As Account Managers there are lots of tools which are designed to make our job easier. Microsoft Project is a personal favourite of mine. You input all of the information in one brain-dump at the beginning of the project, then make the necessary tweaks as you go along. Everything is automatically updated and the milestones and outputs move accordingly. It’s easy! In theory, as our role becomes increasingly automated, we are able to become super efficient.
All of these tools are great and also essential; however we mustn’t overlook the importance of the ‘human touch’. Communication is key and you are still your best Account Management tool.
With this in mind, my current resolution is to exercise brutal honesty at all times and these are my guidelines:
- Start out with honesty, even with a tricky campaign. Set realistic goals in line with your objectives and highlight any potential risks asap. Manage the client’s expectations from the beginning.
- If things are late or confused, the client should be kept informed and involved in the resolution. Hiding information will only escalate a situation.
- Don’t get caught up in what others are doing – internally or externally. Remain focussed on your agreed objectives.
- Stick with brutal honesty, even if things don’t go precisely to plan. Reassess and adapt accordingly.
- Suggest a proactive and practical action plan to combat any shortfalls in your project. Be honest about the potential impact on the end goal. Show that any deviations to the original plan have been kept to a minimum and always demonstrate initiative.
Honesty will be remembered, even after a less than perfect outcome, and it can make a huge difference to the success of a project, ensuring that everyone’s expectations are met. It shows that you are collaborative and helps the client to understand the project better. If they understand the issues then they can assess your efforts and the project outcome more accurately and favourably.
Take Twitter for example. Everything has gone a bit haywire recently with users experiencing constant errors and extended downtime this month. However they are happy to admit it, offering total transparency. Spokesman Sean Garrett posted a short blog at the first sign of trouble confessing:
From a site stability and service outage perspective, it’s been Twitter’s worst month since October.
He acknowledged the problems, took responsibility, offered an explanation and suggested a realistic action plan. The time frame for making the necessary changes to the service is 2 weeks which suggests that the issues are fairly substantial; however the backlash has been kept to a minimum due to brutal honesty. I’ve forgiven them already, even though apparently, the worst is still to come. Expect a high rate of errors and unexpected downtime – no problem Twitter!
