is that questions like that are essential to creating a long-lasting business relationship that is productive an profitable for both sides.

Take a look at Laura’s questions and re-write them so they make sense for your business relationships:

Company Background Questions

1. What kind of business is your company in?
2. How long has your company been in business?
3. What is the size of your company?
4. What is the company’s reputation?
5. What is your typical customer like?
6. Who are your competitors?
7. What is your address?
8. What is your phone number?
9. What is your e-mail address?
10. What is the best way to contact you?

Questions About Work Philosophy

1. What is most important to you, quality or speed?
2. How often do you want updates on my progress?
3. Do you hire freelancers very often?
4. Is your preferred work process structured, or unstructured?
5. If necessary, would it be okay if I used subcontractors or outsourced parts of the project?

Project Specific Questions

1. What is the purpose of this project?
2. What sort of background do you expect a freelancer working on this project to have?
3. How technical is this project?
4. Describe how you envision the finished project?
5. How many (words/pages/screens) are needed? (Modify this question for your own specific field.)
6. What are the specific project instructions?
7. Do your customers have any special requirements or needs to be met by this project?
8. Can you show me an example something like what you have in mind?
9. Who will be my contact for this project?
10. How available are you (or the contact) to answer questions during the course of the project?
11. If necessary, will I have access to (your website/company-specific information/etc.)? (Choose one.)
12. Is it necessary to have any special (equipment/software) to complete this project? (Choose one.)
13. Do you envision any potential problems with this project?

Work Agreement Questions

1. What is the budget for this project?
2. Who will own the intellectual rights to the finished project?
3. What is the deadline for this project?
4. How will you be making your payment?
5. When will you pay?

Follow Up Questions (After a Project)

1. How do you think the project went?
2. Do you have any suggestions?
3. Do you anticipate having any other projects based on this one?
4. Will this project need to be updated or revised at some point?
5. If the project needs updating, do you consider the updating or revisions to be a separate project?
6. Are there any other projects that I can do for you?
7. How often do you need the services of a (writer/web designer/programmer/consultant)? (Choose one.)
8. Can I use this project as an example on my portfolio? (If the project has gone well.)
9. Would you be willing to give a testimonial on my work for my web page? (If the client is pleased.)  

One last thing, if you’re in a client relationship that feels like it’s reaching a “dead end” you might want to think about re-vitalizing your relationship by making sure all of these service basics are covered.

Thanks again, Laura!

I have no idea how many clever Photoshop examples, flash games or silly photographs I’ve missed over the years.  But what’s more interesting is to think how many of these senders think they’ve made a positive impression on me when, in fact, they’ve made no impression at all.

This may be one of those times when going “old school” is the best rule. 

Alan Underkofler writes a blog dedicated to “following up” with customers, prospects and the other people who are important in your business life.  Throughout the month of December, he’s been trying to reinforce the importance of sending Holiday Cards to your contact base.  In fact, last week, Alan reminded us that it’s still not too late!

If you happen to be one of those thinking “it’s too late to send holiday cards at this point” or “does sending holiday cards really make a difference in my business?”, I would encourage you to consider recent research by Hallmark:  Hallmark found that businesses say they use greeting cards as a “kind of investment in their business…  They’re investing in customer relationship with the hopes that it will pay back”.  The company has conducted research that found at least half of customers who received holiday cards from businesses say they are more likely to continue doing business with that company versus another one. 

Alan recommends using an online service called SendOutCards which allows you to upload a contact list, select a card, type in a personal message and then have your cards in the mail the next day.

But when I talk to some of my friends who are either freelancers or own their own small agencies, they’re too busy scrambling to get work done for this year to even think about sitting down with clients and talking about the year to come.  And that’s a major problem.

As I mentioned in my post on Marketing in a Recession, you have to make sure your happy customers are exactly that: happy.  And that’s because the 80/20 rule quickly turns into a 90/5 situation.  The economy will force more of your eggs into a smaller basket – to not take the time now to make sure that basket belongs to you is foolish.

I can hear the moaning from the gallery now.  “How can we get our client to focus on the future when there’s so much at stake in the present?”  “We don’t have time.”  “We can’t get our clients to talk about budgets in good times, there’s no way they’ll tell us what they’re going to spend now.”

Get real.

There is a lot at stake right now.  No doubting that.  But putting out fires today without regard for what’s coming up down the road will do nothing more than extend the anxiety.  You have to take the long view for both your business and your client’s.  You owe them that much.  Be the counselor or advisor or fiduciary steward you claimed to be when you pitched the account.

Or as my wife and I say to each other from time to time when our kids are misbehaving: “It’s time to be the grown up.”

Dealing with a failure to focus
The key to making an impromtu planning meeting work is planning.  You need to be prepared and have a way to get the meeting done over lunch in less than an hour.  Just make sure you’ve got some empty time in the schedule after the lunch.  Trust me, if you’re good and relevant, your client will inately see value in the meeting and will let it last as long as it takes.

As soon as the meeting ends, document the decisions and direction coming out of the meeting.  If you’re working with an account team, they’ll love you for the notes (at least until the beer runs out in the break room).  Make sure you send a concise summary to your client – he or she will secretly thank you time and again as end-of-year spending questions and beginning-of-year planning questions start to fly.

All you have is time
For the nay-sayers who claim they don’t have time, you’re living in denial.  All you have is time.  And if you fail to plan or (at a bare minimum) talk about the future with your clients, employees and business partners, you’ll find you have a lot more time on your hands in the first half of 2009.

Consider it a form of job security.

Making the time to work on your business instead of in your business gives you the perspective you need to make sure you’re still valuable and relevant to the clients, employees and suppliers who matter most to you.  When I ran a mid-sized agency, I used to do this every year at Thanksgiving time.  I’d have some quiet time to myself and spend a few hours sketching down “big ideas” for the agency and making notes on how those dreams impacted our client mix, the services we offer, the business relationships we keep.

Now, with the economy taking its wild swings on a daily basis, its more important than ever to have a clear vision of where you’re taking your business.  Make some quiet time for yourself, sketch out the possible scenarios and think about what you’ll have to do to survive and grow.

Getting your clients to talk about budgets
Nobody likes to talk about money.  Especially when money is in short supply.  So, how do you get clients to open up and talk about what they might spend with you next year?

You do it by not talking about money.

Instead, talk about something they understand: results.  Ask your clients where they see their business heading and what they hope to achieve in what is expected to be a very rough 2009.  It’s critical you understand what their expectations are for the future.

Then comes the tough question.  Ask where you (or your firm) fits into their plans for making those expectations a reality.  Assume you’re part of the solution and you’re likely to be surprised at the reaction. 

If the client is pleased with the work you’ve been doing, your assumption won’t be presumptous at all.  They will likely parrot back a summary of what you’ve done for them in 2009 and expect you to “do more of the same.”  At that point, you have them right where you want them.

If you’ve established the client’s business expectations (ideally tangible, measurable objectives) and the client has acknowledged that you or your business is part of the solution for meeting those expectations – money, time, etc. just becomes a simple resource issue.  Obviously, it will take time and money to meet those objectives, so what does the client have in mind?

Spending money to make money is not a hard concept to grasp.  And talking about it can sometimes get your client to open up even more to identify the potential obstacles his business faces, political dynamics inside the organization, operational issues that might delay things, etc.  The money and expectations talk is essential to your business, though, because it helps you solidify your plans for the future.

Good luck in 2009.  Your 2010 conversations should start in about four months.

Scary thought, isn’t it?

Well, now is a good time to consider how you’re going to stay sharp for clients.  PRWeek’s Next Conference (scheduled for next week in NYC) looks to put people in touch with various “thought leaders” in the world of digital marketing and online spin-meistering.  The best part, though, is it looks like there’s still room to get in to the conference.

Here’s the line-up (from a recent promotional e-mail):

• A Q&A on the economics of publishing with Bob Nolan, managing partner of Halyard Capital (new speaker)
• Predictions about what’s coming, from experts like Tom Arrix of Facebook (new speaker), Steve Rubel of Edelman, Peter Kim of Dachis Corporation, and Evan Neufeld of ComScore
• Roundtable conversations covering word-of-mouth marketing, and taking risks on the digital frontier
• Keynote on the future of digital media by Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal
• Killer content, covered by Bonnie Fuller, trendspotter Marian Salzman, and Michael Zimbalist, head of R&D at The New York Times Company
• Lessons about how top in-house teams like IBM are organizing for success in the digital world
• A model for the next generation in PR leadership, including digital know-how and media expertise.

We won’t be able to make it, but would love to hear from some PR and marketing folks who manage to attend.  Be sure to make your reservation today.  Or e-mail pilar.mustafa@prweek.com with a question or two.

And the one thing they don’t want to hear is that everything they’re planning to do looks great and you’d be glad to implement it for them.

(Aside: I used to work with a creative director that called AE’s who just nodded in agreement with the client and brought the work back to the agency, “parrots” and had a picture of a pirate with a big, nasty parrot on his shoulder. I knew when I was in trouble for being too complacent because my name would be pinned to the parrot.)

As a point of fact, you owe it to your client to think about all the markets that hold potential for them. If that requires a little extra research (whether it be reading or actually spending time in the community), that’s a small investment to make in a relationship. Exploring the possibilities presented by ethnic or minority markets is a great example.

Once you understand the media landscape for various ethnic groups, you should begin to see the potential for opportunity. Broaching the subject with your client, however, can be a tricky proposition. Here are some tips on how to do that:

1) Collect market information from the client that would help you identify the nature of the relationship they currently have with a specific minority group.2) Investigate the market potential online. There are plenty of online databases and resource groups that can provide insights into almost any aspect of the major ethnic groups in the USA.

3) Talk to/interview a handful of people that fit the ethnic profile of the group you’re interested in. Try to capture, in their words, why your client’s product or brand is important to them.

4) Prepare a presentation that explains the differences in perceptions and perceived advantages of your brand (and, ideally, the competitions’ brands) from the point of view of the ethnic market(s) in review.

5) Find allies (other agencies, freelancers, journalists, etc.) who accurately represent the point of view of the customer. Make sure they’re integrated into your team.

When you present your findings and recommendations, be prepared for a two-part reaction. At first, the client might seem interested and gracious – at least in the presence of guests. After your allies leave, though, be prepared for the hard questions to come out.

Clients who are comfortable with the white, mainstream media, are often uncomfortable with considering ethnic marketing opportunities. Ironically, the initial reaction (and it’s more common than not) is that marketing through ethnic media or with customized messages is “pandering” to one group or another. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

You need to point out the benefits of cross-cultural branding and the application of the same principles inside our own country.

Despite their own discomfort, clients will take your recommendation under consideration. Be prepared to play a waiting game on this kind of opportunity, but keep bringing it to the forefront – especially if a competitor takes advantage of the opportunity before your client.

The sooner you can get your client thinking about the entire market, the better your client will fare (and the more work for your agency and its partners).

It’s a shame, really. Clients love to see innovative thinking but many times the folks that work back at the agencies (both PR and advertising-focused) get into a project mindset that is great for getting work out the door but not so good when it comes to generating the next big idea. Clients often refer to creative burn-out as a reason for initiating new agency searches.

The benefits of unsolicited innovation for a client can be difficult to define on the P&L and even harder to find with the account team. Creating new advertising campaigns, conducting unsolicited research or pestering vendors for new ideas or special deals takes time and effort. An effort that is often minimized or overlooked entirely by the account manager.

It’s tough enough to do the work; to do it with very little information, no client input and limited resources is almost impossible. To then have the effort dismissed by an account executive is often the final straw. The only consolation for those team members who get diss’d is the realization that AE’s who commit this error against the account team are hurting themselves worse than they can imagine.

It’s time to turn this situation around and lead the team to victory.

Account managers first have to understand the value of having a client perceive the account team as interested, engaged, passionate and knowledgeable about his business. The easiest – and best – way to do this is to present new ideas, concepts, research and programs to the client for his review and comment. There shouldn’t be a separate charge for this service. If you manage your budgets right, there should be plenty of opportunities for the team to think about the client’s future and then use available knowledge assets to conceive possible executions.

The account team has to recognize the value of having a client who is convinced of their interest, passion and knowledge of his business. Clients who love their agencies don’t leave them. And with an average shelf-life of 3 years, any client who is happy with the nature of the partnership he has with his agency is likely to stay past that deadline. That spells job security and more for all the members of the account team, not just the AE.

Initially, unsolicited ideas should be presented to the client as a teaching opportunity. Present the ideas to the client with a request to learn why it is or is not a good idea for him. This soft-sounding procedure will help you identify where the client sits politically inside his organization as well as how much the client knows and understands about the state of his industry or profession. This is a border-staking expedition and everything you learn about the client (i.e. his likes and dislikes, his areas of interest and expertise, the budget and political challenges he faces) should be relayed to the account team for future reference.

As time goes by, the ideas and concepts generated by the account team will come closer and closer to the strategic goals of the client’s organization and (hopefully) will fall within the client’s expectations of budget and production timelines. That’s when, as the account manager, you’re able to start making the change from just presenting the work to selling the work. If you do your job well, new ideas will create referral opportunities for you within the client’s own organization. That business expansion strategy can be both profitable and tremendously satisfying.

Both to the client and to your account team back at the agency.

In fact, in my experience, this has been the single, largest impediment to market research when it comes to “selling” the service to a client. They just don’t want to do it because they don’t think they’ll learn anything new. The fact is, usually, just the opposite.

But let’s take a look at the objection and figure out the best way to make your case:

First off, clients are often in the position of having all the answers when it comes to dealing with account managers – especially new ones. Decisions and requests made by the client often go unchallenged early on in the relationship which may be respectful but often creates a bias that can work against the AE later on in the relationship.

The best thing to do is to concentrate your questioning in three specific areas – at least early on in the relationship with a new client. Keep them focused on the three areas where they have the most influence and, as you’ll soon see, concern: project scope, budget and deadlines. If a new account manager is to get off on the right foot with a client, the AE has got to become a “credible expert” when it comes to making and keeping promises related to what work will be done, when it will be done and how much things will cost.

These three things are vitally important to a client for one, simple reason. Failure in any of these areas reflects directly on his or her ability to manage the account manager and the agency. These are, in effect, personal performance standards. Failure to perform could be cause for termination – of the agency, the AE or the client!

As an account manager, you have to establish your credentials and credibility in these areas first before you can start digging in to the issues that will lead to opportunities for insightful market research that could make a difference to your client’s brand.

Once the client is comfortable with your ability to perform on the things that matter most to their job security, you’ll find you have an opportunity to start thinking “proactively” about their business. And that, eventually, leads to a realization that both the client and the agency need to know more about the client’s customer than what is readily available at the client’s office.

In fact, it’s during this second step – getting to know the customer –where an account manager can create a long-term bond with a client and make the move from “supplier” to “counselor.”

Start first by investing some time and effort of your own into getting to know the people your client needs to convince. If you’re working on a consumer product, use the product yourself or visit the retail locations where the product is sold. Once you’ve seen the kind of people who use the product, find some friends, family or neighbors who “fit” the apparent demographic of the customer. Ask them why they would consider using that product, what it does for them, how it makes them feel.

Similar insights can be gathered on B2B clients, as well. You might not be able to spend time with members of the target market, but you can certainly call trade associations and magazines and talk to people who are intimately involved with the business. Take notes and try to put yourself in their position. Try to understand and identify the possible obstacles that might stand in your client’s way when they try to convince the customer to buy.

These insights, no matter how crude, are vitally important to your long-standing relationship with the client. Because you took the effort to get to know their customer, your stock will go up with 99+% of all clients. (The other 1%, we’ll deal with in another blog post.) The quality of the insights you share will have an effect on the client, too.

If you’ve been an astute, observant student, you are bound to make some observations that are valuable to the client. This breaks the ice so you can enter the third, and final, piece of your argument in favor of market research.

As soon as the client realizes that you might know more about his customer than he does, his attitude will change (usually for the better). If you can show how this knowledge can be used to create both a manageable project (where you have already established your credibility) and an expected result (to determine “return” on the marketing investment), you’ll be a star.

More importantly, you’ll be at a place where both you and your client have a better understanding of the value and importance of market research.