5 Questions Every Account Manager Should Ask a New Client Partner

By: Shannon Simpson, Account Manager

Starting a new client relationship is about more than understanding a project. It’s about understanding the people, goals, challenges, and expectations behind the work.

As an Account Manager, one of the most important parts of my role is building a strong relationship with our client partners. That starts with asking the right questions and doing more listening than talking.

A kickoff meeting is a great opportunity to learn about a new client, but I don’t want the conversation to feel like a checklist. The goal is to create an open dialogue that helps both sides understand how we can work together successfully.

Here are five questions I believe every Account Manager should ask a new client partner.

1. What made you want to work with us?

Before diving into deliverables, timelines, and tactics, I want to understand what brought a client to us in the first place.

Maybe they’re looking for a fresh perspective. Maybe they’re experiencing a specific challenge. Maybe their organization is growing or changing. Or maybe they simply need additional marketing support.

Understanding what prompted the partnership gives you important context and can help uncover the bigger opportunity behind the initial request.

It also starts the relationship with the client doing the talking, which is exactly where it should begin.

2. What does success look like for you?

Every client has a different definition of success.

For one organization, success might mean generating more leads. For another, it could mean increasing awareness, reaching a new audience, improving engagement, or simply creating a more consistent brand presence.

It’s important to understand what the client actually wants to accomplish before recommending tactics or developing creative.

I like to ask: “When we look back on this partnership, what would make you say, ‘That was successful’?”
The answer can help guide everything that follows.

3. Who are you trying to reach?

Knowing a client’s audience is one thing. Understanding how the client thinks about that audience is another.

Who are their most important customers, patients, supporters, employees, or community members? What do they care about? What challenges are they facing? What motivates them to take action?

This conversation can also reveal whether the audience the client wants to reach is different from the audience they’ve traditionally reached.

The more we understand the people on the other side of the marketing, the more intentional we can be with the strategy, messaging, creative, and media.

And sometimes, the most valuable insight comes from simply asking the client, “What do you wish more people understood about your organization?”

4. What has worked well for you in the past, and what hasn’t?

A new client relationship doesn’t start with a blank slate.

Clients have likely worked with other agencies, vendors, internal teams, or marketing partners before.

They’ve had experiences that shaped what they value and what they may be hesitant about.

Understanding those experiences can help us work better together from day one.

Maybe they loved having regular communication. Maybe they felt like they were often left out of the process. Maybe a particular marketing tactic worked extremely well. Maybe something that looked great on paper didn’t deliver the results they expected.

Asking about both the successes and the frustrations gives an Account Manager valuable insight into how to build a better partnership.

5. How do you like to work?

This might be one of the most important questions of all.

Every client has a different communication style. Some want frequent updates and regular meetings. Others prefer to let the agency take the lead and connect when decisions need to be made.

Some clients like to review work in detail. Others want the big picture. Some have a very collaborative approval process, while others have several people who need to weigh in.

There isn’t one right way to work together.

As an Account Manager, I want to understand what communication looks like for each client, who needs to be involved, how decisions are made, and what they need from us to feel confident in the work.

When we understand how our clients like to work, we can adapt our approach and create a partnership that feels natural for everyone involved.

The Right Questions Build Better Partnerships

A new client relationship is an opportunity to start fresh, build trust, and create a strong foundation for the work ahead.

The right questions can help an Account Manager understand more than just a marketing objective. They can uncover the client’s expectations, experiences, challenges, goals, and communication style.
And ultimately, that understanding makes us better partners.

For me, being an Account Manager is about more than managing projects and keeping timelines on track. It’s about listening, asking questions, connecting the dots, and making sure our clients feel like they have someone in their corner.

Because great marketing starts with great partnerships.