Account director vs client services director

The differences between account directors and client services directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an account director and a client services director. Additionally, a client services director has an average salary of $117,337, which is higher than the $114,728 average annual salary of an account director.

The top three skills for an account director include account management, project management and work ethic. The most important skills for a client services director are client service, customer service, and business development.

Account director vs client services director overview

	Account Director	Client Services Director
Yearly salary	$114,728	$117,337
Hourly rate	$55.16	$56.41
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	132,260	103,218
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does an account director do?

An account director is responsible for managing client accounts, monitoring budgets, and sales forecasting. Their goal is to maintain stable account management strategies, meet clients' demands, develop healthy professional partnerships that would generate revenues, increase profitability, and achieve the organization's long-term goals objectives. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.

What does a client services director do?

A client services director is responsible for maintaining healthy business relationships with clients, ensuring that operational teams provide the highest quality services for the clients, following their deliverables and business requirements. Client services directors oversee project management procedures, identifying inconsistencies, and revising business plans to improve outputs and achieve client satisfaction. They also recommend cost-reduction techniques, as well as processes to maximize productivity and enhance the utilization of resources. A client services director coordinates with the clients for progress updates, as well as informing them of adjustments and opportunities for business development.

Account director vs client services director salary

Account directors and client services directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Director	Client Services Director
Average salary	$114,728	$117,337
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $158,000	Between $84,000 And $162,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	BuzzFeed	First Republic Bank
Best paying industry	Professional	Technology

Differences between account director and client services director education

There are a few differences between an account director and a client services director in terms of educational background:

	Account Director	Client Services Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Account director vs client services director demographics

Here are the differences between account directors' and client services directors' demographics:

	Account Director	Client Services Director
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%	Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between account director and client services director duties and responsibilities

Account director example responsibilities.

Manage coordination with HCP agencies for launch.
Manage the development and creation of print and broadcast advertising and in-store merchandising.
Manage relationships with all GPO pharmacy, medical device, and physician preference teams.
Manage client accounts as well as introducing cross selling into other verticals to increase the portfolio.
Manage RFP / RFI process and drive all opportunities that provide a consultative, long-term solution and support.
Increase clients SEO rankings and achieve first page placement both locally and nationally for highly search phrases for a client.

Client services director example responsibilities.

Manage both internal personnel and external vendor relationships for web development, SEO, and SEM projects.
Lead full cycle implementations of SaaS solution from requirements building, through application development, QA/UAT, and production migration.
Manage SLA agreements with major clients, ensuring that all stakeholders are in compliance with the provisions of the agreement.
Reconfigure and optimize Salesforce capabilities to better track and manage accounts.
Manage and facilitate new hire orientation, administer employment on-boarding process for contingent workforce, process and audit weekly contingent payroll.
Maintain effective fiscal management of caseload by accurately processing field payroll, monitoring caseload metrics and managing billing and pay rates.

Account director vs client services director skills

Common account director skills

Account Management, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
Healthcare, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Email Marketing, 4%

Common client services director skills

Client Service, 11%
Customer Service, 8%
Business Development, 7%
Excellent Interpersonal, 4%
Project Management, 4%
Healthcare, 4%

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Account Director
Account Director vs Client Services Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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