Senior Account Manager
Job Type : Permanent, Full Time
Salary : £35000 – £41000/annum
The client
Would you like to work for a dynamic, fast-growing, full service agency owned by one of the world’s marketing execution leaders? This is a fantastic opportunity to join an impressive team supporting these well known end-clients but also to work with some of the best people in the industry.
The purpose of the job
● Have responsibility for and strategically manage and develop principle clients.
● Manage a portfolio of clients with a total revenue of >£500k per annum.
● Demonstrate good commercial knowledge, managing targets, reporting and budget responsibility including forecasting.
● Proactively seek out opportunities for organic client growth
● Interpret the requirements of the brief and deliver innovative solutions to drive the business forward.
● Play a key role in RFI/RFP and Pitch responses, being able to develop and present these responses to win new business.
● Line management responsibility. Be able to coach and mentor colleagues.
● Have overall responsibility for the outcome of all projects
You'll love this role if you are
● Strong in your tactical focus and understanding of strategy, with high confidence levels to challenge and lead discussions
● A skilled problem solver with an eye for detail
● Adept at building great relationships, both internally & with clients
● Experienced in agency life.
● Calm & motivating under pressure
● Able to play a major role in pitches and uncover new business opportunities
● Passionate about B2B or consumer brands, brand comms and developing the best campaigns
● Able to multi-task with ease
Financial Management
● Ownership of client account financial targets, turnover and profitability.
● Understand how to maximise revenue from client accounts
● Be able to maintain and drive the WIP, budgeting and forecasting process
● Confidently produce detailed estimates, even for new offerings
Client Management
● Development & Ownership of Account Development Plans
● Be regarded by the client as an account handling expert who provides support and counsel.
● Be confident in challenging clients on briefs and objectives
● Where required, work seamlessly with the creative and strategy teams to provide value added input to client meetings and discussions
● Be able to predict and resolve issues in a timely manner, ensuring relevant team members are fully involved and aware.
● Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the client’s business and actively seek opportunities for further account development.
● Ensure accounts are managed profitably, reconciling agency hours and costs appropriately
● Ability to identify opportunities and actively convert these into briefs and revenue for the agency.
● Keep up to date on the latest developments on competitors and key audience trends and be able to talk knowledgably, with the client.
● Taking client briefs and pro-actively suggesting alternative solutions to the client – adding value, up selling and cross selling where possible.
● Working to ensure that the client has confidence the project and campaigns will meet or exceed their expectations
● Confidently suggesting ways to add value and new solutions
Project Management
1 – Project Initiation
● Initial understanding of project purpose and the project objectives
● Defining the project, building the project quotation for internal and 3ird party services
● Communicating clearly to the client what is being delivered and the associated costs
● Identify key milestones related to project delivery and control
● Proactively following up on all quotations sent to the client
2 – Planning
● Creating the project brief and briefing the relevant parties
● Liaising with the in-house team and external vendors to build the project schedule
● Communicating the schedule to all parties and making them aware of their actions
● Communicating any changes to the schedule to all parties, negotiating new dates that still meet the project deadline
● Building contingency plans
3 – Execution
● Ownership of the project, demonstrating leadership qualities and a positive approach
● Holding briefing and check-point calls to keep all parties updated.
● Informing the client of any cost implications before proceeding
4 – Control
● Monitoring and controlling the project schedule, immediately communicating to the client any changes or delays
● Ensuring that the project always remains in scope.
● Monitoring and maintaining the right balance of quality, time, money and people
5 – Closure
● Following up with the client with a wrap-up meeting and to encourage then to discuss future projects
● Conducting an internal wrap-up meeting to determine process improvements
Taking Ownership
● Be accountable for account quality, creativity and innovation, revenue and profitability.
● Reach out to senior management for early alerts of risks to client satisfaction and agency income, and propose solutions
● Participation in supporting and leading client workshops and quarterly business reviews.
● Play a key role on pitch proposals and delivery
● Keep brands strategy in focus through project life cycle
Developing new business
● Constantly be alert to:
● Opportunities for organic growth of existing accounts
● Opportunities to cross-sell within the client company.
● Proactively support in new business pitches
● Proactively ‘pull on’ client contacts for new business opportunities
● Identify growth opportunities at all levels
Team working
● Lead and motivate those working with and for you, including line management and support your teams’ development
● Support the wider team with developing strategic understanding
● Be excellent at managing relationships across the organisation
● Ensure your team is clear as to the financial goals for the year and the plans for achieving them.
● Always project the company positively within the organisation and ensure team members do the same
Knowledge, skills & experience
● Good people management & motivation skills (both internally and externally) and a proven track record of building lasting relationships with clients
● Great presentation skills and ability to drive pitch success
● Digitally savvy and a willingness to find new and exciting ways to communicate
● A positive, proactive, outgoing personality with a genuine enjoyment of client contact and teamwork.
● Quality conscious with excellent attention to detail
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
● Client focussed with excellent client facing skills.
● Ability to work under pressure and meet/exceed timelines
● Demonstrate professionalism to clients, colleagues and suppliers.
● Commercial business drive, determination to achieve excellence.
● Marketing / Creative agency experience.
● B2B experience helping to shape the clients’ brands strategic or tactical plans.
● Commercial business knowledge.
● Educated to degree standard preferably in business or marketing management
More Information
- Address Basingstoke, Hampshire
