Client Services vs Project Management

Is there a size of account/project under which pure account management isn't a necessity? We find that sub £100k it is much more cost effective to have both PM and AM roles performed by a hybrid producer. Is this the best way to do things?

Hybrid? - like half man, half plant? Presumably we are talking about a digital project – I think a lot of design and digital agencies are looking at the client services vs project management question at the moment. I have been working in this area with a digital company and my experience is that a lot of the time it is about a mindset than a fundamental difference in process between the two.

You will be best placed to say whether your hybrid producer with his/her individual skills can fulfil both the internal project management task and the client service roles. But your ultimate decision depends on your overall approach to clients. I think if you want to develop project-based clients into longer-term ones then a hybrid may fall short because they are covering too many bases in the short term. Ideally an account director should understand the business your client is in, identify the business challenges and match what you can offer to their needs. Good ones are hard-wired to identify new opportunities, be sensitive to the politics of the organisation and promote the agency in the best way. They should also be thinking about where the account could be going and what the client thinks of the agency. This does not mean that they should be swanning around at the client’s and not focused on the delivery of a particular project. So a project manager will be responsible for the day to day delivery but the account director should be making sure the vision of the client is being realised in the work and quality-controlling that aspect. The best teams are where the roles are dovetailing in every aspect of the delivery but I think you have to be very clear with the client how the roles work together so there is no confusion and feeling of duplication.

I also don’t know what say a £80k project would include – ie are we talking technical build or do you back off at wireframes etc? Either way, that strikes me as quite a large project still and if you are wanting more projects from the same client then your hybrid producer may be too stretched to be able to extend the momentum of the account as they are concentrating on just delivering the project.

Oh by the way, on a related subject, I know my friend Paul Canty (paul@preloaded.com) is looking for someone at group account director level to work across some pretty exciting clients like the BBC, Channel 4, The Arts Council etc. A funky outfit but serious operators.