To be able to perform these tasks, a person must have proven or quickly demonstrable analytical, organizing, leadership, interpersonal, and oral and written communications skills, plus a solid understanding of marketing and advertising.  Oh yeah…and they need to understand how businesses work and make money.

This is certainly no job for the average beginner, or for some lightweight, glib glad-hander who thinks that he or she can con his/her way through your world on a smile, a shoeshine, a few buzzwords, and a dazzling first impression.  A good AE is hard to find but a huge benefit to your clients and your agency.

Here’s a quick overview.

An effective Account Executive will:

Big picture for their clients

• Understand their clients’ business goals and help them get there
• Prepare an annual marketing plan for each client, and individual campaign plans as needed throughout the year (with SMART goals)
• Manage and strengthen (not merely maintain) client relationships
• Propose, sell to the client, and oversee market, media, and other research studies as required
• Continuously offer unsolicited ideas to increase the effectiveness of the client’s company and marketing activities

Big picture for the agency

• Understand how the agency makes money and contribute to the agency’s profitability through good management
• Be an advocate for the agency whenever they’re out in public
• Identify and cultivate for new business opportunities (even if they’re just passing them along internally)
• Periodically report to the agency president on the condition of the client-agency relationship and plans to improve it 

Day to day for their clients

• Initiate, coordinate, and oversee all agency activities on behalf of the client
• Manage day-to-day client-agency communication
• Report progress, delays and make sure the client is always in the know
• Maintain meticulous documentation of all activities on the client’s behalf

Day to day for the agency

• Closely control the client’s budget and timeline—to maximize ROI for both the client and the agency
• Work with the internal team to exceed the client’s expectations and keep re-earning the client’s trust
• Build up your team – celebrating successes and learning from the mistakes
• Watch for signs of trouble and alert the leadership team early so you can make a plan

For themselves, their agency and their clients

• Stay abreast of all developments in the client’s industry
• Keep honing communication/marketing expertise and techniques which will serve both the agency and the clients
• Network and connect — to serve your community, grow your influence and add value everywhere you go
• Find out what re-fuels you so you can stay fired up and energized
• Improve your presentation skills — for audiences big and small
• Keep learning, stretching and growing

If you’re an effective account executive or have one on your staff  – check out our advertising agency training options.  There are two great workshops for AEs.  The next one is September 4 & 5 in Denver.

The post What does an effective advertising agency account executive do all day? appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

It’s all too easy to complain about an employee’s perceived lack of performance on the job. Sometimes, performance can be dramatically improved just by paying a little attention to all your employees. Too often we end up taking good performers and the ones we like for granted and grumble about the ones that need to improve.

Having a strategy to motivate, grow and retain your biggest and most expensive asset is just good business.

It’s part of working ON the business, and not just IN it!

Here’s a list of my top ten ways to motivate agency employees.

1. Consciously try to say “hello” or “good morning” or “good night” or “good job” to everyone, every day. Notice them and acknowledge them.  It sounds simple but how many days do you walk through the office and just walk right by people because you’re on your phone or deep in thought?
2. Personally thank employees for doing a good job – face to face, in writing, and in front of others. Do it often and sincerely.  You cannot be too grateful.
3. Be willing to take the time to meet with and listen to employees – as much as they need or want. Provide employees specific and frequent feedback about their performance. Support them in improving performance.  Ask for their opinion too.  
4. Recognize, reward and promote high performers; deal with low and marginal performers so that they improve or leave.  And don’t keep marginal players on the team for too long.  It’s demoralizing for the ones who deserve to be there.
5. Provide information about how the company makes and loses money, upcoming products and services and strategies for competing.  Teach your employees how oyu run your business so they can help you achieve the business’ goals.
6. Explain each employee’s role in the overall plan. Involve employees in decisions, especially the decisions that affect them. Involvement equals commitment.  Give them specific ways to contribute and earn rewards from those contributions.
7. Give employees a chance to grow and learn new skills; encourage them to be their best. Show them how you can help them meet their goals while achieving the organization’s goals. Create a partnership with each employee and invest in them.
8. Provide employees with a sense of ownership in their work and their work environment. Give them a voice in aspects of the work that impact them.
9. Strive to create a work environment that is open, trusting and fun. Encourage new ideas, suggestions and initiative. Learn from, rather than punish, mistakes.
10. Celebrate successes – of the company, of the department, and of the individuals in it. Take time for team- and morale-building meetings and activities. Be creative and fresh.

There they are, and I know there’s not one new idea on the list. But I also know you aren’t doing them all.  I think you will be surprised at how quickly the employees respond and the bottom line impact it has on your business.

The post Ten Ways To Motivate Agency Employees appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

<A guest post by Rosemary Breehl>

Smart Ad Agency principals are getting a seat at the CEO’s table.

It’s a new day out there for all of us. Competition is tougher. There are now “ten marketing dogs chasing that one corporate car.” CEO’s today are under terrible pressure to deliver revenues, so the last thing they want is another marketing firm trying to ‘sell’ them something. In their mind, marketing is an expense and the ad agency/marketing firm is just another vendor.

Agency principals have been trying to change that perception for years. Interestingly enough, now is the perfect time to do it … with a new client or even better yet, with an existing one. When times are tough, CEO’s are looking for ‘game changers’. So they are more willing to listen.

In a recent interview Jim Perdue, CEO of Perdue Farms said his expectations of marketing were: “First and foremost, marketing is the keeper of the brand’s health” … he goes on to say that “the health of the brand is critical to the success of the company and … marketing expenditures are not viewed simply as an expense but rather as an investment requiring a measurable rate of return.”

And yet, you’re still doing brochures for your client. You need to up your game and start thinking strategically. You need to become a strategic partner and trusted advisor to your client … and not an expense. As long as you are still only delivering tactics, you don’t have a chance. You must act and sound different than your competitors.

So, how do you get out of that rut and position yourself differently? Here are some ideas:

1. Gather Intelligence

• Learn everything you can about the CEO. With today’s technology, this is not hard at all. Besides… using LinkedIn, you probably already know someone who knows the CEO.
• Learn everything you can about the organization’s business structure and how it works. This includes understanding how the organization makes money, what are the revenue streams, who are the target markets, what are the products/services they offer, what position do they hold in the market, what about their competitive landscape and most importantly what is their culture … this will give you great insight into the mind of the CEO, because the culture will be a mirror of their management style.

2. Develop a Strategy – Based on all this Intelligence, what will be your approach to connect?

• What is your agency’s promise and what will your company offer that speaks to the CEO’s needs.

3. Life at the Top – The invitation to meet with the CEO arrives, so now what?

• Act the Part – Remember you are cultivating a Peer-to-Peer relationship. Most client/agency relationships are parent/child models.
• Have a Unique Opinion – an outside POV is important to a CEO, especially if a high level of knowledge about their company supports it.

Once you prove to the CEO that you have truly valuable ideas and suggestions – that they cannot get from anyone else in the organization – that CEO will refuse to have any important meetings without you or someone from your company.

Your Goal is getting invited back again and again as a business confidant who listens with more than just ‘marketing ears’. You and your firm become a unique strategic asset rather than just another one of the ‘marketing dogs’.

Rosemary Breehl has been an agency owner for many years and is also one of the founding partners of the Brand Establishment, Over the years, the BE has trained a national network of small to mid-sized ad and PR agencies, design firms and marketing consultants. And through its graduate-level coursework, alumni hold the designation as the only Certified Brand Strategists in the country. This training has also transformed these shops into the acknowledged brand-building authorities in their markets.

The post Ad Agency Principals: Tired of being treated like a vendor? appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

All of that is lovely. But, you are literally taking that money out of your own pocket when you make that decision. I can’t tell you how many times an agency owner has lamented to me, “I know I should let Carl go but he’s putting two kids through college.” Yup – and you are taking money that should be going into your kid’s college fund (or your retirement or investment account) and handing it to Carl’s kids.

Even more than that – you are putting your entire agency at risk, for the sake of one employee. Your responsibility is to run the agency in a fiscally sound manner so that the agency survives the ups and downs of cash flow, clients coming and going and other economic factors. I saw way too many good agencies just close their doors in the last recession because the agency owner stubbornly held onto too many people and didn’t trim overhead expenses fast enough.

One ratio that can help you stay in alignment is a rule of thumb we use at Agency Management Roundtable with our agency clients. On average, for every $100,000 – $125,000 in AGI (adjusted gross income = your gross billings minus your costs of goods sold) you should have one full time equivalent.

If you keep an eye on that ratio – you’ll have a pretty good sense of when you are overstaffed and at least at that point, you can make a very conscious decision about whether you are in a position to stay overstaffed for a period of time or if it’s time to cut back. This is also a great metric to use as your employees push you to hire every time you get a new account.

I know — when you have a great employee, it’s tough to let them go.  But most agencies have at least one B player.  A loss of business or even an existing client really cutting their budget may be the right time to make a change.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a good and kind boss/person. But at least make an informed decision when you decide to stay overstaffed.  Know what it’s costing you and have a a drop dead date — either enough business to sustain the current level of staffing by X date or else Y has to be laid off.

If you don’t — pretty soon, your pocket is going to be empty and you won’t be able to pay anyone. 

The post Advertising agency owners take money out of their own pocket to stay overstaffed appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

So, what are some of these “smart investments of how agencies can save legal fees?

Have a Model Agency-Client Contract in Place – Note the use of the term “model,” which is a deliberate choice over the more popular term “form.” This is because while I am decidedly “anti-form,” your agency likely has (I last I hope it has) some consistent business practices that apply to every client, such as intellectual property ownership, payment milestones, and liability limitation. Your clients are not commodities, and neither is the work you do for them, so I advise against approaching your dealings with them with a fill-in-the-blanks form.

Instead, save time by having model contract terms and conditions developed one time, and modify or customize them client-by-client, or by project, as you have the need. It’s also my experience that the absence of model contract language makes it more likely that the agency will just skip the step altogether and start the work with no contract – one of the easiest ways an agency can cost itself extra money if the client relationship doesn’t work out.

Have a Model Agency-Freelancer Agreement in Place – Freelance resources are a modern fact of life for agencies. Many independent agencies use them on every client campaign or project. Developing a model freelance agreement eliminates questions over issues like ownership of copyright in the work they contribute, client confidentiality, and whether they can work directly for the agency’s clients. Get the agreement in place before the freelancer starts work so that everyone clearly understands the playing field. And some of this model language can probably also be used in agreements with your other third party vendors such as photographers, video producers, or mobile app programmers.

Perform Brand Trademark Screening Early – It is never a fun conversation to tell a client (mine or yours) that the brand mark they selected is unavailable. Even when the agency takes the position that legal clearance is the client’s responsibility, early engagement in trademark screening can knock out mark choices that are not viable and makes the agency stand apart as your client’s partner, not just a vendor. Having documented screening results is also strong evidence of your due diligence in the unfortunate event of a trademark infringement situation, and therefore an excellent liability limitation practice for the agency.

Have a Model Publicity Rights Release in Place – This is a simple and effective way to save time when using models or actors, video footage, or customer testimonials in completed client work. Many agencies routinely use these and therefore have good language ready to go, but it is such an obvious time and money saver that it makes my “Top 5.” If your agency doesn’t have such a release, it is fast work to put one in place, and I recommend centralizing the release process so that one person or group in your agency is responsible for acquiring and tracking these documents.

Have a Clear Social Media/Content Marketing Policy – Your clients rely on your counsel for smart social media and content marketing strategies, and it’s also up to you to educate them about good practice when it comes to employing these techniques. Have a set of strong and up-to-date model policies addressing issues like testimonials, brand standards, and plagiarism that your client can implement for social media or content marketing activities, so that you’re ready when the client asks for your recommendations here (and most will). It not only positions you as an informed resource to the client, but enhances the perceived value of your strategy, and helps you implement your strategies faster.

Some of these recommended tactics bring a return on your investment of legal expenses immediately, and some add value to you and your clients over time. All of them are designed to keep your agency stronger.

About our guest author: Sharon Toerek is an intellectual property and marketing law lawyer with a national practice located in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a partner of Licata & Toerek, and the publisher of the industry legal blog Legal + Creative (www.legalandcreative.com). Reach her at slt@completecounsel.com.

The post The 5 Best Ways Agencies Can Save Money on Legal Fees This Year appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

I just spent two days with a room full of account executives, teaching them how to add more value to their agencies and their clients.  As part of the conversation, we talk about the difference between what they think their bosses want from them…and what you, agency owners, truly do want from them.

It’s an eye-opening experience for them to say the least.  But then I turn the tables and ask them what they want most from you — their boss. What I always find fascinating is that “more money” is rarely mentioned.

Here’s a partial list of what your best AEs want from you:

• They want to learn from you, your past experiences and work
• They want to keep learning and for you to give them access to workshops, webinars, etc.
• They want to get smarter in terms of how business works, not just marketing
• They want to know you’re running the business in a fiscally responsible way
• They want to work someplace that is vibrant and has a fun/cool factor
• They want the “this job isn’t M-F, 9-5″ to work both ways

But the number one thing, time and time again that I hear they want most — they want you to notice their work, their effort and express your appreciation for them going above and beyond.  They work hard and part of the reason they do it is because they want your trust and respect. 

We all know, as agency owners, that we get going so fast that sometimes we forget to say “thank you.”  It’s not that we aren’t grateful — we are just running at break neck speed.  Because of that velocity — we also don’t notice as much as we should.  I know my employees are doing great work every day, but usually I don’t have any idea of the specifics. I’m either on the road or with clients — and because I have a seasoned staff, they don’t need me to hover over them.  But because I’m not hovering — I’m also not observing.

Interestingly, this month’s Inc. Magazine talked about a report that measures what makes employees happy and unhappy.  They focused more on the perks and benefits (free beverages, free massages, etc.) but one meaningful takeaway is that employees also want to do something meaningful. Helping your clients grow their business, creating new jobs and serving their customers can be very rewarding.  But — getting a pat on the back from you would also go a long way.

The post What your agency employees want from their boss appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

Agencies are, by their very nature, superb story tellers.  And they have an incredible depth of knowledge when it comes to marketing strategy, their own agency’s niches, etc.  I get the whole “we’re too busy doing it for our clients to do it for ourselves excuse” but honestly — that needs to stop. 

In theory, agencies should be perfectly structured to create content so intriguing that people never want to leave the conversation. But the reality is that most agencies are paranoid about sharing anything of genuine value because they fear their competition might see it or that they might turn away potential clients because of what is posted.

They’re also afraid that if they give knowledge away for free, the reader might never become a client. This is why most agencies are still just curating content or talking about their business, which of course means they’re not inspiring anyone. They are simply restating their company slogan or biography to exhaustion. If what you have to offer is high quality and helpful to the client, he or she will come back.

Today, the model for professional services new business efforts is — you give first.  Share something of value.  Demonstrate your expertise.  Show me you know your stuff.  Help me.  And then, when I need an agency — you’re going to be who I think of first.  It’s like pitching for new business 24/7.  Thanks to Google, content curation and the sharing culture we live in today — you never know when or how someone might be led to some of your content that absolutely answers a need they have.

And positions you to be the solutions provider they’ve been looking for.  Agencies talk about wanting to be a trusted advisor, having a seat at the C Suite table etc.  Guess what — content marketing proves to prospects that you’re worthy.

If you’d like to read the entire article over at The Agency Post, click here.

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I thought it was a bit paranoid back then, even though I was professionally wet behind the ears. Now, 30 years later, I think it was ridiculous.  If your relationship with your client is so tenuous that you’re at that sort of risk — then you’re going to lose that client in a hurry no matter who knows you’re working together.  While that agency’s policy was an extreme, it was very representative of the attitude most agencies have about their competition — other agencies.  They are the enemy.  We must keep them at arm’s length.

I’ve always had the opposite attitude.  If our work is good and our relationship rock solid — no one can steal that client away.  Which means we should be free to enjoy the benefits of connecting and collaborating with the talented and smart people who are drawn to agency work – even if they work for our biggest competition.

That’s probably what drew me to AMR and the agency networks from the beginning.  The idea that I could sit around a table with 11 other agency owners and learn from them, share my own discoveries of what was working, collaborate on projects and just have a group of people who knew exactly what my life was like was intoxicating.  

Having been an active member of a network for over a decade, I can tell you — it was one of the best decisions of my professional career.  My AMR network made my agency so much stronger.  I was able to increase our bottom line and dramatically increase how much money went into my pocket.  Unlike many agencies — we’ve weathered a couple recessions and come out ahead.  I credit my network with helping me create systems and procedures that kept us afloat and successful, even when the waters were a little rough.

Now — as the head of AMR, I see the networks from a completely different perspective.  When they work together — they all win. Let me give you three examples.

Example #1: Agency Alpha has a strong digital department.  They are routinely following and bringing the hottest digital trends to their clients.  Agency Beta lost their in-house SEO expert and was in a jam.  Because they know/trust each other — Beta was able to ask Alpha for an assist and Alpha managed the SEO for two months, while Beta took their time to find and hire the right employee.  

Example #2:  Agency Zeta was doing a branding project for a city in their home state.  They’d run into a snag or two and were looking for another agency with city branding experience to do some brainstorming together.  I was able to introduce them to an agency in a different AMR network who had extensive city branding experience.  They spent a few hours on the phone and in email and Zeta was able to use those new insights and stories to get their client back on an even keel.

Example #3:  34 AMR agencies came together and each contributed a chapter for a book titled Secrets of Ad Agency Owners:  Our Best Advice.  Several of the agencies are using the book as a new business door opener and even though it’s been published for less than a month — one of the agencies has already scored a new account with it.  None of the owners/authors had time to write an entire book and get it published.  But together — they all did a little and now are published authors.

There’s no doubt in my mind that every agency owner should find a peer group, be it AMR’s networks or something likeVistage in 2013.  Your business will benefit greatly.  And honestly — one of the best perks of belonging to a network is what you get from it personally.  

The professional development, personal insights and leadership growth you’ll see will astound you.  Sometimes being the boss sucks.  Having someone who understands that and will commiserate with you is invaluable.  Having someone you can call when you score a big new account and you know they’ll genuinely be excited for you is equally valuable.  Your network knows both sides of the equation because they walk it out every day too.

But best of all — agency owners are funny, smart and irreverent.  The friendships you will forge will be genuine, deep and come to mean a great deal to you over the decades.  Of that — I can testify.

If you’d like more information on AMR networks — give me a shout or shoot me an email. But somehow, somewhere — find yourself a network of peers this year.  

The post Resolve to collaborate more in 2013: Agency Networks work appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

As I said in the post — what I find both interesting and frustrating is that agencies know how to create and implement marketing and content strategies for their clients. However, when it comes to their own efforts, they forget the basics. Instead, their efforts are often haphazard, sporadic and tactical rather than strategic. 

I then laid out how I think agencies should think about their own content strategy and the key components.  I’d welcome your feedback on the post.  (Read it here)

The post Building your agency’s internal content strategy appeared first on Build a Better Agency.

But agencies stink at planning for themselves.  Which is why I created a one page business plan template for agencies.  Everyone call fill out a single page, right?

I’m not going to preach the reasons why planning matters.  You know why.  You preach it every day.

Instead, let me tell you a little bit about the plan template and how you can use it to grow your agency in 2013.  I designed the template to accomplish a few goals.

1. You need to grow your agency holistically — rather than focusing on just one or two problem areas.
2. You need to do more than just identify some goals.  I want you to flesh out the first few steps of actually getting started.
3. Every goal has obstacles.  This template will help you identity those right up front.
4. You shouldn’t forget the less sexy aspects of the business like systems as you do your planning.

 You can either work through this planning on your own, with your leadership team or depending on the size of your agency, with your entire team.  While the end goal is to have a map for the upcoming year, one of the big benefits of putting together a plan is the process itself.  These are the kinds of conversations you don’t have very often.  Listen carefully and closely to what your employees have to say.  You might gain much more than you bargained for when you use this one page business plan template for agencies.  No agency owner knows everything that’s going on in their own agency — no matter how present they are.  Pulling everyone together to identify some of the areas where you really need to focus in 2013 will reveal some things that you probably need to know.

The agency business plan tool is designed to help you focus on 6 core areas of your agency:

• Leadership/Management
• Staffing
• Internal Systems
• Financial
• New Business
• Marketing

The truth is — if your agency survived the past few years, you’re already running a pretty good shop.  You don’t need to make huge, sweeping changes.  You need to make smart adjustments.  But imagine, if you could make one significant improvement in each of those aspects of your business — you’d probably enjoy a pretty good year.  Now imagine if you repeat that process in 2014 and 2015 etc.  How amazing could your agency be in five years?

Make the investment in your agency and your financial future.  Do a little planning.  This one page business plan template makes it pretty painless and the benefits will far outweigh the time investment.

Download the One Page Business Plan Template for Agencies by clicking here.

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