How to Maximize Your Relationship with An Account Manager: Top 4 Tips

If account managers are the Gatekeepers of a vendor’s services, the client is the Keymaster. This relationship between client and account manager is crucial for bringing about Gozer maximizing the value you get from any vendor, whether it is a marketing agency like HAVEN Creative or another provider.

When you have an issue or question about a service, “who you gonna call?” Most likely, your account manager is the first line of assistance you have. Ghostbusters references aside, knowing how to maximize the relationship with your account manager will help you meet your goals.

Your account managers are here to help you succeed, whether they provide a direct service or help you navigate a tool. Here are four ways to maximize your relationship with an account manager.

Share Ideas, Pain Points and Priorities

Starting a new relationship is hard as both parties try to understand the other. This is why a clear discussion around priorities and current pain points is so important! Often, your vendors have a vast toolset to help, but only you know what your organization needs and what has failed in the past (or is failing right now).

Additionally, sharing ideas that your team has discussed gives your account rep a sense of what the approach has been so far. Sometimes, the best solutions come when outside eyes look at an existing plan.

Ask Questions of Your Account Manager

Whether you’re an expert or a novice in the subject matter, asking questions is an important part to a healthy relationship with your account manager. These questions can range from clarifying questions to status update requests to asking for a strategy debrief.

Asking questions helps to ensure both parties are on the same page and reduce assumptions (insert saying about assuming here). Taking the time to ask questions helps an account rep ensure clarity and transparency with their deliverables and strategies.

Be Clear with Your Requests

Okay, this one may feel like we’re throwing shade, but we promise it’s not! Taking the time to ensure that requests you make to your account team are clear and provide ample direction saves you time and money. When a project request is clear with a deadline, project goal, and context, you are more likely to receive a product that requires fewer edits, changes or back-and-forth.

Here at HAVEN, when we request something of a designer or vendor, we try really hard to ensure that everything from final format requirements to deadline and strategic intent are clear up front so everyone starts from the same expectation.

Provide Regular Feedback

This may feel like a no-brainer but it is arguably the most important thing you can do to get the most value in any vendor relationship. Are you happy with the strategy? Do you want to see more of a certain tactic or different words on collateral? These types of feedback give account managers direction to ensure they meet your needs in a meaningful way.

Feedback doesn’t have to be big or scary either, something as simple as “I like what we’re doing with X, we’d like to see other projects like it” or “Why are we prioritizing Y? We are looking to accomplish Z goal instead.” These types of communication ensure everyone stays on-track and on the same page.

No matter the industry or service your vendors provide, these tips help ensure you have productive relationships with your account reps and that you get the most value. When working with one of our HAVEN Mavens™, you’ll get ample opportunity to provide feedback, share ideas and ask questions. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you with branding, marketing and communications, contact us here.