How To Get To Account Director – Some Top Tips

A good senior level friend of mine recently shared his thoughts on how PR consultancy people have to change their mindset at account manager level in order to get to account director level. I thought it was worth sharing here. Its basic stuff, but often the basic things are the ones people forget to tell you…


To reach account manager level in a PR consultancy, you have to demonstrate how effective you are at doing things – from writing that press release and selling it in as an account executive to writing that feature article and managing the campaign tactics for your client as an account manager. You are rewarded for your ability to work hard and deliver results. All well and good.


However, moving on further is all about demonstrating effective thinking.


Your managers want you to continue to do all the other stuff that made you successful but also to think.

• Is what we are doing right now really going to increase sales and change opinion, or do we need a rethink?


• Do I understand the client's business well enough to add value and insight to their communications strategy, or do I need to know more?


• Does my team truly understand why they are doing this activity or is it just another tick on their to-do list?

As an account manager, you’ve already started to learn the skills of team management – mentoring, motivating, assessing resources, teaching best practice, etc. Again, this is all about getting the team to generate results. To become an account director, you must also start ensuring that everyone knows why they are doing this, how it contributes to the big picture and overall strategy for the client. This will instantly make your team more effective. Sounds obvious, but as a recruiter, I frequently meet people below account manager level who don’t have a grasp of that bigger picture and this is often because that hasn’t been filtered down to them.


Of course, with account director level comes a host of other responsibilities including greater financial and budget management, greater resource planning and team management responsibilities, more proactive new business generation and pitch leading.


But boil it all down, and the essence is to demonstrate your potential through thinking.


What my friend suggests is to “take five minutes each morning to decide what you are going to do today to make a strategic difference for your clients or your teams’ development. That five minutes could be the most valuable time for your clients, you and your teams. It will certainly be the five minutes that gets you promoted far more quickly”.


It’s a good point, well made.