The Account Manager vs. Project Manager — Who Does What And What Do I Need?
In this episode, we're identifying who YOU need inside your agency—an Account Manager or Project Manager.
Simply put, an Account Manager is responsible for keeping the client happy. How do they do that?
→ By being super proactive with communication and project updates.
→ Providing strong hand-holding for the entire process.
→ Keeping the team aware of project stages and where the client is at.
... all while ensuring everything is operating smoothly from both sides.
You're right— there's a lot of overlap between Account Managers and Project Managers.
So, what is the intersection between account management and project management?
We always say, look at what your scope is. What are you doing for clients? A lot of our agencies don't have hundreds of clients. In which case, having one person in this role – and I know it sounds like a unicorn – is possible 🦄
A single person in such a role, doing both client management and project management, does make sense. After all, an Account Manager needs to be across projects to keep their clients happy.
Here's, how we look at project management as Client Account Managers;
Onboarding — it's the first impression, so it’s CRUCIAL to make it a good one. So OBVIOUSLY Account Managers need to be on their top account management and project management game.
Task management - although Account Managers are client-facing they need the projects to go smoothly so that communication is positive and the client feels well taken care of.
Client Meetings - an updated project makes for a successful client meeting. Account Managers need to know what's happening and that everything is on time and done according to plan.
Reports - clients really love knowing what's happening inside their account and this means Account Managers need to stay well-versed on the account.
Listen to the full episode where we chat through all the details!
Bonus:
In Episode 15 we talked about the main difference between a Project Manager and a Client Account Manager you can listen to this here.
Also, listen to THIS podcast where Taylor was a guest on Marcel Pettipas's podcast talking all things account management and delivering the perfect onboarding experience.
Cheers to happy clients,
Taylor