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Select A Growth Plan That Hits The Target

May 7, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk Leave a Comment

Learn How Agencies Grow By Outscoring Their Competition With Better New Business Processes – Not Better Advertising or PR

Over the past many years Sanders Consulting Group has developed important new thinking on how agencies and PR firms really grow. This new thinking is concentrated in five critical processes:

There are no gray areas. New business plans must be specific, actionable and written down.

Bullseye! There are no gray areas. New business plans must be specific, actionable and written down.

THE OUTREACH PROCESS: The building of long-term relationships with a large number of prospects is now seen as the primary focus for any new business program. The ever changing social technology makes this more of an opportunity than ever.

THE OPPORTUNITY PROCESS: The success of any agency new business program can be measured in opportunities. How many visits with prospects does an agency get? How many request presentations does the agency receive? The process for developing these opportunities is a critical growth skill.

THE CHEMISTRY PROCESS: the importance of chemistry is now understood more than ever as agencies are selected primarily because “they better meet our expectations.” That’s a client’s way of describing chemistry. And the process of controlling chemistry is a vital growth skill.

THE FIRST MEETING PROCESS: The importance of the face-to-face meeting between senior-level managers on the agency side with senior-level executives from the prospect’s firm cannot be overemphasized and where the new business win really occurs. Agency search consultants report that most senior agency executives don’t understand the process and therefore fumble the opportunity.

THE FAST CLOSE PROCESS: Agencies with the skill to fast close accounts within 48-hours in some cases and 7-days in other cases are missing numerous growth opportunities. The only reason so many clients end up using formal reviews to select agencies and PR firms is that one or maybe two agencies missed the chance to close the account early because that firm had no fast close process in place and could not read the signals being flashed.

New business is a game of processes. And without proper new business processes, an agency doesn’t grow.

Final Note: If you do find your firm involved in a formal review, a pitch you really want to win, please make sure you understand the 12 keys to winning any presentation. And check out these other links to help you win:

The way to learn these important processes is to call Sanders Consulting Group.

Photo by ~toothdekay

 

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

5 Most Common Mistakes in New Business Outreach

May 1, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk 1 Comment

A great relationship starts with a gentle touch.

Outreach is vital for new business, building awareness about your firm, and an important way to express your interest in your prospect’s industry. Most agencies seem to be making the same mistakes, over and over, when it comes to doing outreach. Here is a quick overview of the five most common mistakes we see, along with a check list, to help you fix your new business outreach.

  1. No Plan: Failure to plan is a plan for failure. And so it goes with outreach, which seems to be a haphazard effort at most marketing firms. Establish a clear plan, roles and responsibilities, and resources for effective outreach. An effective outreach plan must outline target companies, set up a calendar, create a rolling effort that builds awareness and relationships, and tracks the number of leads coming in. It’s our belief that every prospect on your list should be “touched” at least 19 times over the course of a year. If a mailer goes out, call behind it. Twice if you don’t get through the first time. Invite them to an event. Send a holiday card, a note on something your firm did for a benefit. A friendly reminder about an industry conference. And more. Then, most importantly, stick with it!
  2. Too Much Interference: The number one issue we see in most marketing firms is allowing other work to interfere with regular outreach. Outreach is the single most important activity your firm can do to generate leads. And leads drive new business. If you allow day-to-day client work to interrupt your outreach then you have to look into firing your agency’s marketing firm. Wait… your firm doesn’t have a marketing firm? Exactly. Treat your firm is your number one client and don’t let other work get in the way. Or find a way to fire yourself.
  3. No Nudging: It’s worthless to work hard on building awareness and establishing relationships if no one is going to follow up on a regular basis by “nudging.” Nudging is what friends do for friends, sending your warm prospects a regular stream of interesting articles, notes, birthday wishes and more. This is much more impactful than sales calls or mailings, less expensive, and more personal. Does your agency do “nudging?” What impact would this have if a competitive agency was nudging your clients?
  4. Have a Attitude: Outreach without a good new business attitude is bad business. Most agencies have a negative feeling about having to do outreach. They continually tell themselves that “we too smart, too good, to have to stoop to this sort of activity.” Agencies who think positively focus on the great things their brand can do for prospects. They have a good new business attitude. Consequently, they feel powerful. They feel optimistic. They rise to challenges. Powerful thoughts make you feel potent and help you act to influence the situation for the better to make new business happen.
  5. Not Picking Up The Phone: Too many firms rely on social media, email, and perhaps a little direct mail. They never ever pick up the phone and call. And if they do call, they have no idea about what to do, how to leave a message, or what questions to ask should they get someone on the line. So after a few aborted attempts, they just quit. We strongly suggest you reach out behind every touch, and never-ever leave your number, or ask for a call back. That’s sales, and very annoying. Just leave a friendly message, breezy, checking in, no need to call back. Outreach is about building relationships. Know exactly why you’re calling, what you expect to get out of the call, and have a great list of questions – just in case.

Here’s What To Check If You Aren’t Getting Enough Leads:
•        Outreach system set up? Good Plan?
•        Good list of prospects?
•        Regular outreach going out?
•        Call twice behind every touch?
•        Working hard?
•        Establishing relationships?
•        Nudging?
•        Know how to go on a first visit? Interview?
•        Brand clearly established in mailings and follow-up?

The result: A constant stream of leads into the agency.

Final Note: The best way to make a bright future for your agency is to help create it with your new business outreach. We call this Sparking. If you aren’t generating many leads, at least one a week, then chances are you aren’t doing outreach. A few links to help:

 

Photo by ~Just–Joshin

 

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Mirror Mirror: Why Agencies Need To Evaluate Their Own Image

April 25, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk Leave a Comment
Today I’m happy to bring you a guest post from Natalie Stezovsky, Vice President for Digital Talent Agency, a great company that helps marketing firms build credibility and trust. New Business Hawk

Take a step back and look in the mirror!

When you’re getting your hair done and it looks like your hairdresser hasn’t tended to her own hair in weeks, it makes you a bit nervous. You might assume she’s not good at her job, right? The same goes for the business world. If the company you are discussing working with has a site that is spammy, lacks credibility, or simply doesn’t look good, you begin to question the quality of the company’s work.

So, let’s dive even deeper into that and take a look at ad agencies. Their purpose is to help share their client’s message in a specific form that’s appealing to the consumer. And for the most part, ad agencies produce really great things for their clients. But do agencies ever take a moment to look in the mirror? For the most part, they don’t. But that’s not because they don’t want to or don’t understand the importance of it — it comes down to a time issue.

As an agency, you’ve got a very specific set of skills, and you’re really good at those skills. It shows in the work you produce for your clients. But it’s also important to understand how prospective clients and the industry views you. You need to show off those skills. And that’s where most agencies fail. They lack the time to focus.

That’s when you need to start looking for a partner who understands your mission, your agency’s voice, and culture. This person or company can help portray your expertise to the outside world.

We’ve heard a lot of mentions of the term “thought leadership,” but how can an agency truly become a credible, trusted thought leader in its industry? It’s crucial to know what thought leadership is and where it can get you. It’s not a pitch about your company or service offerings — it’s about sharing expert content with a specific audience and providing value for the reader.

So what do I need to know to be successful in the realm of content marketing and thought leadership? Understand what questions your customers are asking, answer them in your content, and make sure it’s relatable to the reader. Understand that you’re leading and influencing a conversation. You’re starting a dialogue with your customers in a natural, organic format. As an agency, sharing your expertise will allow you to identify a problem and showcase a solution.

Natalie Stezovsky, Vice President, Digital Talent Agents

Look for outside resources that understand the mission, vision, and voice of your agency to help you create that content. Let your internal team focus on what they do best, but partner with a resource that focuses on this for you — one that has an outside perspective. It won’t be biased, and it will serve as an editorial checkpoint, ensuring that you’re sharing true expert content that isn’t promotional. Because let’s be honest: Neither your readers nor the publications are going to find that content interesting.

Though leadership is just part of public relations, and it shouldn’t be your entire strategy. For agencies, this is a perfect avenue to continuously showcase the company in a positive light and influence a conversation.

Understanding the value of sharing your expertise — and the values of your agency — is going to pay off. It’s going to bring credibility to your agency and work.

Every business aspires to have a constant flow of new business and steady growth. So, take a step back and look in the mirror.

Natalie Stezovsky is a Vice President for DTA, a company that helps experts build their businesses through thought leadership and content marketing. She’s directly involved in developing agency partnerships; when she’s not doing that, she’s usually at the barn with her horses. Connect with her on Twitter @nstezovsky or LinkedIn.
Top Photo by *ben9-3
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Be A Better Creative Firm

April 23, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk Leave a Comment

In a post by Anita Zanesco, a Senior Consultant at TrinityP3, she asks the multi-million dollar question: “How do we get better work from our creative agencies?”

Anita provides 3 very simple, yet often forgotten ways that client’s can help their marketing firm be more creative and provide better ideas. She expands on these 3 critical points in her post:

  1. Spend more TIME working on the brief
  2. Spend more TIME briefing the agency
  3. Give the agency more TIME

I suggest you go and read the whole thing. Anita goes on to close with this thought:

See a pattern emerging? Yes in this time poor world we live in, I am merely suggesting we give everything a bit more time.

Time = thought. Thought = better briefs. Better briefs = better work.

Have a think. It’s worth your time.

This is great and important points from a client perspective, but what about the marketing firm? Here at Sanders Consulting we’ve discussed the concept of time many times. How speed can help you win new business, how you can use time to improve your client service, perhaps rethink your assets, and it just so happens that we recently wrote an article in the Agency Post about how many marketing firms squander time with poor processes, lack of structure, and wasted effort. A copy of it is below the fold.  Read it and as Anita suggest, “have a think” and see about transforming your firm into a true creative powerhouse.

Are Ad Agencies Really Creative? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Are The Real Assets In Your Marketing Firm?

April 9, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Outward vs. Inward Leadership

The Grass is Greener Syndrome

If you want something to change, you must first change how your firm operates internally.

Constantly changing client demands, new marketing technologies and shifting options are all circling overhead, claiming the attention of agency leaders. These red herrings have shifted the focus outward, away from the IMPORTANT day-to-day operation of the agency. As agency leaders focus on the external forces, the tendency is to start creating a mental wish list. Most leaders are always looking over the fence, thinking “gee… the grass sure is greener over there! If only we had award-winning talent. If only we had more money in the budget for xyz. If only we could establish a presence in a more competitive market.” This type of thinking leads to a very reactive way of doing business.

These are the murmurings we hear at agencies of all shapes and sizes. The feeling is that the “environment of opportunity” is a feast fit only for other agencies – the bigger ones, the richer ones, the ones with cool space – whatever excuse one can dream up. No one would argue that some agencies have distinct built-in competitive advantages – better city, recognizable name, big account, etc. But how do you explain occasions where the “best-of-the-best” gets decimated in a drought and the weed-filled lawn suddenly turns a lush green? Clearly, there is more to the equation than meets the eye.

Back To Basics

For every big plan, there is a simple reality to consider: the day-to-day details surrounding the operations of your agency that can make or break your performance in today’s environment of opportunity. And make no mistake, tough economic times create new opportunities. Most agency leaders are focused on maintaining their current position – without first looking at the greater opportunity. What it boils down to is your agency’s ability to manage, develop, and leverage its assets in meeting new challenges and achieving your goals. An agency, even one with deep pockets, that pays no attention to its assets will eventually have nothing to show for themselves but empty pockets.
Agency ASSETs are the Accounts, Specialties, Skills, Experience and Time that define the very who and what of your agency.
Read on and see if you can make the grass greener on your side of the fence…

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Beginning of the Digital Kaboom!

March 27, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

“Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!” Marvin The Martian

“At last, after two thousand years of research, the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.” Marvin The Martian

Many out there claim to know what’s going on with the whole digital revolution we’ve all been talking about. And they may have an inkling about some of the changes. But none of us really know. My gut feeling is that most of us are still waiting for the giant KABOOM, where everything changes, and the world is very different than we know now. Will it ever happen? And if so, when? I believe it will. And it’s closer than we think. And the transformation will be bigger than we have ever dreamed. Truly, we could have an Earth-shattering kaboom.

Think back in the 90s, we were all buzzing about what the Internet would do. The Internet seemed like a magical place, and it would soon transform our world. Early in the 2000s, we were still talking about how it would “very soon” transform our world. And in some ways it has, industries have suffered (newspapers, booksellers) and others have grown (Facebook, Google, Amazon). But how we conduct commerce is just little sparks from the fuse. Much of what we see today is aimed at making a better website and spreading your brand though social media channels. We’re all still talking about how mobile technologies will create even more change – soon. Always “just down the road… this is the year!” The digital revolution is transforming the way we interact with brands… but really nothing transformative has happened to the world. We still live, work and travel much the same way we did 20 years ago. The marketing world is still rolling along, producing ads, in one form or another.

All the little changes, better technology, smart phones, digital boarding passes, are just signs that the fuse has been lit… soon there must be a giant kaboom.

“The Earth? Oh, the Earth will be gone in just a few seconds.” Marvin The Martian

Most people still think of digital marketing as a website linked with Twitter, Facebook and perhaps LinkedIn. But that is not accurate anymore. I pointed out few years ago: “The new market leaders in the next several years will be determined by how well firms embrace the information flow that surrounds their own brand and their customers’ lives.”

The impact of harnessing this information flow in real time has already been seen – just look at how the Obama campaign used just some of the tools emerging online. WSJ Columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote, regretfully, on how the Obama campaign used digital and information to run circles around the Romney campaign:

“I referred to a recent hiring notice from the Obama 2012 campaign. It read like politics as done by Martians: The ‘Analytics Department’ is looking for ‘predictive Modeling/Data Mining’ specialists to join the campaign’s ‘multi-disciplinary team of statisticians,’ which will use ‘predictive modeling’ to anticipate the behavior of the electorate. ‘We will analyze millions of interactions a day, learning from terabytes of historical data, running thousands of experiments, to inform campaign strategy and critical decisions.’

This struck me as “high tech and bloodless.” I didn’t quite say it, but it all struck me as inhuman, unlike any politics I’d ever seen. It was unlike any politics I’d ever seen. And it won the 2012 campaign. Those “Martians” were reinventing how national campaigns are done. They didn’t just write a new political chapter with their Internet outreach, vote-tracking data-mining and voter engagement, especially in the battleground states. They wrote a whole new book. And it was a masterpiece. “

“This makes me very angry, very angry indeed.” Marvin The Martian

I imminently realized that the Obama campaign was using the “information flow” in a way no one had before. I was gobsmacked. Here we always think of the marketing and advertising industry as the leaders in innovation, and a political campaign was running circles around most of the industry.

And I think this is just a small sign of things to come: the fuse on the the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator has been lit! What happens when all this access, all these tools, are free to use and creating new ways to interact, all to a new generation of consumer that is just starting to head out to the workplace?

Digital is no longer an add-on to a campaign. It drives all activities.

The digital revolution has created most of the changes we’ve seen todate by increasing the speed of, well, everything: from access to data, to creating content, to production, to tracking, and just about everything else. The increased speed of access combined with the ability to create timely brand messages (see Oreo’s Super Bowl power outage reaction as example #1) is has dramatically changed the marketing landscape. And it’s only the beginning. As clients continue to decrease the time to market and as competitive pressures increase, agencies must be able access that information flow and develop effective messages on the fly. When the day comes that everything is “digital” you will tap into huge reservoirs of content, consumer information, news, trends, data and producing branded messages in real time, the world as we know it will be gone. It will be gone in one giant Earth-shattering digital kaboom.

This is just the beginning – ad agencies better adapt.

What we’ve seen so far is minimal compared to the sweeping changes down the road. Today, most agency clients struggle with competitive pressures, a myriad of media options and the need to establish a more intimate conversation with consumers. They are constantly looking outside for help.  Traditional ad agenies are now competing with smaller information-driven shops that provide more timely and cost-effective solutions, and newly created or unbundled data and media firms that provide higher quality, lower cost solutions. Strategic consulting firms are providing clients with business building ideas and new ways to reach their audience. As a result, the traditional agency’s position with the advertiser is eroding – just as more and more money is being invested in marketing. Read up on the marketing chessboard to best figure out where and how to move.

The advertising industry is at a critical juncture. It’s more than just the effective utilization of digital, but how when everything is digital what that means to the entire world of marketing – from idea to execution to connecting with consumers. Marketing firms must find new ways to harness the power of information to influence the consumer, integrate its existing client base and attract new business. The alternative is to let the industry’s core business continue to erode by adding little or no value to the process. The giant KABOOM are digital technologists, the Marvin the Martians, taking over the marketing world.

Final Thought

While the point of this article was to just point out how some of the new digital tools are radically changing marketing, several people that I sent this to wondered if I had any ideas on just how transformative the digital changes really would be. They point out that I don’t outline what I think the so-called kaboom really is… So let me state clearly, I think we’re just like a bunch of farmers at start of the industrial revolution, all standing around looking at a knitting machine, and not realizing the overall impact of mechanization will be on our daily lives. Digitization will be the same. Profound epic change. The digital conversations and branding efforts are the knitting machine; good, fun, but little change on daily life and how we work.

The kaboom: Combine big data with easy to use tools to sort and find anything, on anyone, about everything, a generation of kids raised with these tools, add cheap digital manufacturing, endless bandwidth and storage, and more virtual sharing of daily lives and very soon the world will be very different then what we see now. Much like the farmer standing by the knitting machine suddenly waking up in the 50s and seeing huge factories, highways, cars, TV and more…

Will TV channels still be around after we can all access any form of entertainment at anytime, anyplace? Will big cities still be viable when people can easily live and work virtually? How will China survive when all our little cheap consumer goods can be produced on demand locally? Faster and cheaper? Combine these ideas and shake, as we truly have no idea…

A very different world… indeed.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,

New Business Can Be Very Profitable To An Agency – But You Must Invest First!

March 19, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

New business takes a toll on agency resources including time, funding and energy. That’s why there must be strong commitment throughout the organization to the growth plan. But first you must have a plan.

New Business Training Manual
All of our programs are supported by a large manual that keeps the training fresh for years!

Last week we spent four days training a marketing firm on how to set up and run our Spark and Torch program. Together, Spark and Torch represent an intensive new business system that helps you gain control over your agency’s growth quicker and easier than you ever thought possible.

Our approach is to work with you over the entire time the system is being installed. We bring in new skills and new approaches in an orderly fashion. We don’t want to overwhelm the agency or interfere with your efforts to provide good service to clients. We work with you to develop and then install the new business program. And then we help bring the agency together behind the effort. And we stick around long enough to be sure the new business program runs right.

Here is the agenda we followed with this firm – they wanted it all as soon as possible as they had some free time last week between client assignments:

Spark & Torch Firepower Training

Day 1: Introduction to Spark & Torch

Chemistry

  • Chemistry is the New Business Secret
  • Basic Premise of Profiling
  • How to Profile
  • Check Your Personality Profile
  • How to Establish Chemistry on the Interview
  • Spark Reminders
  • Spark Interview Chart

The Spark System

  • Where Do Interviews Come From?
  • How to Open the Door
  • “Door-Opener” Strategies
  • Typical Spark Follow-Up
  • Opening the Door and Nudging
  • Building Awareness Exercise
  • Supporting the Spark System

Day 2: First Visits and Presenting to Prospects

Torch Overview (First Visits)

  • The Old First Visit Model
  • Agency Baseball
  • What Makes Up First Base
  • What Makes Up Commonality
  • Sparks Must Know How to Open the First Meeting
  • What Makes Up Propriety
  • What Makes Up First Base: Competency
  • The Torch Competency Model
  • What Makes Up Intent
  • Handling Questions

Torch Skills

  • What Makes Up Needs and Fever
  • What Makes Up Process
  • What Makes Up Timing
  • What Makes Up Budget
  • Second Base Exercises
  • What Makes Up Third Base
  • What Makes Up Home Base
  • How to Fast Close

Day 3: Adding Fuel to the Fire

Sparking Elements

  • Sparking is NOT Telemarketing
  • Making the First Call
  • More First Call Tips
  • Ask the Right Questions
  • Get Set to Listen
  • How to Deliver Competency Over the Phone
  • Spark’s Daily Productivity Chart
  • Spark Checklist
  • Spark Monitoring Questionnaire
  • Presenting on the iPad

Blogging, building links: WordPress & Facebook

  • Building content and creating the brand perception
  • Twitter, LinkedIn, Hootsuite
  • Social media outreach and establishing online relationships

Day 4: Bringing it all to life

Create a Comfort Zone, Q&A, and Closing Details

  • Spark & Torch Role-playing
  • First call competency pitch
  • Closing the loop
  • Final thoughts

How about your firm? Would learning these skills help you in your new business effort?

Another firm we trained last year had a great experience that truly demonstrates the power of setting up a strong new business system. After the training some of the staff expressed doubt if the program would work. But the president remained firm. They generated some leads, and had some success, but still had not tried the Fast Close techniques we practiced. They felt it was just too “out there” to really work.

A few months go by and just as the outreach program starts to generate results, they get a reply from one of the “dream” accounts on their list. A big blue chip client. Recognizing that they were not ready for such a large account, they decided to try the fast close techniques . . . just to practice. “Just wanted to see what would happen” the president told me.

They won. Without a review. The largest win in their history.

A Strong New Business Program Makes the Whole Agency Happier

For an agency no other activity can match the reassurance that winning new business can provide. Not keeping clients. Not winning awards. Not making more money. New business wins are what most agencies value above every other reward. If you want to buck up an agency, win some new business. There might be grumbling about the added stress and worries about the impact on existing accounts, but there’s real joy because of the win. It puts a bounce in the step. And it adds a smile to the face no matter how much it increases the workload or how much further behind the productivity curve it puts the agency. For this reason, announcing our training program at most firms is good news to the staff. But the agency staff needs to be convinced that the management team believes in the process and is committed to growth over the long haul. Agency staff is quick to spot flavors of the month, quick fixes, and half-hearted efforts. For the training to work there must be full support and total cooperation. That type of support and cooperation needs to begin on the first day of the training.

If you’re interested in learning more about our training programs that can transform your firm into a new business machine, give us a shout!

Photo by ~geory

 

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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