The
common complaint that I hear from agency people is usually about contact
reports or WIP (Work-in-progress) sheet. They are these tedious documents that
you have write every time you meet with a client, when the clients outline
expectations to you or when they need to know about the status of a certain deliverable.
It’s
the last thing that you’d want to do in the midst of media calls, writing press
releases and handling queries. After months of writing these documents however,
I truly understand why they’re such a useful tool, especially when you’re
juggling three or more clients at once.
We’re
not Superman.
Save
for the few people who have excellent (or even photographic memories), it is
sometimes hard to track the progress of your work or deliverables by simply
re-calling what needs to be done. There are also moments where the clients
calls you (out of the blue, at times), asking for an update of the account.
If
you do not have an updated tracker, WIP sheet or contact report, you’d be
stumbling to answer your client – which usually involves combing through an
archive of media reports and final reports in your system. By the time you’re
done, your client would have already been annoyed.
These
documents are a life-saver when it comes to these sorts of situations. By having
these documents handy, you will appear to have a good grasp on what is going on
and what are the next steps that are currently being undertaken. This would
then help you assure your client that everything is proceeding as planned.
It’s
still a very tedious job to do. That’s why this kind of work is relegated to
the executives. All of that is not without good reason, as you have read.
Knowing the account and being on the ball also helps you gain trust from your
senior managers. Hopefully, you will be entrusted to handle other accounts on
your own in the near future.
Just
think of it as that monthly deposit that you make for your investment plan. It’s
a pain but you will definitely reap the rewards soon enough.
Zahir Zaini
Curtin Miri
14575097
No comments:
Post a Comment