1. Client Service & Account
Management
Types of Clients / Accounts

3. Client Service & Account Management
• When you work in advertising, 10% of your
job is to develop advertisements, a full 45%
goes to convincing people of the work you did
in the first place, 40% is revising what you
already did and 5% is keeping yourself from
committing suicide.
• That last figure has to do a bit with the people
you work with, a lot more to do with the
people you work for.

4. Client Service & Account Management
• Running an ad agency of any size is a juggling
act.
• You work on several different client/agency
initiatives / projects at any given time.
• The clients all the while breathing down your
neck claiming “I needed it yesterday!”
• Gone are the days when people used to say I
need it now 

5. Client Service & Account Management
If that is the case, should you prioritize?
The big question.

6. Types of Clients
Prioritizing your clients may help you and your team to
keep focus on the most important work at hand.
SUNS
• Sun clients are essential to the agency.
• Without these clients, the agency might cease to
exist.
• Sun clients provide nourishment and energy to
the agency.
• Sun clients allow the agency to do good work and
take chances.
• Staff relationships are good, and projects more
often end up on time and on budget.
• Sun clients are to be retained and protected.

7. Types of Clients
Planets
• Planet clients should be very profitable to the agency.
• These clients sustain life pretty much on their own.
• Planet clients should be protected but may not be
essential to the agency’s existence.
• Planets by definition have little opportunity for real
growth and cannot ever be Suns in the opinion of
agency management.
• Planet clients should be worked with minimal agency
investment in resources and must have limited impact
on senior management time.

8. Types of Clients
Black Hole
• Black Hole clients suck up a lot of agency energy
and give little in return.
• These types of clients often overuse creative
services and account management time without
fair compensation.
• Management often thinks they help cover
operational cost, keeping the lights on so to
speak.
• Black Hole clients should be dropped by the
agency at the first opportunity.
• Their impact on the agency should be minimized.

9. Types of Clients
Shooting Stars
• They are most often new clients moving through
the agency. Their long-term trajectory has not
been established.
• Shooting Stars need more management time and
require more agency resources if they are going
to become Suns and Planets.
• Shooting Stars take up a lot of agency effort and
must be watched closely.
• It is the responsibility of the agency to ensure a
Shooting Star client is transformed into either a
Planet or a Sun

10. Worst Clients
Type 1
Make three options. One is yours. One is a re-hash and third
one is ours. Any guess on what is going to be approved?
Type 2
Some people are abusive because that’s their nature,
others are abusive because they think it’s covered by the
agency fee. At times clients are people who have
dysfunctional families and relationships, people who are
frustrated beyond belief and obviously feel the need to
channel their inner demons.

11. Worst Clients
Type 3
Indecision in any setting translates to inefficiency. If it’s your
client, get ready to work extra hours, extra days, extra layouts
and extra presentations just because they aren’t sure.
Type 4
This is the type that always manages to slip in the threat
to take away their account if their demands are not met.
More layouts, less fees, and you’d better like it, because
they’re doing you a favor by not taking away the account.

12. ENDS