The Art of Account Management: the Many Sides of Account Management with Meghan Welch

Meghan Welch is an account director at Minneapolis-based advertising and branding agency MONO, where she heads integrated campaigns for clients such as Sherwin-Williams, Power Home Remodeling, and RYTHM Cannabis. Meghan’s critical thinking-like strategy skills and curious, creative eye bring a unique approach to every project she leads. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Meghan is known for having excellent communication skills and building long-lasting relationships with clients and partners through her hands-on approach, attention to detail, and enthusiasm for working with great people on great brands. 

LBB> How did you first get involved in account management, and what appealed to you?

Meghan> When I started my career, I worked in public relations. Although I found PR to be interesting, I wanted to be more involved in the entire process of developing work. I have always been passionate about curating long-term relationships with clients and collaborating with teams to solve client pain points. As an Account Manager, I figured I could be a part of all the action, from the first phone call to the campaign or product’s launch. 

LBB> What about your personality, skills, and experience made account management a great fit?

Meghan> The best way to explain account management is to visualize a tangled knot, like in a shoelace or a necklace. There is always a problem to solve, and sometimes the problem, or in this analogy, the knot, will get even bigger before it gets smaller and eventually freed. Luckily, the trickier the knot, the more excited I am to take on the challenge and overcome it. I thrive when examining and dismantling a challenge; the satisfaction I get when the job is done right motivates and pushes me eagerly for the next one. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to account management, but it certainly requires a lot of creative thinking, patience, and reassurance. 

LBB> How do you act as a mediator in a client and agency relationship? 

Meghan> As an intermediary-like position, it is essential that account managers take the time to understand everyone’s unique perspective, from the creative to the client teams. Your primary goal should always be to represent the clients and the creatives' stances in a mutually beneficial way. Since account managers are typically involved in all phases of work and conversations about the business, they tend to have a completely different approach, perspective, and sensibility than anyone else on their team or their clients' team. These insights greatly help curate, develop, and continue long-standing client relationships.

LBB> What is the key to building a productive and healthy relationship? Is there room for disagreements and emotions in this type of relationship?

Meghan> The key characteristics to building a productive and healthy client/agency relationship are being direct, staying collaborative, and having a good sense of humour. Ironically, I learned these relationship-building skills outside of my career. I come from a large family where I am the youngest, so I’ve been thrown into different conversations since I was little. In many ways, I have my family to thank for the skills I use daily at work. Respectful disagreements and healthy debates are necessary for a relationship because there’s often more than one correct answer. In the current industry, disagreements are welcomed but not entirely encouraged, and I think that should change. We can make better work by pushing each other to consider other perspectives.

LBB> Thinking back to some of the most challenging experiences in your career, what do you think tends to lie at the heart of the more tense or complex client-agency relationships?

Meghan> Challenges in client and agency relationships occur when parties involved feel stuck in their roles and perspectives. When there is a lot of work to be done, it is easy to get overwhelmed and forget that we are all on the same team working together to accomplish the same goal. On one end, the client has genuine business goals to achieve and has hired an agency to help them get from point A to point B. On the other hand, clients must remind themselves that they’ve hired creative experts to help them carry through their goals. I always find that the work is more substantial when the client allows the agency to explore solutions to problems more freely. Conversely, we owe it to our clients to always keep their business priorities top of mind.

LBB> These days, agencies do so much beyond traditional campaigns. As an account manager, you’re pulling together creative, experience, data, e-commerce, social and more - and that complexity can often be mirrored on the client stakeholder side too. What’s the key to navigating (and helping the client navigate) that complexity?

Meghan> A great way to navigate the ever-changing industry landscape is to remain informed by actively going out of your way to learn new things. Being eager to learn, remaining curious, and embracing the unknown is the best way to stay current. Plus, if the client is ambitious, chances are your challenge as the account manager will be a big knot to untangle. 

LBB> What recent projects are you proudest of and why? What was challenging about these projects from an account management perspective, and how did you address those challenges? What was so satisfying about working on these projects?

Meghan> Recently, we worked on a stunning new brand design and system for a premium cannabis brand called RYTHM. RYTHM’s goal was to stand out in the crowded and repetitive marketplace. What I loved most about this challenge was that this was the first time that I, and my agency, MONO, had ever worked with a cannabis brand. Cannabis, as you all know, has very different rules, regulations, and competition than other markets like food, for example. So we had to think outside the box. 

LBB> What advice would you give someone just starting their career in account management?

Meghan> It is imperative to remind yourself that it is okay to be wrong, find great mentors, and put yourself out there to take chances. Before I pivoted into account management from public relations, I remember having an insanely stressful day that legitimately reshaped my career. At the time, I provided PR support for a brand and became friendly with their account director. I got super frustrated with my role and texted the account director asking if they were hiring, which they happened to be at that time. The rest was history! I have been so fortunate to have great mentors like the account director just mentioned, my former agency’s group account director, and the head of account management at MONO. I've always had leadership that I could count on for support and fearless feedback. I learn from them day in and day out. Constant education from your peers is also a great way to learn about the industry and how you operate within it, especially when starting in the field.