Leading Your Firm’s Growth With Account and Project Management

• 9:00: Introduction
• 9:30: History and Context of the AM/PM World
• 10:30: Essential Principles of Great Account Management
• 12:00: Essential Principles of Great Project Management
• 1:00: Lunch (provided)
• 1:45: How to Grow Accounts
• 3:00:  Leading Through Project Management
• 4:00: Networking and Happy Hour

Savvy firms know that clients are far more likely to notice poor customer service long before they notice subpar effectiveness. It’s no excuse for sloppy work, of course, but if you can wrap great work inside strong client management, you’ll have the best of both worlds.

Here’s a simple three-part test for effective account managers. These three scenarios—if handled well— point to a strong account executive who can effectively do what may be the most difficult in an agency: straddle the fence between advocating for the client and advocating for the agency.

1. How early can the new business department hand off a warm lead to an account manager to close the first project in a long and prosperous relationship?
2. How effectively do the account people grow their accounts over time?
3. How well do account managers manage tense situations with presence and grace?

This two-day seminar will change how you see the account management role. We’ll start with understanding the overall structure of the role and how to interface effectively with other departments, noting the nuances that help build cooperation.

We’ll examine personality profiles and how they map to effective account managers – and project managers. Many firms are leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars and the table and letting things slip through the cracks, simply by not having the right people in the right seats. There are best practices related to this that are helpful to understand.

Then we’ll flip to the other side and review the specific elements of treating clients the way they say that want to be treated. This data is based on thousands of client interviews, compiling the clearest signals for top-performing firms.

Following on that theme, and based against a background of fully satisfied clients, we’ll look at a few key strategies to grow your best accounts. Qualified account people do grow accounts effectively, and that’s part of what makes them so valuable to creative firms.

And as both account and project management roles become increasingly AI-enabled, we’ll also explore how AI can enhance your efficiency, decision-making, and client impact. You’ll leave with fresh ideas and practical ways to apply AI to your day-to-day work – helping you stay ahead in a fast-evolving landscape.

Finally, we’ll look very specifically at how to manage tension—healthy and otherwise—to maneuver personnel roadblocks and enhance your personal effectiveness.

This is a completely reworked seminar only offered once per year. It is also limited to 130 attendees to improve the quality of the interaction and leave as much time for discussion and questions as possible.