Account Management Basics from a Media Guy

1. All you ever needed to know about
Account Management

2. All you ever needed to know about
Account Management
(from a media guy)

3. Be Professional
• Be respectful of people’s time:
Show up to meetings on time,
end on time
• Be present, be engaged – not
checking email, phone or doing
other work in the meeting
– Computers closed (unless you are
taking notes)
• If you can’t make a meeting, give
a reason as to why, in advance
• Splel check. Small errors can
distract from the bigger picture of
what you are
presenting/communicating.

4. (Strong) Relationships
• Be honest, communicate often
– If you have a solid foundation,
and have build trust, it is
easier to have the difficult
conversations when you need
to
• Celebrate the “wins” and
openly talk about any issues
• When communicating, consider
your tone. Often, email
correspondence can be
misinterpreted

5. No One Has All the Answers
• Learn to say: “I don’t know, but I
can find out”
– Answer questions that you know,
but don’t fake it if you don’t know
– *Give a date as to when you will get
back to them with the information
• Always look to deliver the message
in a positive light
– “I’m happy to do that but I’ll need to
reprioritize this to a later date…”

6. Communication
• Touch base regularly with your account
teams and/or clients; develop an ongoing
dialogue
• Email is no substitute for face to face
conversation
– Get up, walk over to their desk, speak in person
• Don’t assume that someone else is taking
care of something. If you are on point, you
are accountable
• If you are unclear ask – internal teams first,
if no luck ask the client
• Document phone conversations with
follow-up email and clear action items
– “Thanks for speaking with me today… we agreed
that I would do XYZ by Friday and you would
provide me with ABC by Tuesday…”

7. You’ve Got eMail
• Who needs to be included in your
response?
– Use “Reply All” sensibly
• When differences of opinion arise in
email – connect face to face
• Be thoughtful when you send emails.
Avoid shooting off quick messages
• If you anticipate a few questions, collect
them all into 1 email
• Organize the email so it is clear and
concise
– A.
– B.
– C.
• Splel check and reread the email (out
loud) before you send it

8. Sharing is Caring
• Share what you know and find
with the team and clients
– Makes us all smarter and
demonstrates thought leadership
• But before you do, add
commentary - show how it
applies or could apply to a
client’s business
– Demonstrates understanding and
provides business value

9. Dates ensure things move forward
• Provide dates and timelines – it aids
in prioritization and keeps the team
accountable. If the client doesn’t
provide one, ask for one
• If you aren’t given a delivery date,
ask for one/or recommend one
• Always give a date as to when you
will follow up or what the next step
is and when

10. Prep for Meetings
Share…in advance when possible, always at
the start of the meeting
Agenda / Context
Purpose
Outcomes
Pre-meeting requirements

11. Where is your meeting?
• Many times meetings occur at the
client location
– Be present whenever possible
• Customary for us to travel
– Use v-dash access to determine client
and room availability
• Do you have travel time baked into
your schedule?
– Is it during rush hour?
– Who is traveling with you?
• Do you have a room booked?
• Do you have a dial in number?

12. In Meetings
• Be present – if you are going to
be in the meeting “be in the
meeting”
• Limit phone usage (phones
down)
• Take detailed notes for yourself
- designate a scribe if necessary
• Determine action items
• Assign responsibility and
delivery dates

13. Post Meeting (TPS Reports)
• Capture notes and send out a
conference report to
attendees (especially clients)
- at minimum, document
your “to-do” list with dates
and send to participating
parties and stakeholders
• All decisions should be
documented and filed for
future purposes