The Art of Account Management: Staying Solution Focussed with Laura Winter

Laura is group account director at Quantum, a brand experience agency specialising in challenger FMCG brands. As an experienced marketing lead with 15 years in the industry across both agency and client side roles, she specialises in building and delivering omni-channel campaigns across consumer, shopper and out of home environments.

LBB> How did you first get involved in account management and what appealed to you about it?

Laura> Having spent the first years of my career working within in-house marketing teams, I joined the world of agency account management in 2018. I loved the chance it gave me to open a window the world of some of the brands I knew and loved as well as experience the needs, wants and skill sets of different clients. 

LBB> What is it about your personality, skills and experience that has made account management such a great fit?

Laura> I’m a people person at heart and being client centric is something I’m truly passionate about. But I’m also very solution focussed, so being thrown a challenge or opportunity and being empowered to respond to it strategically is perfectly suited to me.

LBB> What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in account management?

Laura> Focus on nailing the basics in those early days. Being brilliantly all over the detail is the biggest reassurance to clients that you know what you’re doing and you’re a safe pair of hands for their campaigns. There’s often a desire to jump into the ‘fun stuff’ but a buttoned-up account exec/account manager is crucial to the success of any team within an agency.

LBB> Thinking back to some of your most challenging experiences you’ve had in your career, what do you think tends to lie at the heart of the more tense or difficult client-agency relationships?

Laura> A lack of mutual respect for each other’s knowledge and specialisms. It can sound cliched but for me, client agency relationships have to be built on respect and a mutual agreement that there’s a partnership at play. 

LBB> And what are the keys to building a productive and healthy relationship?

Laura> Open and honest communication, always. Feedback and check-ins shouldn’t be left to annual reviews, it’s important we’re constantly making sure our proposals/projects/campaigns deliver against the challenge and objectives clients set for us. 

LBB> What’s your view on disagreement and emotion - is there a place for it and if not, why not? If so, why - and what does productive disagreement look like?

Laura> There’s always a place for a difference of opinions and healthy challenge can help to drive the quality of a campaign. But professionalism is key. It’s hard to remain objective once personal emotions become involved.

LBB> Historically, account management has been characterised as the mediator in an adversarial client and creative relationship - what do you make of that characterisation, is there any nugget of truth in that or is it wildly inaccurate?

Laura> I wouldn’t say it’s wildly inaccurate. For me some of the best skills account management professionals can possess is the ability to constructively question and to extract insight. That role as a mediator is what allows us to see the wood from the trees. But as your account management career grows and develops, you also deserve a seat at the table as a marketing professional in your own right, and the perception of ‘mediator’ can devalue that expertise. 

LBB> These days, agencies do so much beyond traditional campaigns and as account management you’re pulling together creative, experience, data, e-commerce, social and more - and that complexity can often be mirrored on the client stakeholder side too? What’s the key to navigating (and helping the client navigate) that complexity?

Laura> Being crystal clear upfront on the objectives and goals, then shaping and outlining a roadmap that will take us to the finish line. There are many, many complexities behind the scenes but our job is to simplify and simplify again. Clients don’t need to know the inner workings of our world but what they do need is clear communication around the stages of delivery and what milestones lie along the way. 

LBB> What recent projects are you proudest of and why? What was challenging about these projects from an account management perspective and how did you address those challenges? What was so satisfying about working on these projects?

Laura> I’ve been lucky enough in my career to work with some incredible brands on brilliant campaigns, and this year was jam packed with examples. 2023 highlights have included a pretty show-stopping Tequila Rose omnichannel campaign and a charming summer activation in Covent Garden with St Pierre. I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store!