The Art of Account Management: Olivia Sparey on the Many Roles of an Account Manager

Olivia Sparey, mid twenties food lover living it up in South West London, is part of the client services team at Truant London as an account manager. Her account management career started four years ago at a production agency, before landing her first role in the creative world working at Ogilvy. Olivia is now seven months in at Truant working on one of their biggest clients and loving every minute of it.

If you’re a client, you may question "what does my account manager do all day, and how do they spend their time?". If you’re a creative… some might like to refer to the below:

How we communicate with our clients is critical to how our relationship with them progresses. Anyone who has worked in an agency understands the intricacies of client communication – understanding what the client wants and needs and working together to achieve goals. A big part of the role requires practical skills – But it’s not all technical.

In fact, I like to think of account managers playing multiple roles. Some days we like to be the agency therapist listening to everyone’s issues.  Another day we will act as the peacekeeper. Everyday we’re acting in different roles and sometimes we know the storyline and sometimes we have no idea how the story might end…

Which leads me nicely into one of the reasons I fell in love with account management. Every day is unpredictable with lots of plot twists. You have the power to make every day different. 

There’s no simple definition for this role but imagine writing your own play, playing all the different roles and directing it? Ok maybe a little extreme but that’s what account management feels like sometimes. You are constantly pulling strings, monitoring progress, keeping track of budgets, temper-tantrums and putting out the occasional fire. 

Thinking about my time in account management, I’ve become very familiar with a few of the roles in the last few years. This article is meant to entertain, as much as inform. So I hope you enjoy it!

Role 1 

The Translator 

Every now and again, clients aren’t satisfied with the work, and even they don’t know why.  The most used feedback is:  “missing the wow factor” or “I want something more fresh-looking.” These comments can be frustratingly vague and leave you and your creatives with nothing. So this is where we play ‘The translator’ and we dive deeper to try to find the root of the problem and the specific issues. This is the best opportunity to think differently and put your strategic head on. You technically have the influence to determine exactly what the project should look like. 

Role 2

The Mediator 

Historically, account management has been characterised as the mediator.  It’s not all we do and we all like to think we offer a lot more than that but we definitely have to be at times. I like to think I offer a sense of peace and calm when the team is dealing with client feedback or internal disagreements. It’s not always fun being the middle guy but in the long run when everyone is over the moon with the final outcome, you’re left feeling pretty chuffed. The mediator helps find the balance through communication. We can pass on harsh truths from the creatives without ruffling feathers and clear the way for open honest communication. 

Role 3

Smile and nod guy

Sometimes you might not agree with what the client or coworkers say so the best thing to do is smile and nod and don’t let your current emotions get the best of you. Account management in advertising moves so quickly and you can never see what’s round the corner. They’ll be decisions you might not want to make or feel unsure about the next step and people will be pissed off in the process. 90% of the time we are the best at having patience and staying positive but everyone has a bad day and if you are… smile and nod. 

Role 4

The Designated Punching Bag

You know what I'm talking about. Not everyday is smooth sailing and sometimes things go wrong. Unfortunately, you’ve got to take one for the team and play the role of a punching bag. When sh*it goes wrong, it’s most likely going to land on the account management team.

But you know what, it’s never long term and you have the power to change this. Ultimately, this is what separates a successful account manager from an unsuccessful one. Being able to take ownership of problems, and the actions required to put them right. I’d like to think we’re all pretty bullet proof. 

Role 5

The professional in making google sheets 

We LOVE spreadsheets in professional and personal life and we can never have enough of them. But on a serious note,  organisation is your best friend in account management and central to the success of any project. Whether it’s writing a billion checklists, colour coding each deliverable or marking dates in your calendar and setting reminders so that work doesn’t sneak up on you. It will all make your life so much easier. Be calm, cool, and collected and you’ll conquer every curve ball.

All jokes aside, I do believe that account management in advertising is one of the most rewarding and satisfying jobs out there. While trends, technology & prime ministers are always changing, the qualities an Account Manager maintains are timeless. And of course, a small part of you feels like you are changing the world one project at a time. Sounds fun, eh?