How to Build an Account Management Team That Owns Client Outcomes

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training Are your account managers drowning because you never built the system around them? Are you still the one clients call when something goes sideways, even though you hired someone to handle that? In seven years, today's featured guest and her co-founder built a team of six and developed an account management structure that worked well enough to earn a speaking slot at Elevate. She'll break down the exact touchpoint cadence her agency uses to retain clients and grow accounts, what she looks for when hiring account managers, and what it took to actually get out of the way. She'll also share what makes a co-founder partnership work when so many of them fail. Michelle Keckler is the co-founder of KNC Marketing, a full-service digital marketing agency based in Nashville, Tennessee. She and her co-founder Danielle launched the agency after Danielle was laid off from a company they both worked at. Within two months they had enough clients for Michelle to leave her corporate job. Michelle spoke at Elevate and has been a member of the Agency Mastery Mastermind. Her focus inside the agency is on client relationships, account management structure, and building a team that can own outcomes without founder involvement. In this episode, we'll discuss: How to set your account managers for success What to look for in an account manager Why letting go is not a one-time decision Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service. Toggl: Most agencies are losing 15–30% of their profit every year: lack of time tracking, messy manual timesheets, scope creep, untracked revisions, and all those "quick" client requests that never get billed. Toggl has created a fast, interactive way to uncover exactly where your margins are leaking. Start your investigation now at toggl.com/smartagency and use the code SMARTAGENCY10 at checkout for a 10% off annual plans. The Account Management System That Actually Retains Clients For Michelle, the first step to setting her account manager for success is to hand off ownership of that account to them right away and make that clear to the client. After that, they rely on a structured cadence built around three consistent touchpoints: weekly status updates so clients always know where things stand, monthly meetings to review campaign metric