New Biz Wiz: Five Easy Steps You Can Take At the End of The Year to Drive Growth

Five Easy Steps You Can Take At the End of The Year to Drive Growth

The year is almost over. If you work at a small to mid-sized ad agency or other small service industry business, chances are your company is scrambling to get client work in good shape before the end of the year. Since your job requires you to juggle multiple priorities, you may find yourself working late every night to make sure you can get everything done - and done well. But you also have to develop a plan for growing business for your agency in the New Year.

You totally agree that this is important, however you are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment so you have put new business initiatives on the back burner. You haven't even begun to think about your holiday shopping or to plan the festivities for the twenty relatives who are coming to town in a few weeks. In fact, when Cathy in the cubicle across from your office happily chirps she's gotten everything done for the holidays as she skips out of the office at 5PM, and Brad smiles smugly and says his wife worries about all that stuff, you have to fight the urge to throw something at them.

To make things worse, you know that as you procrastinate, your biggest competitors are making friends and developing relationships with the prospective clients you have been salivating over. You've read all the press on them touting their latest client wins so you know they have found ways to service their current clients and proactively pursue new prospects at the same time. You also have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach that they have a healthy pipeline of new leads that could have been yours.

STOP WORRYING AND GO FOR IT!

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. Making a new business action plan doesn’t have to be a long and laborious process as long as you already have a clear company UVP (Unique Value Proposition) also known as USP (Unique Selling Proposition), Brand Positioning Statement that all internal stakeholders have embraced, marketing materials and sales tools in place and you have designated new business hunter(s) who are ready and raring to go. (If your agency does not have any of these assets, forget about what I said about this being simple and easy. Your agency hasn't done the work necessary to help win new clients and you will face an uphill battle. It might be time to talk with your boss about what is realistic.)

Assuming you have a designated hunter or hunters who are prepped and ready and your company has a clear brand positioning strategy and marketing tools in place, following the 5 steps listed below can get the ball rolling fairly quickly, without killing yourself or your agency team.

Step 1: Choose a specific new business growth goal for the New Year. Here are a few examples:

Increased revenue from total new business by X percent
X number of new clients from X industry
X number of closed proposals
X number of retainer clients
Other?

Step 2: Confirm the following:

Average size of the businesses you want to target (revenue, number of employees - Fortune 1000, Local businesses etc.)
Industry category (choose one or two at most)
Geographic target

Step 3: Based on your new business growth goals identified in Step 1:

Estimate how many proposals/estimates it will take to win enough new business to achieve your growth goals. (Use past data to help you figure this out. If you have not been keeping track of this give it your best guess. IE "On average we win 1 out of 4 proposals we pitch.")
Estimate how many meetings with new qualified prospects your agency will need to schedule per week or month order to generate the number of proposals/estimates you will need to achieve your average win. Set that as a goal.
Estimate how many initial and repeated calls/emails/ per prospect it will take a day to get your number of meetings goal. Set that as a goal.
Develop a prospect list that has enough qualified contacts on it to reach the goals above.

Step 4: Review your prospect list to make sure that you have eliminated prospects that are not qualified and added those that are. Make sure the list has the decision-maker contact information in it (email and direct phone number). If you do not have a qualified prospect list – you need to make one right away. If you have the budget for it, you can subscribe to list sources to do this quickly. If you don't have the budget for this, it will take longer to get the information you will need to avoid gate-keepers. You might want to get an intern to help here.

Step 5: DO IT! Using a combination of your agency’s positioning and your target industry/category hot buttons in prospect communications, your hunter can start making those calls and sending emails now to set up meetings. They should use a CRM program like Salesforce to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Is that all ????

Is this all there is to new business development? Certainly not. I wrote this article to provide an easy action plan for procrastinators with good intentions. Executing these tactics ASAP could help your business win new client projects as soon as in the first quarter. If your agency's average sales cycle is longer, making new connections now can work to begin new relationships and build rapport with these decision-makers to help generate future new business opportunities.

So, stop rationalizing that client work always comes first as a reason for not putting together a new business plan for the New Year. If you wait until things slow down and your company is desperate to win new business, you will be behind the game. You will have a much better chance of reaching your growth goals sooner if you actually take action to make them happen now.

Whatever your goals are, if you want to see a busy first quarter, don’t wait, go for it now. You have nothing to lose.

By Laureen Peck

Interested in learning about more new business development strategies for ad agencies? Check out any of the following articles:

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READER’S COMMENTS:

Alexei Alankin, Marketing Director, City Eventions: "I actually printed your article and made it a mandatory read for all my staff because I felt that it was that relevant, so thank you so much for contributing that and the inconsiderate liars section is my favorite; I feel like I deal with that EVERY SINGLE DAY from every agency; but then again budgets are just rough right now for everybody and its difficult to say what the reason is for RFP's to go nowhere."

Tom Walsh, Creative Director at Noble Communications Co:"..Your list of 8 points should be posted on the wall of every agency account team. Open communication and developing a strong agency/client partnership needs to be a daily effort. Unfortunately, the current economic environment and agency staffing cuts will put even more pressure on those fragile client relationships...."

Elizabeth Walker, President at Marketing Masters: "I teach a course in Negotiation Skills as part of the Masters Certificate in Marketing Communications Leadership at the Schulich School of Business, York University - I will absolutely be using this post and comments as part of that course. part of negotiating is knowing both sides of the equation, This is a great discussion and especially relevant."

Brigitte Casemyr, President at Turfbuilder Marketing, LLC: "Laureen, Right on with your observations! The situations you describe in your blog apply indeed to many more services/industries. There's a fine line between meeting with prospects and sharing enough information to convince them that you know how to help them, and giving them so much that they end up thinking they can do it themselves! They never do though, and at that point, I would not want them as clients! At one of my clients, the president put together a straight forward process, which he calls 'the upfront contract'. Companies kicking the tires and wanting to see demonstrations etc., won't get it until they've agreed to state their requirements, and then the demonstration will be tailored accordingly. Works for his business. Personally, I've learned that it's OK to spend a few hours meeting with prospects, letting them pick my brains, hoping they'll make the decision to hire me. If they do, I know that they've been impressed by my knowledge and results. If they do not, oh well."

Freddie McKenna, Independent Marketing and Advertising Professional: " Hi, Laureen. Your article, 'Your Clients Look Tasty. Can I Have a Bite?' pretty much sums it up in my book as well. Here's a couple more for your list, from the creative end: The agency didn't understand our brand and kept coming up with creative that did not fit our look, tone and feel, and campaigns that felt disjointed from one to the next. or The agency did not take our research into account. They never bothered to really understand our target, and kept coming up with creative that was clever but way off base."

Brooke Kenney, Owner, Brookenney Creative: "It is my opinion that the whole spec work thing is a bad thing. And has been for a very long time. What other industry "gives" its work away to get more work? This trend, which I believe, became prevalent in the 80's, when creative "boutiques" needed to compete with larger agencies. They would try to level the playing field by doing some work as an example of their process and execution. Fallon is a good example; they would pour hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into a pitch, to prove they were not just creative, but strategic, too. Unfortunately, over time it has become the norm rather than the exception. Today, even smaller clients expect some form of spec at the pitch to judge your thinking. Just showing your portfolio is no longer sufficient and is now viewed almost as a function of "job seeking". So chances are there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. The best spec pitches are those where the prospect has a development budget built into the pitch, to offset some of the costs."

Shari Greer: "From personal experience as an Ad Manager for an equipment company: Three agencies wanted the biz. The boss said 'let's look at some ideas' The three agencies all did some 'spec' work for the interview and when they were finished, the boss said ' we can use some of each and not have to hire anyone'.. I say this because there are people out there that will run you ragged and not ever plan to do business. It's your brand, and your reputation that is respected. Showing past work is great but to do something specific can lead you to a huge waste of time. Not all clients have the 'right reasons' for asking for spec work. Best to stand together in this industry and say 'no'.

Spyropoulos: "Bottom line the harder things get the more hoops appear - it's not rocket science to figure out that when clients are tightening belts they need to know as close to EXACTLY what they are about to blow a few million on AND what the expected return is - so if your agency isn't willing to jump over that extra hurdle you can bet there is one that will - the trick I think is shrinking the time between hurdles. I've been on too many meetings with unprepared creative managers that ask the same questions over and over again and the client comes back with the same answers which is usually - here's our target - give us your ideas - and as if their ideas are some holy grail of marketing people drop them out one at a time - if I were the client I'd like to look at a several concepts and choose. Not get spoon-fed someone's ego a bite at a time. Sorry to burst the creative bubble but even an idiot can have a good idea - won't do him any good if it just sits in his skull."

Marc "50% of an agencies time in any new business pitch needs to be in assessing the quality and moral character of the prospective clients executives. Most good new business folks can smell a liar and cheat from 1000 miles away. The manner in which they speak, if they try to sell you harder than you are selling them, their track record. If they ask you to jump through hoops, ask them to do some jumping back. If they fight run, don't walk, away."

Jack : "From my experience, if we produce a spec for an agency to take to the pitch, they will usually beat other agencies. This happened once this year and thrice last. In many cases, it appears that a discussion on creative can be interpreted differently by each member of the meeting, whereas a presentation of the media speaks for itself. This is just my experience and it could be isolated."

Sweetpea Peck, Best Dog in the World, Trusted Supporter & Confidant: "Arf! Arf!"

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ABOUT ME

I have a successful track record of prospecting for and closing national accounts that have generated millions of dollars in gross billings for the agencies I have worked for. But don't take my word for it. Here's what others say about me:

TESTIMONIALS

“Tenacity, persistence, and unquenchable optimism are some of the admirable qualities Laureen brought to her business development role at MTC. Coupled with strong research skills, exceptional written communication skills, and confident public speaking, Laureen gave her all to the uphill battle of expanding our agency’s expertise into new categories. Having achieved several notable wins for us in the energy category, she also contributed by adding a number of new clients to our real estate portfolio. An outstanding advocate for our firm, Laureen’s skills extend from opening doors through pitch development and closing the sale. Every day, no matter what the adversity, Laureen showed-up with a smile on her face and sensitivity in her heart.”

Glenn Towle, Partner, Merrick Towle Communications

"Laureen is the most effective business development professional at securing appointments at the "C" level I've ever had the opportunity to work with. Her organizational skills, analytic approach, and tenacity lead to successful meetings, presentations, and proposals with top decision makers. She is a rare find at a time when business development is the most important lifeline to an organization's success." - Mark Blankenship, Former CEO, Barton Cotton Inc., Former President/COO at Euro RSCG, Chicago

“She was a true champion of the agency and was able to get us into a number of new business pitches that were typically reserved for much larger agencies. Laureen was instrumental in nearly doubling the size of the agency through the addition of a number of large technology accounts that broadened the scope of work and expertise at Siquis Ltd.” - Seth J. Katzen, CEO - SethJoseph & Co., LLC, Former Senior VP of Client Services, Siquis Ltd.

“Laureen did an amazing job of opening doors for Rauxa. Through her research, depth of understanding of the prospects’ unique marketing goals and strategic positioning of Rauxa's capabilities, she was able to make connections that will pay huge dividends for Rauxa in the months and years to come.”- Michelle Larsh, Managing Director, Rauxa Direct, San Francisco, CA

“Laureen is a top-notch business development person. Her approach to new business is systematic, thorough and effective. She has produced tremendous results by finding and developing marketing solutions for prospects, researching, and framing their business and goals.” - Mark Capps, Senior Account Management Strategist, The Hacker Group, Former Managing Director, Rauxa Direct, Seattle, WA, & Former Senior VP, Marketing, Siquis Ltd.

“Laureen was truly a door opener for us at NetPlus. With her commitment and business acumen, she was able to gain us entry into top notch companies. And once we were able to get a meeting, her value didn't disappear; she is great prior to the pitch, developing strategy, and in the room as a presenter- a true asset to any company.” - Spencer Lewis, Online Marketing Expert & Former Client Services Director, NetPlus Marketing

"Laureen's writing is smart and concise; she uses language that cuts to the core of what she is presenting and makes it infinitely clear that she has done her research and preparation. She has a natural ability to bring complex thoughts and ideas together into an easy to understand unique selling proposition." - Parissa Snider, Director, Strategic Communications, Marketing & PR

“Laureen Peck was amongst the best I have seen in my 20 years at Barton Cotton at getting new business appointments with qualified decision-makers at top NPOs, which allowed for the development of new business growth. Laureen is enthusiastic, dedicated, and most importantly successful in achieving the goals provided to her.” - Michelle Watt, Vice President, Account Services, Barton Cotton

For more information on my background, Go to: www.linkedin.com/in/laureenpeck

WHY DID I START THIS BLOG?

I have a strong desire to give something back to the industry and community that has fed and clothed me since 1991. I am an experienced Business Development and Marketing Strategy professional who has worked for Full-service Advertising, Interactive Marketing and Direct Marketing agencies for almost 18 years. My hope is that New Biz Wiz will become a trusted resource for those of us who hunt for and bring home prime game that will satisfy us and our hungry agency tribes.

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Five Easy Steps You Can Take At the End of The Year to Drive Growth

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