A Day In The Life – Client Account Manager

01 Aug

 

Continuing our Day In The Life series, today’s installment follows Hayley, our client account manager. Hayley is one of the longest standing and busiest members of our team, dealing with everything from staffing briefs, to client requests, to graphic production, to setting up MediaWalkers – basically, if there’s something to do at eventeem, Hayley has probably done it.

This includes writing an article for the blog, which she hopes you’ll enjoy…

 

A Day In The Life – Client Account Manager

 

8.30 am – I’m in

I usually get to the office before 8.30am and am often the first to arrive. I quite like the peace that comes with an empty space and use this quiet time to set myself up for a productive day.

I unlock the door, switch on the lights, fire up my computer and nip out to make a cup of tea while it comes to life – we all need a bit of time to wake up! I’ve been awake since 6.30am so have had a couple of hours to come round and am just about human by this point. I’ve never been a morning person.

On my way back in I stop to put on some music; the playlist varies from one day to another, but recently we’ve been enjoying some chilled out tracks designed to boost concentration – a refreshing change from the same five songs on the radio!

 

8.40 am – Let’s get started

By about 8.40am I’m sat at my desk and tackling my inbox. I’ve never actually counted, but you probably can’t overestimate quite how many emails whizz in and out each day; I’m in a constant stream of communication with clients, suppliers, promotional staff and the team in the office to keep everything ticking over as it should.

It’s a part of my role that I love – fast paced and demanding, I never know what’s around the corner, one email can change my entire plan for the day (not that there ever really is a plan!). Being agile and responsive, able to react quickly and efficiently to deal with anything that’s thrown at you is key to being a good client account handler, and in agency life, it’s a necessity.

We’re lucky to have a small, close knit team that values this, working hard to maintain the level of service our clients have come to expect. In amongst the emails, I’ll have a quick peep at the calendar to remind myself of what we have going on and make a mental note of what I and the team need to be focussing on today; I already have a good idea but I find making that conscious effort to check reassures me that I have everything under control!

 

9 am – Time to catch up

At 9am (or thereabouts, depending on the state of the aforementioned inbox!), every morning without fail, we sit down as a team for a status meeting. It’s an opportunity to check in with everyone to find out where we’re at with various projects, re-focus priorities, and assess capacity so that we can distribute workload effectively.

We never can tell what will crop up later that day, so need to ensure we’re on top of everything and in a position to deal with anything that comes in. It’s also a chance for the team to raise any queries or concerns – I’m always conscious of how important it is that everyone knows they have that support in what can be quite a stressful environment.

 

9.30 am – Time to touch base

Back to the desk and undoubtedly more emails to read and respond to… There’s usually nothing too major to deal with at this point, so I’ll have my inbox clear again within a few minutes, and I then try to spend an undisturbed half hour or so concentrating on reporting.

The majority of reporting tends to fall on a Monday morning, after a busy weekend, when we analyse team leader or event manager reports in detail and put together a full evaluation for each campaign. There are always updates to share and it’s an important part of my job to keep clients in the know throughout a campaign, maintaining open lines of communication before, during and after so that they can rest assured that their project is in safe hands, and that I’m taking an active role in monitoring progress and ensuring it all goes well.

 

10.30 am – Happy to help

A few more emails have come through, which I’ve dealt with as I go along, and I’ve just had a new request for an event in a few weeks’ time. It’s a simple staffing request, and it only takes me a few minutes to put together a quote and respond to the client.

I’ll make a quick note to check in with them in a couple of days if I’ve not heard from them, just to make sure that they have everything they need from us and that there’s nothing else I can help with for the time being.

 

11 am – Keeping tabs

With so many projects live at one time, there’s no doubt I’ll be dealing with a number of different suppliers to coordinate various aspects of each campaign. I try to check in with them all mid-morning, to make sure everything is in hand and they are on track to deliver – an opportunity to flag any potential issues and resolve them while we still have plenty of time!

It always helps to be one step ahead of the game in this industry, and I never leave anything to chance.

 

12 pm – No time to stop

It’s around this time that I feel the first pang of hunger and start thinking about lunch. We’re lucky to be right in the city centre with so many options to choose from, but after a few moments pondering the decision, I’ll find myself distracted by yet more emails…

Queries from new and existing clients, a call from a member of our promotional staff, questions from the staffing team, it could be anything, but there’s always something to take my mind off food! Probably a blessing in disguise.

 

1 pm – Drop everything!

I’m just about to head out to grab a bite to eat when the phone rings. It’s one of our existing clients with a last minute request for additional staffing support at an event tomorrow. I’ll spend a few minutes chatting to them about their requirements, ensuring I’m clear on their brief, and then get back to them with costs and a plan of action before rallying the troops and briefing the new request to the staffing team.

They jump straight on it and work quickly to gather availability and line up a suitable team – I’ll leave it with them for an hour or two to ensure we have the very best staff available.

 

2 pm – Re-fuel and re-group

Lunch has pretty much gone out the window by this point, so I grab a biscuit and a cup of tea and carry on; more emails, and a quick update with the staffing team to see how they’re getting on with that last minute request.

They have it all in hand, as always!

 

Caffeine is a valued member of our team.

 

 2.20 pm – Keeping on top of things

I take a few moments mid-afternoon to gather my thoughts and step back to take a look at the bigger picture – review some of the larger projects that we’re working on, monitor budget and spend and generally get on top of any outstanding admin.

There are always little bits and pieces that I need to tie up; less urgent tasks but still all important – nobody likes a backlog of admin to tackle so I keep on top of these things day to day.

 

2.45 pm – You can count on us

Time to re-group with the staffing team and update the client on their request for tomorrow; we have a great team lined up and I send over staff profiles, together with a briefing template, which we have prepared for the client to look over. Time is of the essence, so we’ll be poised ready to send the brief out to the staff as soon as the client is happy with everything.

 

3 pm – All under control

Another point at which I look back at the calendar and remind myself where we are, what’s coming up, and check over everything for the next few days to make sure there’s nothing outstanding that needs doing before the end of the day.

I’ll have a mini update with the staffing team to see what progress they have made since our status meeting that morning, and check that we’re still on track to achieve what we’d set out to achieve that day.

 

3.30 pm – Good to go

The brief for tomorrow’s event is back from the client; I’ll review it, check that we have all the information we need, then pass on to the staffing team to send out to the staff.

It’s over to them to distribute the brief and check that everyone has received and understood it – I will reassure the client that we’re all set for the event.

Phew!

 

3.45 pm – Thinking ahead

Today is a Friday, so as we start to think about wrapping up for the week, it’s important not to forget about the busy weekend that lies ahead. One of us from the office is always on call outside office hours to ensure there’s somebody available to answer queries or deal with any issues that crop up while staff are working.

At this point I’ll check in with whoever is on call to make sure they’re clear on what we’ve got going on over the next few days and have everything they need.

 

4.15 pm – Just finishing up… or starting something new?

My focus now is to tie up any loose ends and deal with those last few emails of the day to make way for a fresh start on Monday. Clear inbox, clear mind!

I merrily wish everybody a lovely weekend and look forward to catching up with them next week. It’s not uncommon to receive new requests towards the end of the day, as our clients are working to tick off their own to-do lists. I’ve just had an exciting brief come through from one of our existing clients looking to activate a large experiential campaign at the end of the year, and they’d like us to put together a proposal.

I love working on challenging new projects and instantly my mind starts whirring with ideas; I arrange a call with the client for Monday morning to chat through everything in more detail, and from there I’ll put together a full brief to discuss with the wider team during a brainstorming session early next week – we’re a dynamic force when we put our heads together!

It’s great to get everybody involved and it never ceases to amaze me what fantastic ideas emerge during these sessions.

 

4.56 pm – The end is in sight

I catch a glimpse of the clock in the corner of my screen – nearly home time! Right, that’s me done for another week, I’ll just shut everything down…

 

5.20 pm – Get outta here!

…I’m still here. Those last 20 minutes flew by! It’s a Friday evening and time to wind down; it’s been a long week, I deserve it – wine o’clock! I’m really leaving this time, off to Cardiff Central station!


 

Did you enjoy getting a look into agency life at eventeem? Luckily for you, the previous articles in our the series are available here: A Day In The Life: Marketing ExecutiveA Day In The Life: Founder

Now you know a bit more about us, why not tell us something about yourself? Get in touch today to discuss any and all staffing or experiential needs, we’d love to hear from you!