The perks of being an account manager

Hi, I am an account manager. No, I did not study accounting and I don’t work in the financial department. Instead, I – along with the rest of the team – work with clients. Our day is a collection of politely worded emails, calm phone calls, fun strategy, boundary-pushing creative, energetic deadlines, and peacekeeping. And while the job is challenging, I must say, we do have some great perks. Here are just a few of them. 
 
Knowing the clients and their industries
Being in client service means that we work with different types of clients every day. We get to be the client expert, the custodian and the brand ambassador inside the agency. What this means is that we become mini-experts in a wide range of industries. It’s safe to say that boredom does not really exist in the average account manager’s day. When people ask us what we do, we can say, “Well a wide range of things really. We work for NGOs, financial providers, e-commerce stores and universities.” All of which is totally true!
 
Having our fingers in all the pies
Development, SEO and content – if there is a pie, our finger is in it. And there is truly no better way to learn than to be thrown right in the middle of projects. As account managers, this is a frequent occurrence. Whether it is a huge development project, a content strategy overhaul or a new kickass SEO campaign, we do it all. We have to learn the lingo, understand the technical and do a convincing job of it. This is perhaps the greatest perk of the job. We are stretched, we learn and we grow.
 
Expert juggling
Emails, client meetings, briefs, standup, sprint, more emails, phone calls – it really does not stop. With many clients, projects and responsibilities, account managers become expert jugglers. We learn to make decisions quickly and solve problems even quicker. When there is so much going on, you cannot drop the ball (or three balls), which may or may not be on fire. 
 
Wonderful people 
At the end of the day, account managers are all about people, whether they are clients or work colleagues. While there are moments where we may be upset, there are also moments of teamwork, banding together and making things work. When all is said and done, we are just people who love people.