Your Ad Strategy Isn’t Broken. Your Communication Is.
Brands lose more money from silence than from CPCs
You’re mid-Prime Day. Performance is soft. The ROAS isn’t there. Your team sees it. But no one says anything.
Why?
Because the client asked for that strategy. And someone on your team thinks pushing back = crossing a line.
That’s how mediocre results happen. Not from bad strategy but from people too scared to challenge it.
The Real Bottleneck: Perceived Authority
Most account managers aren’t stuck because they don’t know what to do—they’re stuck because they don’t think they’re allowed to do it.
When a client says, “Focus on Product X,” and Product X tanks, the team’s left holding the bag. And instead of recalibrating, they freeze.
They’re afraid to pivot. They’re afraid to question. They’re afraid to say, “This isn’t working.”
But if you want to be a strategic partner (not a task rabbit) you have to break that dynamic.
Teach Your Team This Framework
Elizabeth’s coaching her team to respond with clarity, not compliance. Here’s the move:
Recognize the directive. “We know you asked us to push Product X.”
Report the results. “Here’s what we’re seeing in black-and-white.”
Present concerns. “Here’s what we’re worried about if this continues.”
Offer a path forward. “Here are your options. Here’s what we’d recommend.”
That’s what leadership looks like in client communication. It’s not “Do what you’re told.” It’s “Here’s the reality. Let’s make the right call together.”
Transparency Builds Trust
What do clients actually want?
Not perfection. Not 10x promises. Just honesty.
Michael said it best: brands don’t want to be gaslit. They want to know someone’s steering the ship and telling them when there’s a storm ahead.
The teams that win are the ones who speak up first:
“Here’s what’s happening.”
“Here’s what we’re doing about it.”
“Here’s how we’ll prevent it in the future.”
You don’t lose a client by being honest. You lose them by hiding until it’s too late.
Strategy Without Communication Is Just a Guess
If your team’s afraid to flag issues, your system’s broken. Fix that first. Because no one scales scared.
Permission-based account management isn’t scalable. Empower your team to speak the truth early, often, and with data to back it up.
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