There are countless angles to this debate, as demonstrated by the intense reaction to McCann’s recent restructuring announcement. The volume of response suggests they’ve struck a nerve.
Personally, I see McCann’s response as a short-sighted, cost-cutting strategy driven by bean counters—one that won’t ultimately benefit clients.
Are We Asking the Wrong Question?
Rather than questioning whether Account Management is redundant, agencies should be asking:
“How do we better define the value of Account Management?”
The answer lies in repositioning how Account Management is perceived and utilised within agencies. Furthermore, this role shouldn’t be treated as a one-size-fits-all structure—but I’ll come back to that.
The Value Agencies Struggle to Quantify
Many Account Directors struggle to define their value in an agency, finding themselves as they do, wedged between strategists, creatives, and subject-matter experts.
Their value isn’t always visibly clear.
Yet, when asked, clients overwhelmingly recognise their lead Account/Client Partner as a critical resource—and they want more, not less, from this role. They want someone who deeply understands their business – their needs, issues, pain-points, goals and challenges so they, the client, get far more tailored and relevant solutions. They want them to share learnings and insights from other projects. They want benchmarks and category insights. They want them to draw out the brief, to pitch to their senior stakeholders, to network and connect them across their own business.
The Project Management team won’t be doing this—they’re focused on execution, mitigating risks, and keeping projects moving.
A key point here being that clients see a huge value but they aren’t currently paying for it.
The ‘Value Dilemma’
From an agency operations perspective, Account Directors often have low utilisation rates on paper. Their hourly rates and invested time frequently fail to get fully covered in budgets.
So the Account Management value is not adequately recognised within agencies.
However, it is the Account Manager that builds relationships, retains clients, and drives business growth. They serve as connectors and trust builders. They help navigate difficult moments or parts of the project or relationship. They bring clarity and direction through their deep understanding of the client’s business and the agency offer.
“These are the people who see around corners, identify opportunities, and help both agency and client grow.” Rachel Raphael
“They translate strategy into action, keeping things moving without sacrificing quality or sanity.” Vicky Gillan
“Account managers are wired for connection. They read the room, build trust, talk clients off ledges, and turn ambiguity into opportunity.” Brett Harned
The Hardest Thing in Sales? Getting ‘In the Room’
It’s difficult to define the Account Management value to clients because half of their value is internal—fostering agency growth and retention.
Sales professionals struggle for air time with clients, yet Account Managers have permission to be part of the conversation. If Account Directors aren’t driving strategic account growth and retention, then who is?
Reframing the Challenge
Instead of dismissing AMs due to low utilisation rates, agencies should ask:
- How much are we investing in ‘being in the room’?
- How much are we saving on outbound marketing and lead generation?
- How are we gearing their role to being even stronger business growth generators?
- What value are we recognising that Account Management brings, and what investment are we prepared to put into it?
So rather than counting their value in terms of utilisation, let’s work harder at defining that value. Let’s define the metrics by which Account Management get judged by, and celebrate the value they bring.
Client Needs Should Shape Structure
Not all clients require an Account Lead. Fielding an Account Manager when the client relationship doesn’t need it can cause problems. Too often, we see Account Managers and Project Managers trying to have the same conversation, and the Account Manager is simply getting in the way, talking about project rather than relationship.
- Some clients need only Project Management due to their budget constraints.
- Some clients have low growth potential but their repeating and ongoing business has a significant value to the agency.
- Some clients need that unicorn project manager who is also skilled at strategic, growth-oriented conversations.
- Other clients – the ones with the big projects and excellent growth potential – need a project team with an Account Lead leading the growth conversations.
Profile your clients and team structure around their needs.
A final thought
It doesn’t help that we don’t actually have we don’t have consistent job titles: project managers, account managers, client service, client partners… “suits,” “bag carriers,” and more.
Clarifying Role Definitions
Let’s establish clearer client-facing roles:
- Project Director – Highly organised, process-driven, project planners, resource co-ordinators and skilled in execution, tracking and reporting.
- Relationship Builder – People-oriented, they are natural networkers and communicators, presenters, negotiators. They instinctively bring teams together and inspire collaboration.
- Business Grower – Expert at questioning, listening, identifying opportunities, demonstrating value, opening up the conversation and driving strategic growth.
This list isn’t definitive, but it’s a starting point for reshaping how we define, recognise and sell the value of Account Management. Let’s put this debate to bed.