What Are Client Account Managers’ Standard Operating Procedures?
If you run a digital marketing agency, you’ve probably heard about standard operating procedures (SOPs). But knowing you need SOPs, and actually having them in place, can be two very different things!
While SOPs are essential for virtually every business process, perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the world of Client Account Management. This is why we dedicate a large portion of our Client Account Managers Training for Agencies program to SOPs. And it’s why we ensure our fractional Client Account Managers know how to build and follow processes and systems that everyone on the team can use, too.
Not exactly sure what an SOP is, or why you need one? Keep reading!
What Is A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)?
First up, let’s define SOPs. Broadly speaking, these are written documents that outline the steps and procedures necessary for a particular task or process. The idea is to provide clear and detailed guidelines that anyone and everyone should follow when completing a specific task. This ensures consistent and high quality results.
Many industries make use of SOPs; they’re quite common in areas like healthcare, manufacturing, and government.
And like we’ll cover next, they may not be quite as prevalent in digital marketing, but they really should be.
What is an Account Management SOP?
An Account Management SOP is just what it sounds like: a detailed process designed to simplify and optimize key areas of client account management.
We don’t have to tell you that managing clients is a lot. Whether you’re an agency owner or an Account Manager, you’ve got to have lots of plates spinning (and perfectly!) all the time. That’s why it’s important to have a system in place for the most frequent and/or most important of these ‘plates.’ This ensures that no matter who is ‘on the job,’ your clients will all be getting consistent, and consistently stellar, service.
In case you can’t tell, we are huge on agency systems here at DOT & Co. They’ve played a big role in our success, because we take them seriously. We have lots of workflows that we put into Asana (our favorite project management platform, although of course there are others!). Then we can share these workflows as necessary.
We also highly recommend having an org chart and/or crystal clear job descriptions, so that everyone on your team knows exactly who’s responsible for what.
Critical Account Management SOPs
While every agency is a little different, everyone can benefit from the following two SOPs
1. Onboarding SOPs
If you serve clients, then you understand all too well the importance of good client onboarding. Every time you sign a new client, the goal should be to nurture a long-lasting relationship—that’s usually the key to client satisfaction and retention (not to mention all those referrals!).
That said, the person doing the onboarding may not be the same person who brought the client on in the first place. And they may not be the person who will be doing the actual marketing work, either. So how can you equip them to provide an incredible onboarding experience, even if they’re coming into this client ‘fresh?
The answer is having an onboarding workflow in place that your Client Account Manager can follow each and every time. They won’t have to spend their time endlessly writing the same emails every time there’s a new client. They won’t put off contracts and invoicing, and they’ll have strategies for the kick-off call and on-going client management.
In other words, they’ll have a proven road map—one that will keep them on task and your clients happy.
Of course, onboarding isn’t a ‘one-and-done’ type of task. It involves developing relationships, gathering information, setting expectations, and assigning roles and tasks. And it’s this complexity that makes an Account Management SOP so critical here.
Not only will an onboarding SOP simplify this process. It will also ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Plus, as a bonus, the faster you’re able to onboard clients and get their projects started, the faster you’ll be able to bring on new ones (hint, hint!).
And if this all sounds a little intimidating, not to worry! We’ve onboarded more clients than we can count, which has allowed us to test and retest a variety of SOPs. In the process, we’ve developed a great onboarding SOP for digital marketing agencies, and we’re giving it away for free. Get it here!
2. Reporting SOPs
Client reporting is another critical area of any digital marketing agency, and it, too, really benefits from good SOPs.
We know, we know. Client reporting is one of your least favorite tasks. But it’s also crucial for building a good relationship with your clients. That is, assuming that you’re providing your clients with transparent, detailed, and accessible reports in the first place (and you really, really should be!).
So how can you deliver these great reports, without costing your own sanity? The answer, of course, is SOPs.
Whoever is responsible for client reporting, they need to know all the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, and why’s. Specifically, this should include what data to collect, what metrics to analyze and contextualize for the clients, how to structure reports, and who to send them to.
Your reporting workflow should include timelines, as well as templates for emails and other communication.
More SOPs To Consider
LIke we said, every digital marketing agency needs to onboard clients well and send good reports. That’s why these are two of the first areas to consider streamlining with better workflows.
But we’ve just scratched the surface of SOPs here! Depending on your agency, we also highly recommend SOPs in many, any, or all of the following areas: campaign planning and execution, billing and invoicing, collaboration, crisis management, and client offboarding.
Many agencies will also develop quality assurance SOPs to ensure everyone on the team is producing high quality deliverables and regularly following processes.
How To Make Client Account Managers’ Standard Operating Procedures
OK, so you’re sold on SOPs (and maybe you’ve downloaded that onboarding workflow, too). But what’s next? How can you not only create more good workflows, but actually implement them in your agency, too?
If you think you could use some help getting everything in place, we’re here to help! Namely, our brilliant fractional Client Account Managers can help you get some great client management SOPs up and running. Schedule an intro call to learn more!