The Opportunity:
The Account Manager will manage multiple accounts as the lead brand steward. The Account Manager will have a deep understanding of the client’s business, objectives, brand standards, and success criteria. Owning the relationship with the client, the Account Manager is the client representative internally to the team owning strategy, clear and concise internal team communication, proactive client recommendations, and ultimately account growth. A successful Account Manager thrives in a fast paced environment while managing multiple priorities.
Job Description:
As an Account Manager at Stephens Direct, you will have responsibility for:
- Client Relationship Management
- Building strong client relationships by establishing deep understanding of the client’s business, organizational structure, brand/portfolio objectives and priorities, and success criteria
- Serve as the key point person for all day-to-day client communications across the team
- Establishing a “what can we do to help get our client promoted” mentality
- Managing conflict resolution and understanding appropriate escalation points internally and on the client side
- Effectively communicate account status, opportunities, and risks to the agency leadership team
- Guiding clients on agency process and how to get the best work out of the team
- Growth Mentality and Strategic Leadership
- Use your experience and deep understanding of the client’s business, including emerging trends, consumer/customer behavior, and the ever-evolving innovation landscape to establish yourself as a thought leader and help set the direction for your accounts
- Understand and be able to communicate the full capabilities of the agency
- In collaboration with the team, proactively bring innovative ideas to the client
- Writing clear and concise creative briefs and communicating clear expectations and context re: deliverables, budgets, etc.
- Reviewing deliverables against the brief
- Identifying new opportunities on current accounts and proactively seeking out new business opportunities through relationship building and networking
- Internal Team Collaboration
- Building strong relationships across the internal team
- Communicating context, assignments, background, and account nuance
- Fostering a collaborative environment where the team can deliver work that meets and/or exceeds client expectations and is comfortable challenging the norm and bringing innovative solutions
- Business Unit Ownership
- Running your brand/portfolios like a business, including:
- Tracking and reporting sales vs. goals
- Collaborating with Director, Client Service and VP, Growth & Strategy on annual forecasting and quarterly forecast updates
- Proactive management of agency cash flow with a focus on getting timely POs, communicating PO status, updating budgets, and invoicing