Creative Agency Account Manager Podcast Jenny Plant - Account Management Skills Ltd

Welcome to episode 115. If you're in agency new business or account management and responsible for contract renewals and account expansion, you're in for a huge treat because Tim Riesterer, author of ‘The Expansion Sale’ (Four Must-Win Conversations to Keep and Grow Your Customers), joins me.

Tim is a powerhouse and working with huge enterprises in this area, but he also has a background working in agencies.

We discussed data backed insight into:

• the real reason prospects buy and how to change your approach to new business
• why how you sell to prospects is not the way you should sell to existing clients
• why overcoming the client's status quo bias is the key to unlocking client growth
• why asking your client what problems they have just doesn't work
• and so much more.

I highly recommend following Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-riesterer or via the Corporate Visions website: http://www.corporatevisions.com/

and buying the book, ‘The Expansion Sale’: https://win.corporatevisions.com/The-Expansion-Sale.html

We talk about Tim's research and what overcoming a client's status quo bias means for agency account managers in my training. If you’d like to discuss account management training and all the options that we offer, then please go to my website and book a call. https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Or alternatively, you can send me a direct message on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyplant

Welcome to Episode 114. If you're an agency owner who wants to stand out in a competitive market, then today's guest has written an entire book about it.
Gareth Healey, author of "STAND OUT OR DIE" joins me to share:
- what he learned from scaling and exiting his business
- his seven step framework for standing out in a crowded marketplace
- and his advice for other agency owners who want to productize their services and Stay competitive in the future.

You can connect with Gareth Healey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethhealey/
And find his book here: http://mybook.to/STANDOUT

if you're struggling with new business right now, and perhaps finding that your pipeline is drying up or taking longer to convert, maybe it's time to turn your attention to how you can add more value to your existing clients' business and grow your accounts.

If you want to know the quickest and easiest ways that are working right now for other agencies, check out the details of my Account Accelerator programme. It's a year long coaching and training programme for those responsible for account growth in the agency who are managing those client relationships on a day to day basis.

You can find all the details here: https://www.accountmanagementskills. com/account-accelerator

Welcome to episode 113. This will be particularly inspirational for you if you are currently a small agency owner with aspirations for huge growth. Jared Lopiccolo, CEO & Co-Founder of Noble Studios, built his agency from a single laptop to a multi million dollar agency. He shares some insight into what it took to achieve that growth and also his advice for other agency owners who may want to do the same thing.

Jarrod also shares:
• the pivotal moments that were the growth accelerator points in his business
• how you need to change and adapt as a leader
• how to build a strong culture of very engaged employees
• some of the trends he's seeing in the agency landscape
• how he thinks agencies need to adapt to what's coming.

He shares so many more tips and insights into running the business.

You can find Jarrod on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jarrodlopiccolo
and via the Noble Studios website: https://noblestudios.com/


Many agency owners come to me to talk about account management training, but the three big outcomes that they really want from the training are to answer the following three questions:
• how can I have more predictable client retention and revenue from existing clients?
• how can I hardwire these commercial skills into the business and ensure I have a repeatable process that everyone can follow in the agency so that if that person leaves, everybody else knows what to do when it comes to account retention and growth?
• How can I foster a more commercial mindset which will give me a competitive advantage in the marketplace?

If any of those three outcomes resonate with you, please check out my Account Accelerator programme, which is on my website at https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator. It is a one year coaching and training programme and it's designed for those who are working in an agency managing the client relationship, and responsible ultimately for the growth of that account.

Welcome to episode 112. I’m joined by Shannyn Lee, Managing Director of Win Without Pitching ®, which is widely recognised by the creative industry as one of the best quality sales training programs because it's specifically tailored to agencies.

This episode will be particularly valuable for you if your job at the agency is winning new business and you'd like to know how to do that without having to go through a costly pitch process.

During our chat, Shannyn shares:

- the Win Without Pitching ® principles
- what it takes to circumnavigate a client's pitch process
- the common sales challenges faced by agencies today
- her advice for agency owners who want to stand out in the market, and lots more.


Please visit the Win Without Pitching ® website (https://www.winwithoutpitching.com) to find out more about everything the company does, find which workshops are coming up. and to buy Blair Enns’ book, ‘The Win Without Pitching Manifesto’, which is practically the industry bible.

You can connect with Shannyn Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannyn-lee-2a32846/

If you're listening to this episode in April 2024 we are opening enrolments for our May Account Accelerator™ training for those in the agency who are responsible for existing client growth. If your job is to manage client relationships and grow your accounts, check out the details on my website: https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator

Welcome to episode 111. This episode will be particularly relevant for you if you're heading up the agency or you're in charge of an agency team.

Alison Coward is the founder of Bracket, a consultancy that partners with ambitious, forward-thinking companies to help them build high-performing and collaborative team cultures. She is a culture strategist, workshop facilitator, coach, trainer, keynote speaker and author of “A Pocket Guide to Effective Workshops” and “Workshop Culture: a guide to building teams that thrive”.


Alison shares some data backed insights, some brilliant tips and actionable strategies for high performing teams, including:
- why agency teams typically end up not working well together and how to address the issues
- why creating a workshop culture is a solution to better collaboration and teamwork
- how to make all the meetings you have more efficient and effective
- her five pillar framework for implementing a workshop culture in your agency


Connect with Alison:
https://linkedin.com/in/alisoncoward
https://www.bracketcreative.co.uk
https://www.workshopculture.co.uk
https://amzn.eu/d/h4VDgST


Many agency owners ask me to help their client facing team with account management. Some don't have dedicated account managers, but they still want predictable client retention and growth, a repeatable, client centric client management process as well as ultimately a competitive advantage. According to Gartner, 80% of your future profits are going to come from 20% of your existing clients. Currently, many of my programme participants are just three months in and already getting very impressive account growth results, and this is down to them being coachable and also taking action on what we're covering, with me supporting them with the implementation.

So if you're in charge of a client facing team, or maybe someone in your team is responsible for account growth and could potentially benefit from upskilling and having a strategy, then check out the details of my one year Account Accelerator training and coaching programme. You can find all the details at https://www.accountmanagementskills.com

Welcome to episode 110. This episode is for you if you're an agency owner either interested in buying agencies to grow, or selling your agency at some point.

It's also enlightening if you work in an agency and you want to understand the process of mergers and acquisitions. Jonathan Baker, Practice Lead in M&A at Punctuation joins me and shares a lot of tips and insights about the buying and selling process, including:
- the current state of M&A and why right now might be a really good time to sell
- the impact of AI on the changing agency landscape and his advice for content marketing agencies
- why cultural alignment is key to a successful transaction
- the criteria buyers typically use to assess an agency they might want to purchase
- how concerned sellers should be about the terms of the transaction
- how far you get through the transaction before bringing in a lawyer
- how and when to tell your staff about the sale
- why you should ask about buyer funding if you're being bought, and so much more.

Jonathan has created a special webpage just for this podcast's listeners at https://www.punctuation.com/creative and through this link you can also chat to him about anything you've heard on this episode. You can also connect with on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com//in/jonathandavidbaker

Many agency owners come to me for account management skills training and to help their account managers develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And ultimately, what they are looking for are three things. They want more predictable client retention and growth, which is less expensive than pitching for new business. They want to hardwire account growth into the agency's internal processes so that account growth becomes repeatable. And they're also looking for ways to future proof their agency's business and gain a competitive advantage by offering the best client value and experience. If any of this sounds of interest, we are opening enrolments later this month for my Account Accelerator programme. It's a 12 month coaching and training programme and you can find all the details on my website: https://www.accountmanagementskills.com/account-accelerator