And why every marketer needs “Another You”
Quick question. When did you last have a full day where you weren’t juggling client emails, chasing a supplier, prepping for a pitch, and trying to actually do the marketing you’re meant to be doing?
If you’re anything like a lot of marketers and agency owners out there, the honest answer is: it’s been a while. And that’s not meant as a criticism. I try and keep Friday’s for CEO/my business time where I can, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
You didn’t start your business because you love herding cats, living to timelines and writing meeting notes up. You did it because you’re good at marketing. Strategy, ideas, results etc. But somewhere along the way, delivery ate the diary, and the bit you’re actually brilliant at gets squeezed into the gaps or outsourced, or it slips.
That’s where account management comes in. And no, it’s not just a job title on an org chart or a tick box — it’s the thing that gives you your time, headspace, and sanity back. Trust me.
What does an account manager actually do?
Ask ten people what account management covers and you’ll get ten different answers. So let’s break it down into the probable stages most client relationships move through:
- Pitching — helping shape and land the opportunity
- Winning — the handover from “yes” to “right, let’s do this properly”
- Onboarding — getting everyone aligned, briefed, and set up for success (this is where good AM saves you months of pain later)
- Relationship nurturing — the ongoing, unglamorous, essential work of keeping clients happy, informed, and heard, and communicated with
- Delivery — making sure what was promised actually gets done, on time, without you having to hold every thread yourself. And stopping you be an accidental bottle neck.
Notice how much of that isn’t “creative” work? That’s the point. It’s the scaffolding or foundations that lets the creative work actually happen.
Client management, client services, account management — what’s the difference?
These get used interchangeably, but they’re not quite the same:
- Client management tends to be about the relationship — keeping the client happy and engaged
- Client services is broader, often the whole function or team responsible for how clients are served and managed
- Account management sits across both — it’s relationship and delivery, the conduit between what the client needs and what your team produces
In a small agency or a solo marketing business, you’re probably doing all three at once and not too well, because there’s no one else to hand it to. That’s not a failing. It’s just maths — there are only so many hours in a day. And you have other priorities to juggle.
Is Account Management a luxury or must-have?
I’ll be blunt: treating account management as a “nice to have, when we can afford it” is a backwards way of thinking about it/approaching it.
Why? What does it cost you when a client feels neglected, a deadline slips because nobody was tracking it, or you lose a week untangling a miscommunication that a proper onboarding process would have prevented? The cost could be a lost client and lost revenue.
Good account management isn’t a cost. It’s capacity insurance. It’s what stops “busy” from quietly turning into “burnt out and about to lose a client.”
Account Management is not just for external clients
Here’s a reframe I want to put to you – account management isn’t only about the people paying your invoices. If you’ve got internal team members, stakeholders, or departments you’re delivering for, they need the same thing — clear communication, expectations set, someone keeping the wheels turning. “Client” doesn’t have to mean external.
The bottom line, in summary
You can’t be the strategist, the doer, and the one chasing your own follow-up emails at 9pm. Something gives — usually your evenings and weekends, sometimes your sanity, your family time, and occasionally the client relationship itself.
This is exactly why I do what I do. I’m not here to take over your business or your client relationships — I’m here to be another you in the background, so the juggle stops feeling like a struggle.
Senior experience, and as much or as little support as you need, when you need it. Account management on demand.
Sounds like something you need? Book a free discovery call and let’s talk about what “another you” could look like for your business …
