Pt 32 - Make Hay – We’re In Boom Time!

Not quite – but the green shoots are there. And there is significant opportunity to gain significant new business with a succinct approach.

How do we know this? The two-step approach highlighted this as fact. The first step was to go to a sample of agencies (appx 100) and ask the pertinent question – how is new business activity?  The second step was to ask what has been organic and what has been from cold?

In October last year growth was predominantly organic. Now the split is 25% organic and 75% completely new. Evidence, if any was needed, of the green shoots that are evident.

The news media may well highlight the negative economic factors and uncertainty that prevails but there are still a sufficient number of organisations that need to continually push the boundaries of activity, companies that are young and need support in raising their profile. You also only have to look at the FTSE fast track listings to see that good news does exist across a multitude of sectors.

It is important to continually focus on your strengths, particularly in these testing times. Alliances between agencies continue to grow where synergy exists for services to be bolted on to build up the proverbial war chest.

There is a multitude of ways to develop new business streams, some not as evident on first glance, but the need to be a little braver even in challenging times is essential for continued growth.  And whilst we are not necessarily in boom time within the wider arena, there are agencies that are in substantial growth mode. These have realised that alliances, a more focussed approach to new business and a realignment of their businesses as a whole was needed to ensure that not only did they survive difficult trading conditions but that they also made significant movement growth wise.

We are now getting into the more strategic and tactical work we carry out and we’ll expand upon this in the series to come but thanks, as always, for reading to this point.

Pt 32 – Engage No 1!

Making strong inroads with your new business has been and will always be down to timing. Whilst there is a continuous flow of ad-hoc projects the real opportunities are timed according to sector nuances, typical review times for clients and similar.

The failure to make significant new business gains does not necessarily come from lack of contact but from not making a note when timing might be better for a call. We would say 90% of calls made where the timing is out gets the response call me back in 1 month, 2 months, 3 months etc. How many of these calls are actually made? Near to none. We never fail to get the detail, make a note and follow up.

Bear in mind the majority of new business activity should be intelligence led timing should be less of an issue. But if time is at a premium, and the initial pre-work can’t be done in terms of the intelligence gathering, their needs to be due diligence when noting the timing of follow-up calls - and they need to be made.

Whilst a small percentage of these typical timing responses may well be a palm off, as in go away, the majority will be factual. If you actually specifically ask for a typical timetable of reviews 9 out of 10 times you’ll get the detail. Why? Because the prospect is trying to engineer one less call within the intervening period and, if you work to this regime, you’ll make more friends than lost prospects. You’re also likely to get more active opportunities and the all important healthy pipeline.

On a last point, deduct two weeks for the timed call back – this avoids the dreaded “you’re too late” scenario. Remember their timing might be the start, middle or end of a pitch process. Call slightly earlier and you’ll avoid the disappointment of such a response.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Pt 30 – Fire in the Hold!

Burning the proverbial bridge has always been the negative aspect of new business activity. Why? Because, both internal personnel and external new business agencies have historically, and continue to play, the scattergun numbers approach.

Our typical burn rate, if we need to call it something, is 0.5%. How is this possible? Because given the pre-work put in to identifying targets with each and every client we develop a deep understanding as to the reasoning behind contacting a specific prospect. With a far more focussed approach the burn rate is reduced vastly so over a typical 12 month period, starting with an average target audience of 200, we’ll still have a base of 120+ at the end of this period, even at a meeting rate of 6 per month (which typically is the level required by clients on a monthly basis).

This does not take into account referral opportunities, work with lapsed clients and the like but gives you a good feel as the difference of approach and the minimisation of the burn ratio.

Given that some of the successes will no doubt come with companies that have multiple divisions there is even greater opportunity for organic growth through these new relationships. This should further leave fertile ground as such.

We always emphasise the need for this focussed approach. Fed with relevant business intelligence, new business activity can become a formidable force in growing any agency.

With the hope this insight proves useful but please remember it is purely our opinion. One though, we believe, works.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Pt 29 - Power To Business Intelligence

What’s worse? Making a cold call to someone who you are unsure as to the relevance of contact or to a telephone number without a pertinent starting point? Both offer dead ends of opportunity and both scenarios, alongside similar, can be avoided.

With a little bit of homework you can clarify these points and avoid the pitfalls of cold calling in particular. And not only can you avoid them but you can also gain valuable insight into what is on a particular targets mind. This puts you ahead of the game in terms of having a tangible conversation with the prospects and entirely avoids the cold approach.

We know we have covered this area before but it cannot be emphasised enough the importance of background activity prior to making a call. You sometimes only get one opportunity to converse with your chosen contact so make it a barn stormer of a call. They’ll appreciate the effort you have put in to ensure you are not wasting their time and are more likely to converse openly with you on the chosen channel you have approached them about.

Remember the saying – it’s not just who you know it’s also what you know. How you know the intelligence can also be a serious door opener but take care given that some intelligence should never reach the public domain. All companies are aware it happens so when approaching a prospect, word your initial conversation piece delicately so as to avoid any issues. If the intelligence comes from an open source ie. a business network then it can be treated as such but other that comes from more personal or restricted sources should be treated with appropriate care.

We hope this detail proves useful and thanks, as always, for reading.

Pt 29 – The Targeting Conundrum

We’ve all experienced the difficulty in putting together a succinct list of targets when prospecting for new business. Where do you start?

We tend to break this down into four key areas:

•       Must-haves – those targets that fit with the ethos, pedigree and service capability of the agency

•       Lapsed – those companies that we’ve had previous relationships with but have fallen by the wayside just due to time pressures

•       Generics – the bread and butter targets that still sit within the service offering as being appropriate but offer a lower level but regular revenue stream , the bedrock of the agency in effect. A particular important stream which avoids the pitfalls of having just one major client supporting the business. Great whilst it lasts but a dangerous commercial position to be in as many will testify.

•       Black book – these comprise of the network contacts that have not been utilised to this point, referrals to be picked up and connections that exist within the framework of a network and are there to be approached.

There might appear to be a very simple logic within this process but this roadmap for targeting works effectively when you add scenarios such as targeted virals, as an example, where you can tweek the message to suit the target audience on an ongoing basis.

Within a variety of agencies there are of course other more personal relationships that can be called upon but these do need to be handled carefully to ensure avoidance of conflict. A good example of this was an engineering company that an agency supported with their internal comms. Given the relationship had been established with a central head office, when you scratched under the surface, we found over 50 separate offices with their own marketing activity. All had seen the internal comms work so were aware of the quality of the output and the majority engaged over a 12 month period. That created multiple revenue streams that were not evident at first glance.

These are our thoughts and they by no means cover all the bases but should act as a useful starting point particularly from a tactical perspective.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Pt 28 – The Shop That’s Closed For Business

We’re going to just run through our thoughts on an agency’s shop window.

So many agencies are now incorporating their digital capabilities within their service offering but are falling down on their own ability to portray their capability within their online presence.

Let’s put ourselves for a moment in the shoes of the prospect. They are approached by a multitude of agencies plying their wares so one of the first places they will look will be the agency website. If an agency has stated that its capabilities encompass the basic premise of design and build then why do so many have an online presence where functionality and content fail to inspire? If it fails to inspire the prospect they are hardly going to come running with a brief. And with regard the more technical aspects of delivery, again failure to portray such skills will lead down the same road.

The agency website is core to the delivery of new business particularly where digital is concerned.  Agencies need to really focus on getting their message across with such things as an embedded show reel or at the very least the same functionality, design capabilities and illustration that they are taking to their target audience.

We obviously take on board that all agencies have varying levels of available budget but if they do really smart work then they should shout about it through the online presence and then escalate the message of ability through the social media and business networks. The more activity carried out along these lines the greater the chance of picking up new business opportunities through this strategic approach which will only compliment all other existing new business development.

You’ll sense some passion in our thoughts but it’s frustrating to come across an agency that delivers exceptional work but where the message gets lost through poor illustration via their own chosen communication channels.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Pt 27 – The Cancelled Opportunities

One of the main frustrations in new business life is the opportunities that appear so alive with potential but then fall by the wayside through no fault of your own.

From a meeting that gets cancelled due to changes internally due to the worst case scenario, turning up for a meeting and receiving the blank look as if to say – who are you?

This is where it is so important to maintain the dialogue, even via email, within the period of appointing and actually attending. Given diaries are ever changing, for all concerned, ensuring that the confirmation goes out on the day of arranging the meeting is essential as it is still front of mind. Leave it a few days and it could get lost in the ether. And even more important, if you have the facility, send an additional meeting invite out to follow the confirmation. This will place it in everyone’s diary and it is then cemented.

Adding value though is important from the outset so why not outline an agenda for the meeting based on the initial discussions – this gives cause to focus for both parties and emphasises further the understanding and potential synergy between the two parties.  It also re-iterates the point that you listened and have expressed sincere interest in helping beyond the initial meeting.

You now have a fine balancing act – if the period in question between setting the meeting and actually meeting is longer than a few weeks keep an eye out for any news or event that re-iterates the agency’s pedigree that keeps the prospect engaged with you – however loosely.

The above may sound like common sense but all parties to the agreement are notoriously tenuous when it comes to having ongoing structure in place so they are all important steps. By keeping in touch you may also garner a further referral or even an additional opportunity that may not have been the case had you just confirmed without these procedures.

Thanks, as always, for reading.