Account Management Podcast (a tactical guide to success)

Is AI coming for your job? In a well-run organization, no. But it is coming for your busywork. John and Fred break down what AI really means for account managers: why trust and relationships stay human, what AI does well (and where it falls flat), how it will turn your CRM into real institutional memory, and which weekly tasks you can hand off for the first 80%. They close by tying it all back to the Three Jobs of account management and explain why the people who learn AI now will be the hardest to replace.

Account Management: A Tactical Guide to Success is brought to you by Fuller Brown Consulting. You invested heavily in winning the client. We help you win what happens next. Learn more at fullerbrownconsulting.com.

Fred and John discuss how to deal with this issue conceptually:

1. Accept that this is part of the job

2. Find the root cause

3. Don’t make it personal

4. Be careful how you talk about them internally

5. Keep the issue as the issue

6. Reframe the conversation

7 . What if they are out of control or bullying?

In this episode we cover the "Account Management Leadership Pyramid" - a framework for thinking through a strategic approach to account management leadership.

In this episode, Fred and John cover how to do a Client scorecard:

-Why Scorecards Matter

-There Is No Perfect Scorecard - the process is the result

-Four Categories That Usually Matter

-Don't Let the Metrics Become the Goal - as always, the goal is Trust

-Performance Management vs. Performance Reporting

In this Episode, Fred and John welcome special guest Elena Casal, Chief Client Officer for the Clearing House. The Clearing House is one of the US's largest payment networks.

In this episode, we cover:

- Embracing sales as an account manager

- 'Selling' vs. adding value

- Account plans

- Building relationships

- Asking for the sale

In this episode, Fred and John review how to handle outages or emergencies as an Account Manager, including:

• The First 15 Minutes: What to Say Immediately
• Communicate on the period you specified, even if nothing changes
• Decide communication mode and whether it needs to escalate based on the size of the client and the nature of the outage
• Internally align on messaging prior to later communications
• Things not to say
• Resolution message
• Subsequently, extra focus on building trust

In this episode, Fred and John discuss the top ten mistakes made by B2B account managers:

• Thinking some else is the quarterback
•  “I think”
• Not bringing recommendations along with problems
• Not being willing to be a pincushion
• Complaining about the client in the open
• Assuming not hearing from clients means everything’s good
• Referring to your internal team as ‘them'
• Waiting until renewal to sell the value prop
• No account plans
• Not answering the question directly - “Curse of Knowledge”

In this episode, we host special guest Tim Stoltenberg, the Creative Director of Dad’s Garage (www.dadsgarage.com) - the legendary Atlanta-based improvisation team.  From Tim we learn about:

• How improv skills are not about being funny, but about listening
• Using improv to solve problems together
• Listening to understand, instead of to respond
• Using “yes and..”
• Avoiding bulldozing
• Using silence

And a deep discussion of the meaning of the word portmanteau.

Be sure to check out Dad’s Garage!