A day in the life of a mso Account Manager

Hannah has been an integral part of the mso team for over 6 years.

Starting her life at mso as a Business Administrator Apprentice in 2016, she very quickly showed an aptitude for dealing with our wonderful clients.

As such, she was welcomed into the Account Management team in 2017 and now plays an intrinsic role in the day-to-day running of our clients’ projects and ongoing website lifetime.

But what does a day in the life of an mso Account Manager look like?

We chat with Hannah to find out the fundamental parts of her role.

So can you describe for us what you do on a day-to-day basis?

The title ‘Account Manager’ is very general, but there’s so much involved.

Ultimately my role is to work in partnership with our clients as their ‘eyes and ears’ for an ongoing website project, be it a new website design and development, or addition of new website functionality.

I provide consultancy on ways for my clients to achieve their goals via the website, identifying opportunities that can elevate their offering.

I author project plans and workflows that outline the project process and requirements at each stage – so that the project can be as efficient as it can be for both the client and the mso team.

And internally I liaise with mso’s design and development teams to translate my clients vision into a reality and ensure that we are delivering projects on time and in line with specifications.

So how did you become an Account Manager?

I always imagined that I’d work in an office, but wasn’t entirely sure in what capacity.

That really was the catalyst in me applying for a Business Administrator apprenticeship, because the role sounded so varied.

I felt that this variation would allow me to fully experience all aspects of the business environment and ‘find my niche’.

Thankfully, I was successful and started my apprenticeship for mso in 2017.

My role involved assisting 2 of the Account Manager’s at the time.

I learnt a lot and found myself fascinated by the role of a website for an organisation and how to truly tailor the website experience to a specific business and its objectives.

So when the opportunity came to assist with clients, I jumped at the chance!

And I guess that was the spark that threw me into the world of Account Management.

And now it’s 6 years later! What are your favourite things about your role?

It’s a great job because it really keeps you on your toes.

It’s really fast-paced and no day is ever the same as we’re working with multiple clients on multiple projects at completely different stages of the project life-cycle.

Also, as a digital agency, our industry is always changing and adapting, so we really need to make sure that we’re on top of the latest news and innovations to understand if they have a benefit for our clients.

Also, you get to see the evolution of an idea. Through planning, design to a live developed website.

It’s really rewarding when a site goes live and you can see the result of everyone’s hard work come to life!

Hannah, fourth from left, with clients from New Hall School accepting their Essex Digital Award for Best Website: School, Education or Charity

Sounds like it’s really challenging, but are there some areas more challenging than others?

Oh absolutely.

If you’re managing multiple projects all at the same time, you need to be really organised to keep on top of all the goings-on.

I’d describe it as chaotically methodical because it’s identifying where on the timeline each project sits, what needs to be done and when.

You just need to be super organised, which is why the Project Management tools such as ClickUp, Slack etc are an absolute godsend for our role.

Certainly sounds like there’s a skill set needed for this role?

Definitely, you need to be organised and you need to organise others.

Whether that’s keeping the client informed as to what is required of them and at what stage of the project.

Or the internal teams in terms of when design, development, testing etc is scheduled.

And yourself, because your clients are relying on you to be there for reassurance and reason for that project or experience.

You also have to be a people person.

We deal with so many lovely clients with stakeholders that range from business owners, marketing teams, website administrators, even school governors.

Understanding that each person will have had different experiences and understandings of digital, is so important.

To assure, reassure and make the whole website design and development process as simple and effective as possible.

So what would your advice be to anyone considering a career as an Account Manager?

Well, first and foremost, Account Manager is such a broad term.

Whilst it will almost always involve working in partnership with an organisation’s clients, the requirements of the role will differ from business to business.

I would say that if you’re organised, love dealing with people and want something fast-paced and challenging – this is the role for you.

My advice really would be to work in an industry that interests you as your passion will shine through and help to shape the whole experience for your clients.

We hope that gives you a little insight into the day-to-day of our AM team.

What we will say is that Hannah’s passion for the role is infectious and it’s been recognised by many of our clients too!

But don’t take just our word for it…

I would like to thank Hannah Brown in particular, who was there every step of the way, came out in person to the school several times as the site was being built and provided outstanding in-person training for the team. She was always quick to respond to queries and requests for changes and highly professional and helpful in every way possible. We are delighted that we chose MSO.
I would recommend MSO to any school without hesitation.

Clare Wagner, Headmistress at Henrietta Barnett School