Starting Work on a Difficult Account: First Call Tips

Updated September 2026: in 2019 I wrote about agreeing, somewhat reluctantly, to support another opportunity from the account my team found hardest, and finding the first call with the delivery contact smoother than expected. I have rewritten it as a guide to starting work on an account with a difficult reputation.

I was unsure about this one. My manager did not have the best relationship with me and tended to give me the complicated work. Still, trusting him this time, I told the other manager I could support the opportunity, even though it came from the most difficult account in our team. After finishing the previous opportunity from that account, I hoped this would be easier. I contacted the delivery person to get the background and understand how much work I would need to do. The first call was smoother than I expected. The request seemed straightforward, and I already had a standard set of slides that fitted.

Why do some accounts get a bad reputation?

Usually because of a few painful deals: frequent changes, short deadlines or difficult individuals. The reputation then sticks, even when the people or the work change.

What should you ask in the first call?

• What the client has asked for, in their words.
• The deadline and any interim reviews.
• Who decides on the final content.
• What was sent before to this client, so you can reuse it.
• What went wrong last time, so you can avoid it.

How do you protect yourself on a difficult account?

Write down what was agreed after each call and send it to everyone involved. Keep a list of changes and their dates. If the work grows, the record makes it easy to explain why timelines move.

Should you accept work from a manager you do not fully trust?

Sometimes it is worth giving it a chance, as I did. Agree the scope and your time commitment up front, and tell both managers if it changes. That way you are covered whichever way it goes.

What if it turns out easy?

Enjoy it, and note what made it smooth. Those notes help change the account's reputation and make the next request easier to accept.

Keep reading

• Manager Asking for Status Every Few Minutes? Fixes
• A Proposal Deck in One Week: Start With the Storyline
• Asked for a Draft by End of Day? When to Say Not Yet