5 Ways to Praise & Empower Your Client Service Team This Week
The emotional burden of client service is real. Here's what your Account Managers or Customer Success Managers need to hear from you in their 1:1 this week.
Nothing feels better that authentic recognition. As a Client Services leader, who also served as a Client Partner and influential marketing manager for years, I’ve felt firsthand the emotional exhaustion and overwhelm that results from back-to-back meeting facilitation and client communication. Then I was affirmed in my role when a peer said “you did a great job helping the team collaborate during that call.”
I’ve also experienced the stress of feeling like I’ll never be prepared enough, deliver enough on time, or answer enough questions to keep my clients happy. I’ve taken client feedback and client churn personally, even when there were other factors involved. Then, my manager reminded me that I helped close the renewal and cross-sell with other brands.
The truth is your Account Managers represent the culture, energy, and engagement of your agency. When they are empowered to lead and ask for help, your client relationships will grow. Yet, the opposite is also true. If your Account Managers feel trapped and overwhelmed, it will affect their ownership of client services and trust in you.
This means, the most important gifts you can give your Account Manager team are your time, your listening ears, and your authentic praise. If you consistently give these to your team, your Account Manager will more naturally take ownership, show up as leaders, and share feedback with you.
Empowering messages for your next 1:1
Thank you for setting a great example for our team.
Most Account Managers put a significant amount of effort into preparing for client meetings and internal collaboration, connecting the dots across deliverables and clarifying action items. Call out a way that your Account Manager showed up as a leader for others this week.
Example: “I heard how your emotional intelligence and maturity carried you through that conversation.
You are not your thoughts. You’re doing great work on [managing a specific meeting/deliverable/internal collaboration].
Telling an Account Manager they should “care less” is counter productive, as they often feel solely accountable for keeping internal teams focused and engaged on work for a brand. Instead give specific praise about an aspect of their work that you feel they are overly critical of or that they have consistently managed well.
Example: “I see the high standards you hold yourself to! I appreciate your diligence, and want you need to know you’re doing a great job on managing the roadmap prioritization with that client. It’s never going to be perfect, yet you’ve reeled them in significantly. Thank you.”
The feedback from your clients does not define you.
Client feedback is often about a deadline, a deliverable format or progress toward a goal. While an Account Manager carries responsibility for progress and communication in each of those areas, a failure in one of those areas is very rarely the sole fault of an Account Manager. Yet an email in ALL CAPs or an off-track deliverable can crush their confidence and focus. Remind them that their performance and employment is not hinging on the satisfaction of one client contact. And if they need space from a situation, encourage them to take a break or finish the day early.
Example: “I’m sure the feedback in that email was hard to hear. Please know that your success here is defined by more than the feedback from one of your clients.
Would you like to talk through how to respond to this feedback and share it with the internal team? I want to hear your ideas for how we could improve our service or communication with this client.
If you need to step away for a longer lunch or head out early today, please take the time you need.”
Even though it might not feel like it, you are helping that client contact achieve their goals.
Account Managers often find themselves caught between receiving feedback from internal and external stakeholders and feeling responsible for advocating for both client contacts and their teams. While many Account Managers can navigate these relationship dynamics well and with resilience. Some days the feedback or resistance to recommendations from a client can leave an Account Manager defeated. You can pull them out of feeling like a client’s punching bag and back to feeling like a consultant by creating a safe space for them to reflect and share their thoughts. You can help them focus on the progress they’ve already made toward a goal or invite them to share feedback and recommend potential improvements.
Example: “I’m sure that feedback was hard to read. Please know that your success here is defined by more than the feedback from one of your contacts. Let me know if you’d like to talk through how to respond to this feedback and share it with the internal team. Do you have ideas for how we could improve our service or collaboration with them?
Please block off time to focus on your professional development.
Rarely, will an Account Manager proactively set aside this time to focus on their own professional development. They care about their growth, yet feel like their recognition and advancement will most likely come from retaining clients, increasing budgets or cross-selling services. They know that their billable time and problem solving with clients is what provides the most value to their company, so they focus their research and learning on their client’s industry and tactics.
Yet, their sole focus on client’s goals and strategic growth can lead to their stagnation or your risk of retaining them as a team member. Coaching your Account Managers to set aside time at least once a week for training, reading or networking - internal or external - will help them feel empowered to engage with industry trends and invest more in their growth. If they need more direction, share observations of their interests or goals (e.g., CRM workflows, leadership skills, AI agent creation, etc.) or opportunities to address feedback from a previous review.
Example: I see you’ve taken more interest in Hubspot. Have you looked into some of the webinars and certifications they offer?
You could block time on your calendar on Friday to get started. I think it would be great for you to formally set aside time for learning and then share some insights with our team.
I’d like to spend time during our next 1:1 hearing more about your goals for this year and agreeing on a plan so you can work toward them. Does that give you enough time to think about what you’d like to focus on?
Model Self Care as a Client Service Leader
I hope you’re able to try some of these messages in your next 1:1 and reflect on the responses from your Account Managers. When you share authentic praise and create a safe space for your team to plan ahead for client relationships and professional development, you will build trust with them and a foundation for retention.
One of the hardest parts of this equation is modeling as a leader how you give praise, respond to feedback, and set aside time for your development. It’s important to remember that if you are praising your team and encouraging them to take breaks, yet they observe you consistently working long hours and struggling with feedback it erodes their confidence in your coaching.
As you prepare for your 1:1s, reflect on how you can use these empowering messages to overwrite your self-talk too and set an example of resilience and authenticity for your team.
Know you’re not alone on this journey. I’d be glad to connect you with other Client Service leaders and offer fractional support or coaching to you and your team. You can book time with me at findthebrightpath.com.