An ode to ‘the Account Executive’!

While I was ‘jogging down the memory lane’ (yes, jogging & not walking), I thought of the various jobs/roles I did. Some had a larger scope, some had more complex tasks but the one that prepared me for a long innings in the ‘corporate world’ was that of an Account Executive (AE). I have spent only 18 short years in the ‘corporate world’ (we talk of corporate world as if it is some different world from the one we live in), which may be too long or too short depending on how you look at it. My job as an Account Executive stands out as the best ‘learning experience’ (another cliché used to death in the corporate world). This note is an ode to Account Executive (the role), the role that shaped my professional outlook. I am certain that this ode will resonate with people who have spent even as long as a month in an agency. You could agree or disagree with this ‘ode’, that is your point of view. Point of view is like a nose, everyone has one. I would like to hear (see) yours too. Here’s why being an Account Executive (AE) prepares you for ‘life’:

• An AE is a punching bag: A more politically correct definition of AE is ‘voice of the client in the agency and vice versa’. But the real definition is ‘mandir ka ghanta’ or a punching bag. He/she is the punching bag for all: the client, the creative director, the art director, the finance manager, the client servicing director and the list goes on. Being a punching bag at the beginning of your career prepares you for all the challenges that the corporate world can throw at you.
• Negotiating with an art director to meet a deadline is far more difficult than cracking a million dollar deal: Most art directors feel that they don’t get adequate time to execute a campaign to their ‘creative’ levels. The timelines given by clients always seem stretched and unreasonable. Try and convince them to deliver a job overnight, they make it sound like you have asked for their right kidney J. Negotiating with an art director to deliver the job on time is the best lesson in negotiation.
• The buck stops at you, literally: Whether is the creative who goofed up or the operations team didn’t deliver, the AE faces the music. If one needs to learn the art of multi-tasking, become an AE for a year.
• ‘Real’ work starts at 6.30 p.m.: I had real difficulty in explaining to my parents the reason for reaching home post 11.00 p.m. every day. Anyone who has worked in an agency knows, ‘creative juices’ flow only in the evening (god knows why?). At my agency, the art director used to walk in only at 7.00 p.m., and you need to be around to get the work done. A lesson in building your energy levels for a ‘loooong’ day, every day.
• Making sense of nonsense: One of the most frequent feedback from clients on campaign creatives has been ‘mazaa nahi aaya’ (translated literally, didn’t enjoy it!). What do you do with this kind of feedback? For making sense of this ‘nonsense’, you need to probe and get to the ‘right’ answer.
• ‘You don’t know what your client wants’: This is the typical crib against the AE. Who’ll tell them, that even my client does not know what he wants. His creative brief ended in two words: Think wild! Deciphering what he really wants is a ‘wild’ goose chase.
• ‘Have you proof-checked copy writer’s copy?’: Why should I? Isn’t the copy supposed to be correct? At the agency, every job is an AE’s job. Even if the accounts team hasn’t generated the invoice on time, it’s your job. Get it done.
• ‘God is in the details’: Who knows this better than an AE. He needs to be full armed for the client meeting: Creatives… check, minutes of previous meeting… check, invoices… check, JSR (Job Status Report)… check, the list goes on. Try missing out on one of these items, and face the music.
• Death by PPT: With so many ‘previews’ before the actual client review, the AE becomes a ‘king’ at making PPTs. He/she can then make a PPT at any hour of the day or night, that too on any subject.
• ‘Hours of the meeting’: Minutes of the meeting should be rebranded as ‘Hours of the meeting’ considering the number of hours spent in meetings. First client meetings, then CSD (Client Servicing Director) meeting, followed up with Creative Director meeting and finally DTP meeting. The common thread in all these meetings is an AE
• If the campaign succeeds, it is the creative team’s success. If it fails, god save the AE: Being an AE is the perfect example of being the sacrificial lamb.
• Party starts at 12 midnight: The energy to party and ‘elbow exercise’ (with a large mug of beer) post a long tiring day only happens in an agency.    
• Auto spell-check and grammar check capability: An AE is blessed with the capability of auto-correcting spellings and grammar in documents – no assistance needed from Microsoft! This is an occupational by-product
• Creativity: How does one explain to a client the reason for not meeting a truly unreasonable deadline? Get creative – ‘my art director’s to-be mother-in-law (who doesn’t even exist) is in ICU…’
• Can’t sustain it, if you don’t enjoy it: Each day is chaotic and ‘only the paranoid survive’! Enjoying what you do is critical. If you don’t, it is surely a recipe for high blood pressure.
• ‘King of cajoling’: With the number of people that need to be ‘cajoled’ to complete the job on time, the AE naturally becomes a ‘king of cajoling’.

If Mark McCormack’s book ‘What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School’ was theory, the job of an AE is practice. Like you can’t learn swimming without jumping in the pool, you can’t be a complete marketing professional without a stint of an AE!