Great account service….Is there such a thing?

By Ryan Schaul, Director of Client Services


If you look online for tips to providing good agency account/client service, you’ll find a lot of the same general ideas or message points - just written differently by each industry expert or client service professional. All these “tips” are fine and work for the most part when it comes to providing good account service.


But what if you want to provide GREAT account service? What if you want to stand out above any other agency rep your client has ever been in contact with? To be honest, I think it’s pretty easy to accomplish this.

If you can stomach another list, allow me to explain in short, easy-to-follow copy points:

• You need to CARE. - Yep, that one word can make a huge difference. Care. Care about your client. Make them understand that whether they are a $500 client or a $500k client, that they are on your continuous account service radar and that you’ll drop anything to make sure they get the service they yearn and desire.
• Treat the client like a person. - I understand that as an agency rep, your thought is to merely service the account/brand/company/entity. But let’s face it, your client contact wants to be treated like an actual human being. In a world of corporate professionalism and political correctness, client service reps often forget they are dealing with human beings and almost provide “robot-like” account service. This is not good. Learn this….it’s ok to joke with your client, share personal stories with them, engage with them on a human level. Remember, they have feelings too.
• Imagine yourself in your client’s shoes. - What does their boss expect from them? What will put your client contact in a good light with their higher-ups? If it’s great ideas, then provide them unbelievable ideas. If it’s sticking to budget, be sure to watch those dollars no matter what. If it’s rushed deadlines, meet and beat those deadlines even if it kills you (not literally, of course). You need to be take on the role of your client and understand what they’ve been tasked to do. If you can help them look good, they will help you in return…..hopefully, with repeat business and referrals.
• Be accountable. - If you mess up, take the blame. If you hired a contracted vendor and they screwed up, take the heat. There’s nothing worse for a client than their agency account service rep trying to pass the buck. It’s a cop-out and an easy way to fail. It creates much bigger problems, and decreases the client’s trust in you.
• Lose some battles to win the war. - Whether you’re at fault or not, sometimes it’s better to lose the petty battles (minor billing issues, miscommunication, etc.) to win the war (client satisfaction, repeat business, etc.). We all know that the client is always right, in theory. But sometimes, (or often) they are wrong or they mess up. But if you can do your best to swallow your pride without specifically calling them out on their misstep or placing the blame ultimately on them, they should understand that and pay it back in the long run. It’s kind of a karma thing.
• Respond every time. - In this day of age where communication is 90% electronic (I made that stat up), don’t assume everything that goes through email or fax or ftp’d is received. With firewall issues, emails size limits, and junk mail folders, there are a number of ways for emails and electronic communications to get lost. Once this happens, wheels start to unravel, deadlines get missed and heads begin to roll. The easiest way to avoid this is to follow up or respond to every Sent and Received electronic communication to and from clients. If they send high-resolution logos for a brochure, respond with a quick “Received” so that they know it went through. If you sent them a proof of a poster they’ve been waiting to see, follow up with them within the hour to make sure they received the proof. Some people will argue that doing this “Respond Every Time” approach will clutter inboxes and make clients disgruntled at the unnecessary barrage of response emails they are receiving from you. In all honesty, yeah, some clients probably might get mad at you for pummeling their email inbox. But, when you factor in the number of emails someone receives in a typical business day, what’s 5-10 more emails? Really, if those additional emails assure project workflow is on track, then I’d rather get the extra emails than lose or misplace something, and find out that I’m on the chopping block because my agency rep played the assumption game. 

Now don‘t get me wrong, these pointers are not hardened facts in providing great account service. Sometimes, a lot of these techniques will work for some clients and not for others. Each client is different. But, I ask you this—will applying these to your everyday client service activities really hurt or damage your relationship with your client or will they appreciate the continuous time and attention you are providing them? Try it and let your clients answer that for you.