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Account Service

Delivering “Wow” as an Account Service Strategy

Second Wind
3/4/2024


The traditional notion of an account executive was that of someone ordered around by the client and disdained by the agency creative. Or, they were the ones living large on ...

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Six Things All AEs Should Know

Second Wind
10/20/2023

There are some important issues that good account executives consider when doing their daily jobs. Following are some thoughts from a very savvy Second Wind member who teaches his AEs ...

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Involve Your Clients in the Planning Process

Second Wind
8/18/2023

As you work with your clients to set up annual advertising and marketing planning, there’s one thought that should remain lodged in your frontal cortex: “It’s not my ...

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Account Execs Can Help Improve the Creative Process

Account Execs Can Help Improve the Creative Process

Second Wind
7/18/2023

A survey by Hightail, a creative collaboration company, asked creative professionals about the effectiveness of the creative process. Just 23 percent said the process was effective. Twenty-eight percent called it ...

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How to Bill More AE Time

Second Wind
7/10/2023

How Do You Know Which Clients Are Profitable?

Second Wind
5/17/2023

Sometimes, agency owners or managers feel like the proverbial dog chasing its own tail. You keep going in circles and never seem to get ahead. Considering that problem from the ...

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The Dangers of AEs Acting as Estimators, Project Managers and Schedulers

The Dangers of AEs Acting as Estimators, Project Managers and Schedulers

Second Wind
3/28/2023

Second Wind has conducted account service training for ad agencies since we launched Second Wind Training in 1989. We have worked with many ad agencies directly, consulting to help them ...

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Waking the Sleeping Client

Second Wind
3/14/2023

Why Clients “Go Quiet” and How to Reactivate Them

New clients are hard to find.  It is crucial to keep your current clients engaged and active. Here’s the scenario ...

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Surrounded by Gorillas

Second Wind
1/25/2023

For a small to midsize agency, one of this business' most dangerous situations is having a large account. We define a large account—a “gorilla”—as one that controls more ...

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Upping the Agency Ante: Being More Accountable Makes You a Partner

Second Wind
10/18/2022

We’ve been thinking lately about how agencies can regain their former strategic partner status with clients. The glory days of agency of record, retainers and marketing partnerships seem to ...

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Give Your Clients an Annual Report Letter

Give Your Clients an Annual Report Letter

Second Wind
9/12/2022

We work in a tough business environment. Accountability, multiplying media, evolving technology and an increasingly global economy all drive client demand for more responsive, more efficient agencies. This tends to ...

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Be The Human Highlight Reel

Jack Henke
8/31/2022

One day on the way to a meeting, I was in a funk. Although I can’t remember the specifics, I had encountered some incredibly bad hurdles that morning. These ...

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Internalize Success – the Key Role of Internal Marketing

Jack Henke
8/9/2022

Learn from the experience of a slow learner - me. Early in my career as a creative professional with a fragile ego, I didn’t want the rank-and-file people of a ...

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Clients from hell?

Clients from Hell? We Got ‘Em

Deborah Budd
9/9/2021

Do all industries include at least some “clients from hell”? Apparently so. The Twitter feed Clients From Hell (@clientsfh) asked followers if any specific industries had a higher percentage of ...

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It’s the Agency’s Job to Disagree with Clients

Deborah Budd
8/11/2021


When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.

Wm. Wrigley Jr., founder of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum company

I have worked with many account service people ...

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Landing The Big One! What Every Smaller Ad Agency Needs to Know

Beth James
7/21/2021

Winning a really big account can either float a smaller ad agency’s boat, feeding new growth for the agency and employees… or sink it under the weight of client ...

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Your Old Clients Are Your New Clients

Second Wind
6/29/2021

Funny how things go in the agency business... You work hard, build great relationships, create great work, and before you know it the client moves on to bigger and, they ...

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Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Second Wind
6/16/2021

“Nothing kills a bad product faster than a great advertising campaign,”
said Bill Bernbach. A great aphorism.

And here is one of our own:

Nothing kills a new client relationship ...

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The Client Feedback Zone: Managing the Client Approval Process

Deborah Budd
6/8/2021

You’ve created a concept for a client project that you and your team are really excited about. You build your pitch, with details on the research and supporting data ...

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