ADVICE PLS! New to acct. mgmt & new to agency world (1yr as SAS). I lead a campaign with 1 of the largest budgets in our agency for a big time client. BC of this, many high level leaders w/in have opinions on the direction of the campaign, objective, goals, KPIs etc. that constantly change & mostly at the 11th hr. We’re short staffed so I’m account leading w/ partial support from AEs but mostly, alone. The dynamic is extremely stressful and it’s hard to manage expectations. Is this normal??

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More common than it should be, certainly. But you should have someone above you supporting you – an Account Director, head of your department, etc. If you do not, you need to let your leadership know that – although it's worrying they have not identified that on their own.

In the meantime, I'd push you to work on delegating work to your AEs. I know the inclination can often be to handle everything yourself because you know it will get done to your specifications, but at the very least let your AEs get you half of the way there while you manage your own workload. It's good for their development too.

If you are presented with no evidence that your situation may improve, then I'd consider moving elsewhere. The plus side of these situations is they can help you propel your career, which is why they are sometimes worth seeing through. Good luck!

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Hey there! It depends on the account and the agency. I also think when you add on the layer of potential budget cuts and a recession, leadership is probably more involved than usual to try and make everything as perfect as they can. I don’t think it was this bad pre-pandemic, but again depends on the agency and client. That was a very account person answer but I hope it helps give some context!

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Hey there. Sorry this is happening. I think you need to be assertive and explain to your leadership the dynamic. It’s not fair for the higher ups to just dump a bunch of changes/ opinions and run. Who is the main owner/ party responsible? They should figure that out because they’re getting paid 3 or 4 times more than you. They should provide consistent feedback and respect timelines. I know it’s not easy but it needs to be addressed. Hang in there

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Problem is they don’t have the time. And they also don’t feel like they should have to do that. They only get in the weeds with projects when leadership client side starts asking questions - but otherwise, it’s like I said before. Not in meetings, not reading meeting recaps or staying up to date on new developments until they hear something or get asked something from Leadership and then it’s in the weeds again. Again, 11th hour changes. Maybe it’s the territory that comes with a major client and lots of money - but then I would assume better or more consistent support, no? Like I said, I’m new to acct management AND agency life so that’s making me doubt myself and ability to keep this role.

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I, unfortunately don’t have a dedicated AE. And who I have supporting me part time is not intuitive or picking up on the project at all (AE about 6months on the job). I barely have enough time to get my own work completed so I do not have time to train him, which may not be the issue bc I also don’t feel like he has interest or desire in this career path.
I have someone *new* who was just slotted above me as a director - but who is also just as confused as me on who to take direction from and how best to mitigate all the fires. Also, doesn’t want to be a doer. So I am doing all the work while upper management is essentially feeling like I am dropping the ball and no one seems to think there is a bandwidth issue…

Oof that sounds like growing pains and they are trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up while also expanding too quickly and trying to go after too many things at once. My advice: get clear input on what you are responsible for and see if you are in fact able to execute and manage that. After that give it about 3 to 6 months to see how things progress. That is plenty of time to figure out if things will change.

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