A structured daily routine for account managers to stay ahead of client issues, avoid surprises on calls, and maintain a high standard of service. These practices emerged from a post-mortem on the [1] account, where a HubSpot marketing automation went unmonitored for two months — a failure that damaged client trust and required escalation.
Account managers should never be surprised on a client call. Everything a client is likely to ask about should already be open, reviewed, and understood before the call begins.
At the start of each day, visit each client's website and do a quick click-through:
Why it matters: Server-wide issues (e.g., bot traffic spikes causing 500 errors) or site-specific problems (e.g., broken redirects causing 400 errors) can go unnoticed for days if no one is actively checking. See [2] for context on how one client's traffic can affect others.
Review your active task list for each client:
Consider keeping a physical or pinned reference of each client's retainer scope — the 5–7 things they're paying for — so nothing falls through the cracks.
For clients with marketing automation, email sequences, or scheduled campaigns:
Example failure mode: A HubSpot automation was built in October with a "manually enrolled" trigger. No one checked it. By December, zero emails had sent — and the client discovered this live on a call. The fix took three minutes; the trust damage took much longer to repair.
Before any client call, spend 10–15 minutes preparing:
A client noticing a problem before you do is a trust-eroding event. A client seeing you already aware of a problem — and working on it — is a trust-building event.
For each client, maintain a clear understanding of:
This is especially important during [3], where institutional knowledge is at risk of being lost.
If you notice something wrong — a traffic drop, a stalled automation, an unanswered client email — surface it immediately. Do not wait for the client to bring it up.
Use internal tools like [4] (when available) to get a centralized view of Google Ads, Search Console, and site health across all accounts.
| Time | Task |
|---|---|
| Morning | Check all client sites for errors |
| Morning | Review task list against retainer scope |
| Morning | Verify automations and campaigns are running |
| Pre-call | Open all relevant tools before the call |
| Pre-call | Review last call's commitments |
| Pre-call | Anticipate top 3–5 client questions |
| Ongoing | Surface issues before clients do |