Given the fluidity of the marketplace companies are seeking ever more effective ways to generate new business but with a caveat. The old approach of utilising new business companies that literally throw teams of uninformed personnel at campaigns are finding the going tough as more strategic and tactical players are entering the marketplace.
The use of business intelligence is creating this change primarily because the majority of targets want to hear how you, as an agency, can help them from that first call. You cannot, particularly at Director Level, offer the valuable insight required that puts you ahead of your competitors without the understanding of what might be needed by doing your homework beforehand.
A plethora of online sources can now assist in this process and, with a keen eye, the more niche players who know what they are looking for can open that door of opportunity far more succinctly than through a generic cold call.
These strategic thinkers still represent a small minority of outsourced new business consultancies but they are growing primarily because agencies understand that the relationship between themselves and their chosen outsourced partners needs to be far more closer than has been the case to date. Generic new business companies struggle to get to grip with an agencies proposition because they do not get close enough to their client in understanding the USP’s, developing a two or three pronged approach through tactical targeting and reflecting this with the pre-call intelligence gathering essential to opening the proverbial door of opportunity – you get one chance at C-Level and agencies are recognising this, hence why the niche players will prove more successful in the long run.
Play to your strengths as an agency but also be brave when looking at diversification into new sectors – if you can show valuable intelligence within a virgin area you will still be successful in winning new opportunities as you have made the effort in understanding where the weaknesses are. And an agency that can stand out in new ground may well be taken on because if they have not been immersed in the sector for years and their refreshing approach may prove very attractive for a prospect looking for a different take on the issue at hand.
Thanks as always for reading.
