Seriously, why can’t we all just get along? For decades producers and account managers have always been at odds. Just because it’s the way it’s always been doesn’t mean it still has to be. For many agencies leadership is spending far more time dealing with the service vs. sales war than they are on growing the business. Now this rift didn’t start yesterday and it won’t end tomorrow but let me tell you the battle is getting old. When two intelligent parties just can’t seem to make it work we need to rise to the occasion and end the war with a truce before we get through how to stage a peace fire. Let’s go through the core psychology of how it gets there. Tell me, has this situation every been in your office after the latest Producer vs. Account Manager pity party that most likely landed in your office?
Account Manager
Who does he think he is? I’ve been trying for weeks to get in touch with him on his account. Now all of a sudden he waltzes in here and gives me the answer and thinks I can drop everything for him. It must have been tough on the golf course, then vacation and then a carrier trip all while I’m stuck here trying to serve his clients.
Now I get the answer and it’s going to take a lot of work to get this renewed accurately. Even better he handed me a napkin with a name and number and told me to call it to get the information to quote a new piece of business. Isn’t that his job to get the information? Now I’m doing his job and he’s making all the money working 20 hours per week.
Worst of all he doesn’t even thank me, I’m just expected to do everything. Must be nice to be able to do whatever you want and bark orders at me. I can barely keep up with my current workload and now this? I’m going to stick that quote to the bottom of the pile so I can get some real work done.
Producer
What the heck!!! I’ve been working non stop on a gigantic, huge amazing account and the service team is suppose to be there to support me so I can sell. I’ve been away from my family the past 2 weeks, missed my kids play and have driven 500 miles. Then when I get to the office all I get is dirty looks and attitude.
Apparently my account manager forgets that I make 100% commission so all the risk is on me to feed my family. There are no guarantees. Must be nice to be able to come into a nice office, with a guaranteed paycheck and leave work behind when you go home. Instead I’m out til all hours, at networking events and putting out fires from mistakes the account manager makes. Now she’s upset because she has had a question on a renewal.
I’ve been trying to connect with the client but we have been playing phone tag. When I finally give her the information it was only met with more attitude. Why couldn’t she couldn’t pick up the phone and call herself? How can I grow my book and hit my sales goals when this is the resistance I get. She tells me how busy she is and overwhelmed. Maybe the owner needs more people? I’m not sure but I have to make it across town to the country club for lunch to meet with another prospect. Hopefully my quote is done tonight for my meeting tomorrow.
As you can see it’s the same scenario with very different beliefs around what is happening. Let’s face it, the producer brain and the account manager brain work very, very, very differently. Here are the core differences that we see:
- Producers eagerly pronounce their victories, they love recognition and thrive off the pats on the back. Account Managers crave recognition more than anything but they find that talking about personal achievements seems to be bragging so no one ever knows what they achieve which makes them envious of the recognition producers often attract.
- Account Managers want to make more money but aren’t wired to take the risks of a commissioned based career. Producers often think about how nice it would be to check in and out of work without crazy work schedules and have the piece of mind of a steady paycheck.
- Producers are not by nature detailed orientated. Account Managers are incredibly detailed. This causes the most friction. In order to do their jobs account managers need the details and producers want to build relationships not get down in the weeds.
- There is often much conflict on who does what. For many agencies they work off a case by case basis which shouldn’t happen. There is too much blurriness to who does what and when. Without clear lines, there is no one to hold accountable to the work.
- Producers sell themselves, account managers sell price and coverage.
In order to break this age old dilemma you must evaluate your culture. Generally this is the Queen Bee of Account Managers spearheading the anti-producer charge. This must be stopped. For the producers, you must hold them accountable to clear standards and job descriptions they cannot be allowed to blurry up the the processes because they have 1 deal that may close. In addition, you need to show transparency in the numbers. Everyone must see how their work matters. We often recommend team bonuses to motivate everyone to work together.
Remind your producers that you get more with honey. The more they butter up the service team, the more they will get. At my very first job I received critical advice. Always become friends with accounting and IT. One pays you and the other one makes sure your technology is working. Low and behold my computer was always fixed first and my expenses paid in a timely manner. The same is true for producers and account managers. Wake up! You are on the same team.
If your agency has struggled with this and come up with no solution, consider our agency assessment where we tackle this and many other agency challenges!
