As an account manager at TVF, I am struck by the variety within each day. Whether you’re delivering a disease awareness campaign, creating a scientific podcast or pitching a new brand idea to a designer, days here never grow boring and there’s always the opportunity to learn something new. To give you more of an insight into what being an account manager is really like, here is an overview of what I got up to today.
Morning
I arrive at my desk at 9am, after completing the strenuous 10 metre commute from the kitchen to my bedroom office. Coffee in hand, I check my emails for any urgent items that need to be addressed immediately. Then, I check my calendar and write a ‘to do’ list, which as the morning goes on seems to grow longer and longer - but it’s okay we’ll deal with that later. Next, I dial into Zoom for a quick team catch-up, where we all say what we want to achieve in the week and whether there are any potential issues that may pop up. In a nutshell, my team works with various pharma companies to improve healthcare for patients worldwide by expanding scientific reach and engagement. Today’s meeting is a fun one since we have our weekly team building activity, which is always amusing and brings us closer together.
It’s now time for my first client call of the day. Today it’s a discussion with a large multinational pharma company about one of the many publications we’re developing for them. This publication is on a potential Covid-19 treatment so it’s particularly interesting given the current global situation. We chat through the data, discuss potential journal targets and decide how we can create a publication that educates the readers in an accurate and unbiased way. All in all, a very productive call! I finish off my notes and circulate them with the rest of the team.
After a quick cuppa I’m back at my desk for another call, this time speaking with some Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) about an upcoming disease awareness webinar. To make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, I circulate some briefing documents and ask the group to go through a dummy rehearsal, which goes reassuringly well. At the end of the session, one of the KOLs asks whether it would be possible to recreate a snazzy figure from an article that he recently read and add it to his presentation. The webinar is in three days - time could be an issue. But, I think on my feet… if we push back timelines on one of their less urgent projects and bring in a designer with vast experience at art-working data, we can get it done.
Afternoon
Once the time zones line up, I often have a call with one of our US-based clients. Today though, I have no more client calls, which means I can crack on with getting the figure designed for the upcoming webinar. I find out which of our designers has availability and send over a detailed brief explaining what needs to be done. Whilst the figure is being designed, I’m able to tick some items off my list. I design mailer templates with our designer for the upcoming webinar, take in some client amends for a training module and complete various administrative tasks.
At 4pm, I dial in for a training session on regulatory codes of practice in the pharmaceutical industry. I had this training when I joined but it’s important to refresh the memory, especially because a key part of the job is to promote medicines to healthcare professionals and other relevant decision makers. We finish with a Q&A session and I catch-up with some colleagues who I haven’t spoken to for a while.
My day ends with me catching up on various emails that I’ve been sent throughout the day. As an account manager you’re constantly working on lots of different projects, which can be a bit of a balancing act. It’s therefore important that you manage your time effectively, remain calm under stress and amicable with all your clients. Now that I’ve been here for over a year I realise that what I value most about the job is the sense of responsibility that comes with project work, discussions with clients on fascinating topics, and the friendly team environment.
It’s now the end of the day and I can’t wait to clock off and meet my colleagues for a drink… if only we weren’t currently working from home.
By Martin Todd
