How an account is led decides whether the client stays.
I am Karim Mneimneh, based in Dubai, with twenty years in advertising and marketing agencies: BBDO, JWT and the agency I founded and ran. I build the operating model that makes delivery reliable, and I use AI as leverage, so a focused team does the work of a much larger one.
Accounts rarely fail on the work.
The output ships, the client is polite, and nothing is being decided. That is the situation I usually walk into. The symptoms vary by account, and they share a single cause.
My part is the one underneath: an honest strategy, reliable delivery, ownership of the pricing, the forecast and the margin, and both sides pointed at the same outcome.
That is a different job from servicing an account well, and it decides whether the relationship is still there in three years. It is also the part nobody writes down, which is why I do.
Notes on staying necessary.
Biggest client, smallest profit.
The client you name first can leave you nothing.
Paying to fix their problem.
Some client problems are not yours to fix for free.
The answer you never gave.
A date is a no with better manners.
The clients I did not keep.
Eighty per cent retention has a second half.
From people I have worked with.
Serene Abbas, Integrated Account Director, House of Comms
Clara Maksoud, Account Manager, One Second Agency
Khaled Al Haddad, Media Producer and Cinematographer