Robert Solomon
Transcript of Robert Solomon
Account management usedto do strategy.
Get it right the first time.
Own your mistakes.
Be proactive.
Communicate.
“Know my business.”
For many shops, Planning has largely co-opted that terrain.
Own your mistakes.
Be proactive.
Communicate.
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
Account management used to oversee execution.
Communicate.
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
Own your mistakes.
“Project Management” does much of this now.
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If account people lack a voice, or worse, lack a role, what does this mean
for agencies and the clients they serve
My view is largely shaped by the conversations I’ve had with scores of
agency people about, “what’s not working.”
The staffers I’ve spoken with -- founders, CEOs, account people, along with folks in Creative, Planning, Production -- varied in background, tenure, and experience,
but were remarkably aligned in their views.
“‘I won’t; I can’t; that’s not in my purview; that’s not
my job’ seem to be common here. People don’t
know the job they should be doing.”
For example:
For example:
“Everybody defers to everybody else: ‘I don’t do social; I don’t do media.’
Roles and responsibilities aren’t clearly defined.”
“Know my business.”
2. A failure to communicate – internally and with clients – is a concern.
Own your mistakes.
Be proactive.
Communicate.
“Communication between departments is an issue. We need to have everyone working
towards a common goal.”
For example:
“Communication is a BIG thing; there’s a lot going on and we need to do a better
job to surface issues.”
For example:
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
3. Clients seek ideas from account people; are frustrated by their absence.
Communicate.
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
Own your mistakes.
4. Account people struggle to get budgets, schedules, scopes right.
For example:
“You win business based on creative and strategy, in that order.
You lose business based on execution, or
lack of it.”
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
Own your mistakes.
Be proactive.
5. Account people need to do a better job managing client expectations.
For example:
“We need to set expectations properly. If we don’t set
those expectations, clients lose faith and trust in us. We
also need to manage expectations internally.”
For example:
“We have crazy clients; they have become way
too demanding. We need to manage expectations.”
1. Account people are unclear on their roles.
2. A failure to communicate – internally and with clients – is an issue.
3. Clients look to account people for ideas, and are frustrated by their absence.
4. It’s a struggle to get the “small things” right: budgets, schedules, scopes of work.
5. There’s a need to do a better job of managing client expectations.
But account management must reclaim being the
“voice of accountability” for the agencies they
represent.
Supported by this guy:
“Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean and make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
And this guy:
“Complexity is your enemy. Any
fool can make something
complicated. It is hard to make
something simple.”
So it set up shop in the client’s stores, where it
could watch consumers, note the questions they
asked, and how they transacted business.
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
The client actually was serving working class, lower income, urban dwellers.
This insight –the product of
simple observation –led to a radical
shift in its creative and
media approach, resulting in a huge
increase in performance.
The point: observation leads to insight;
insight leads to ideas.
You don’t have to be an Ideoor an R/GA to master the
underlying principle.
“…accident is very important in art, but you can only achieve accident in a full way after
you’ve fully mastered technique.”
For those of us not actors, but still striving for
that next great idea, there are two take-aways
from Gyllenhaal and Mirren:
The more you are in control of your craft –
meaning discipline and technique -- the more
likely that next idea will emanate from you.
You might well create that idea in a time and place
where you least expect it, and need to be open
and available to it.
1. Follow William of Occam’s rule of simple.
2. Frame the issue with “Why” and “What if” questions.
3. Use observation to lead to insights that drive strategy, creative, and media.
4. Understand “Freedom is the other side of discipline;” gain mastery of your craft.
5. Give license to the power of serendipity.
Five ways to create more ideas:
You would think client dissatisfaction comes from
a failure in strategy, or not having enough
good ideas.
Agencies not only need to be accountable to
clients for these things, they need to be accountable to
each other.
Being truly accountable to clients and colleagues begins and ends with
a well-crafted Scope of Work.
Screw up a Scope of Work, and everything that follows will devolve into a
dog’s breakfast of derailed deadlines, broken budgets,
and cantankerous clients.
“Know my business.”
Get it right the first time.
Let’s talk about what it means to do a proper Scope of Work.
Communicate.
As surprising as this might sound, it is amazing how many
assignments lack a well-defined scope of work, or any scope at all.
2.Make certain each scope
fully and precisely describes the tasks you are to handle; this is especially critical in
“fixed fee” assignments.
3.If you are unable to clearly define the work to be done, build “contingency dollars”
into your fee estimate, to deal with the unexpected.
Assignment uncertainty
Contingency amount
Low High
Low
High
The greater the uncertainty, the more contingency fee you build in.
Client desirability
Competition
Low
StrongWeak
High
But be certain to calibrate your fee contingency to the opportunity.
HIGH CONTINGENCY
LOW CONTINGENCY
MODERATE CONTINGENCY
MODERATE CONTINGENCY
4.I strongly recommend
avoiding “Party-of-the-first-part” legal language; this might make your lawyer
happy, but it won’t ensure you get paid in a fair
or timely fashion.
The moment your scope even hints at the word “Contract” –even though that’s what it is –
the lawyers get called in.
Once attorneys get involved, you are more likely to finish the engagement
before you finish the agreement.
5.I suggest you write your scopes in informal, first-person letter language, which can enhance the
client relationship, not erode it.
1. Always begin an assignment with a Scope of Work.
2. Each scope should fully describe tasks to be addressed.
3. To deal with the unexpected, build in contingency dollars to your fee estimates.
4. Don’t write in “Party of the first part” legalese, which only makes your lawyer happy.
5. Instead, write your Scopes in informal, 1st-person language.
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?Is account
management dead
To return to a question asked and answered: