Posted by Robert Sanders on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 @ 09:37 AM
If you’re in the agency business, you quickly learn you have to be good at presenting. If you’re going to really grow your firm, you have to be especially good at presenting to win large accounts in what we call a “formal review” or the Pitch You Have To Win.
You know the review I’m talking about. It’s where the prospect has selected a number of agencies to present for their business. It usually starts with a “cattle call” for lots of agencies. Then this mob is whittled down into the “consideration set,” requiring jumping through some additional hoops at an intermediate stage in the selection process. And finally you get to the “presentation set:” those agencies chosen to finally present for the business.
Prospects love these formal reviews because they get all this advice and creative work – most of the time for free! And a group of very smart agency people are all lined up to tell them all about their markets, their business, their competition, and offer thoughtful recommendations on what they should be doing with their business. What’s not to like?
But on the agency side? Well, it’s a different story. Long hours, lots of pressure, changes made at the last minute. Presentation books to prepare and print. Lots of tension and patience is in short supply. You have probably been there before, so you know full well what I mean.
The agencies have to spend a lot of time and money on these formal pitches, knowing there will be only one winner and nothing for the agencies that lose (except maybe, and I really mean maybe, a thank you note from the prospect). But most times agencies hear nothing back after putting in all this effort. And the message is brutal: “Sorry guys, we’re going with someone else.” And the unstated message agencies hear is: “We’re going with someone we like a lot better than you. We’re going with someone who is so much better than you.” It’s crushing on agency spirit. And if the losses mount up, it kills an agency’s self image, an agency’s confidence.
Make your presentations pay off by winning more formal reviews. I mean win three, four or five presentations in a row. And many of our agency-clients win at this success rate. Then the effort you put into formal presentations isn’t a lost expense but an investment because your firm is winning more than its fair share.
Here’s how the process starts. First you need to get what we call a “Defining Moment.” That’s a big opportunity that will basically redefine who your firm is if you win the account. The win will reshape who your firm is because of the account’s size, its budget, the type of business it is, their reputation, their category, and their impact in the market place. All these can redefine an agency if they win such an account.
Getting a chunk of the Apple business is a defining moment for many national agencies. A nice bank can define a local agency. Winning a consumer product can reshape a B2B agency. Winning a nice technology account can redefine a retail agency. And moving into consumer advertising can redefine an internet agency. I think you know what I mean.
You want to look for a “Defining Moment” to win: a presentation that will have a big impact on your agency. You might have one right now on your hands. If you do, then this information will really help you.
Understand that any pitch you make will be made up of four elements – Style, Format, Content, and Chemistry. And most agencies mishandle these four elements completely by putting all their time and energy into Content, the least important part of the four. They practically ignore the power and account-winning pull of getting Style and Format right. And they spend NO time on thinking about how to win with Chemistry.
Prospects Have a Different View of Your Presentation Than You Do
Style
Style is how you present. How you own the room. What techniques you use to present. Are you locked into PowerPoint, which puts most prospects to sleep? Do you have walk-in music? Do you put out agendas? Do you bring in coffee and refreshments? Do you have a welcome video? Has your CEO learned to charm a room with a simple story from his childhood that he tells to set the stage? Are you using California Boards that make an impact in a room? Do you use reveals? Do you tantalize? In other words are you set to Make Your Presentation a Show?
Remember this is a fun school trip for prospects, and they want to be entertained. They want to fall in love with an agency. They want to be dazzled. They want to laugh and to enjoy the process. They don’t want to be bored. And they don’t want to be talked down to – talking down to a client means you know their business more than they do. That’s insulting. The agency’s role at this stage should be to offer the prospect something they want and need. So you have to get Style right and make a show by the smoothness of your presentation, your professional look, and the impact you create.
Format
The second element is Format. And that’s the structure and organization of your pitch and how you organize things. Basically, what format do you follow? For example, do you lead with a creative to grab their attention? Do you change the brief in some dramatic way? How do you structure what you present? Do you let one person dominate your presentation (which rarely works)? What’s your casting and do your people show well? How are they dressed? Do they look like dress casual gone wild?
Is your presentation logical? Have you dumbed it down so everyone can easily understand what you are saying? Do you make sense? Do you build from one key point to another? Does your presentation lead somewhere? This is all Format and you need to get it right.
Frankly, from what I’ve seen, and I see lots of agency presentations, most agencies seriously fall down in the Format stage. In fact, most agencies, and this is coming from the search consultants who sit in on agency pitches all the time, say prospects are most often seriously disappointed at the quality of the presentations they see. There is no Style. Format is weak. And Content, the third element of pitch, all looks and sounds the same from agency to agency.
Content
The third element is content. I've sat in day-long sessions where each word in a presentation is agonized over, discussed, argued and beat to a pulp. Hours wasted on reviewing the 120 slide pitch deck. Each slide is analyzed in isolation to the big picture. And while each slide is finally perfect, clear and perhaps even makes a great point, the overall message is lost in the clutter. A few key points when thinking about content:
- Brand your message
- Presentation built on one central theme
- Check, check, double check for mistakes/typos
- Avoid hyperbole
- Clearly demonstrate a clear path to success/results
- Less is more – remove all excess and put in the leave behind
Chemistry
The fourth and most important element of presentations is Chemistry. New business wins swing most often on which firm the prospect likes best. Every search consultant will tell you the work, strategy, and presentation are all important – but the number one reason a firm is hired is the client felt a connection with them. They liked them the most – not which firm does the best work. Once you understand this, you can see why new business is mainly about people and your firm’s likeability. Learn how to best match your people with prospects, so they like you better. Learn how to profile prospects before you even meet them.
If you have a Defining Moment, call us. We have an excellent track record of helping agencies win pitches of all shapes and sizes. We can help, from large multinational wins to small local business wins. Whatever is a Defining Moment for your agency is a defining moment for Sanders Consulting Group to help you win and help you redefine who you are and what you stand for.
You’ll get the training and learn the processes that can keep you winning. I’ve seen defining moments change the direction of an agency for years to come just by winning one account. If you’re there, then call us.
Posted by Robert Sanders on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 12:22 PM
Recently I was working with a great agency, around 15 people and some outstanding work. They were well known in their market, but had been defined within that market as a certain type of marketing firm. While there were many pitch opportunities in the area it seemed they were almost never called.
Why?
Over the past few years by not defining their brand they had allowed the market to brand them. And as their capabilities had grown and improved, they failed to communicate that with prospects.
Even worst, the market perception for the firm was out-of-date and just plain wrong.
So here are 4 easy steps to help your brand stand out in the market.
Agency Focus – In this cluttered market place only an expert has any chance of standing out. Business leaders don’t have time to educate someone on their unique situation. An expert understands their product, their service, and knows how it can benefit customers. OR an expert knows their customer better then anyone. OR an expert has a unique view of the marketing landscape. Find something to be your area of expertise. Just being a “full service highly creative marketing firm that offers outstanding service” isn’t enough any more!
Make New Friends - We all now that people do business with people whom they like and trust. Choose to make a new friend over just creating a new business transaction. This will pay off in the long run.
Effectively Communicate - Establish yourself with your target market by creating a dialog on things that you have in common. You must be able to establish a relationship. With lots of people. This generates understanding and builds business over time.
Find Opportunities To Speak – Become a speaker to your target market, and educate people on both the changes hitting their market as well as the challenges they face. Provide Solutions.
There you go… 4 easy-to-forget strategies that can help you establish your brand in the mind of your ideal prospect. And just then, once they’ve heard of you, perhaps know you, and think you have some solutions then they will call you.
Posted by Robert Sanders on Fri, Jul 09, 2010 @ 01:28 PM
A recent B-to-B Magazine headline shouted, “Desperate ad agencies scramble for business.” There is no disputing that the current climate is the most challenging our industry has experienced in memory.
The traditional advertising agency model is under attack from all sides. From the strategic side agencies are being pushed out with the increasing impact of consultants; search, procurement, brand, marketing, and of course, the big fish, management consultants. On the tactical side agencies have to compete with all types; design, internet, database management, media buying, promotion, direct, special events, sports marketing firms, corporate identity houses, two guys and a Mac, and more. This is troubled water.
A recent poll among advertisers indicates the current tenure for a marketing manager is only 9-18 months. These new Marcom Managers are younger, have less experience in advertising, are more focused on tactical issues, and recognize that they are only there for the short term. At the same time they have a wider span of control over marketing and budgets, and they want their own suppliers – people who think and look like them. Not surprisingly they don’t take advice very well from traditional agency staff that often comes across as patronizing. More troubled water.
Client turnover is among the more serious challenges within our industry. Some recent studies show that for smaller accounts the churn, or client turnover, can be as fast as every two years, while larger accounts have gone from seven years to three. Clients, these new Marcom Managers, are growing more and more impatient and are quick to question the effectiveness of their current agency. The growing percentage of project-based work has made it easier to change – click to what’s next. Yet more troubled water.
Design studios and other low-cost providers have seen revenues increase as their agency brethren have suffered. These creative firms are organized and operate tactically. They are taking business away from traditional agencies on account of price, speed and timely delivery. Many other specialty shops who often work faster, are more focused on results, and offer tangible benefits to clients are also seeing an upswing in new business. Clients are questioning the value of all the layers at the agency; account service, traffic, and all the administration. Further troubled water.
There is a renewed focus on new business, but most agencies have no system for sustained business development and few staff skilled in new business. What was done 3 years ago no longer works. The troubled water is changing everything. You have probably been frustrated by first-hand experience with all of these changes; but opportunities for new business are abundant for advertising agencies that are prepared.
We believe there is no better time to do new business than times like these; when clients are changing how they spend, when your competition is worrying about staying in business, when companies are changing agencies at an unprecedented rate, and when prospects want to make decisions that enable them to solve immediate challenges. Doing new business now is like fishing in troubled water. Most people don’t even go out – but that’s also when the pros know fishing is best. While others stay home, the smart ones go fishing.
What steps should you take in times like these? Here are six strategies we recommend.
First, make sure your firm is properly branded. Check to see if you are caught up in alphabet soup with a brand that doesn’t say anything. Clients who are looking for a new agency don’t want a “we-are-whatever-you-need” advertising firm. In fact, that turns them off and harms trust. At a recent new business conference hosted by the AAAA, every client and search consultant said “stand for something.” You have to know who you are and why you should be considered. Otherwise, you risk fading into the fog of marketing services lingo. It is better to stand for something and not be considered for one account then to stand for nothing and not be considered for any accounts.
Second, focus on generating leads. That means increasing the number of opportunities to go visit good prospects. Too many agencies only focus on winning pitches, not working to get into more pitches. Beware of the “we’ll win the next pitch” red herring. This is where an agency is busy pitching but not focused on creating awareness and relationships. Unless you are a recognized agency brand (and there are only about 10 in the US), counting on referrals and word of mouth is not a new business program. Many agencies have attempted to flip a new business switch – “we need some new business NOW! Let’s form a committee!” Few are finding success.
Third, sell smarter. Focus on the overt benefits you offer. Make it clear what you do why and how it gets results. Successful agencies do this face-to-face, not by clicking PowerPoint slides at a prospect with lots of case histories and marketing babble. Stop doing capability presentations! Instead show them how you work, specifically with their brand, and how you will impact their business. This means that you have to work hard and listen to understand their problem. This sounds simple, yet it is one of the most common problems in all client/agency relationships.
Fourth, be easy to do business with. Don’t try to sell what clients don’t want to buy. Give your opinion, offer suggestions, but be sure to give them what they are asking for. If they want the logo larger, make it larger and move on. Forget about account planning and stop trying to get clients to pay for it. If you are in a tactical position, play the tactical game better and build trust. Only then can you move up the marketing ladder and start recommending more strategic advice.
Fifth, think about growing the old fashioned way – buy growth. A cross-town merger with another firm in your market can create a wealth of opportunities. There are some good opportunities in every market. You can gain efficiencies and add new services and resources, and create more awareness for your brand.
Finally, go after the consultants and the strategic high ground by offering consulting services of your own. This requires a separate brand that is not linked to advertising or marketing. Too many agencies forget that if you’re an agency, and try to add consulting to your brand, you are still only an advertising agency –Where are my ads! However, if you are a consulting firm, then you can work at the strategic “C” level, and open up a sizable new revenue stream. This provides more opportunities for the agency side to follow once the consulting assignment is completed.
Search consultants are saying new business is slow. They’re wrong. Their business is slow. New business is heating up. The competitive landscape for agencies has been forever changed. As the economy recovers and picks up speed, you will need to adapt to win today and change to succeed in the future.
As you evaluate opportunities and challenges at your agency, never hesitate to give us a call - 800.899.1538
Image Credit: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Andreas-Achenbach/A-Fishing-Boat-Caught-In-A-Squall-Off-A-Jetty.html
Posted by Robert Sanders on Thu, Jul 01, 2010 @ 02:03 PM
Most agencies annually convene a leadership meeting, strategic planning retreat, or brainstorming session dedicated to crafting an innovative course of business strategy. Rarely do these meetings deliver results.
Instead, they produce a pattern of incremental progress. And this does not translate into competitive advantage. Other factors affecting these meetings include planning, organization and leadership. Because responsibility for this meeting most often falls on the agency leader, the outcome is predictable.
The reasons for this are simple. Leaders "know" they know more than their team, so they develop a plan and agenda that determines the outcome - and everyone's frustration. Experience shows most meetings of this type fall into one of two patterns. At the "Rubber Stamp Offsite," the team nods along as their leader uses his agenda to present his assessment of the agency "As Is." He then dictates the action plan and assigns responsibilities. This approach is easily identified by the neatly organized three-ring binder entitled, "Agency Strategic Planning 20XX." Note - look for an accumulation of dust.
The other meeting type, the "March of the Hopeful, Guilty and Ambivalent," is the product of an insightful leader who - tired of the "Rubber Stamp Offsite" - assigns every member of the team roles and responsibilities. The outcome - well - you have been at these meetings, there is no outcome, just a reporting of the past year, justification of the results and explanation of the incremental changes that will be implemented to fix what's broken. Frustrated, the agency President usually sits down following this session; drafts an action plan and dictates responsibilities - see the results of the "Rubber Stamp Offsite."
If you want to break this cycle to create opportunities for innovation at your agency, then change your approach.
Don't go off the deep end and schedule team building exercises through Outward Bound, or book a provoking motivational speaker. These activities make great copy - but rarely, if ever deliver business-changing insights. A growing number of successful organizations are utilizing professional facilitators to assist in the planning and management of these important meetings.
By assigning responsibility for the business of the meeting to an experienced outside party, the group is better able to focus on the business of the business. The role of the facilitator is part emcee, part mediator, and part referee. But more than that, this person frames the discussion, manages interaction and creates opportunities for discovery.
Because innovation is not achieved in-the-box, an agency is better served living the process, not running the process. And agency leaders must understand that insight is achieved through their support, not as a result of their management. Utilizing a resource experienced in facilitation and knowledgeable in the industry changes the meeting dynamics. The agency, as a whole, becomes the focus, not the innumerable piece and parts.
If your agency's strategic planning process is not creating measurable results in growth, quality, productivity, or profitability year-over-year, then you might be a perfect candidate for this approach.
Photo Credit: thedailylondonphoto
Posted by Robert Sanders on Wed, Jun 23, 2010 @ 09:37 AM
In Sun Tzu's famous series of essays called the Art of War, he recommends that the best way to win at war is to win without a battle. In other words, take such bold steps early that a battle isn't necessary. New business and war have a lot in common. And the good advice from the Chinese general works quite well in new business also.
Winning an account before the pitch is much easier than winning the account in a formal review. It takes less money. It takes less energy. And there's no competition. With these advantages, why not spend time making sure your agency is set up to win the account before a pitch is called? Few agencies take these steps to win the business before a formal review process starts. And therefore they miss so many opportunities to win business the easy way.
Most agencies focus all their energy on winning in formal presentations, and being good at those is an important way to grow an agency. Work hard to increase your chances of winning in custom pitches generated by search consultants, RFPs, cattle calls, and capabilities presentations - practice, remember stories, and most of all be relevant - show how your firm will help solve the problem!
But winning this way is so expensive, so time consuming and tough on agency resources. It's the hard way to win. Change all that. Decide now to adjust your new business strategy. Why not put an equal amount of attention into preparing the agency to win accounts with solid, fast-close techniques, usually within 48-hours or 7-days, months before a formal presentation is called? Why not try this easier way?
The first step in generating fast-close wins is generating "quiet visits" with prospects before the whole world knows the account is loose. That means the agency must have a steady outreach program underway at all times to build awareness with large numbers of key prospects. Its awareness that says the agency exists and the agency is really interested in the account. It's a fact that 35% of all clients who have agencies will invite competitive agencies in for quiet visits every year. That means big opportunities for agencies that know how to handle these quiet-visit opportunities the right way.
The second step in encouraging a steady series of quiet-visit opportunities is to build relationships with key members of the prospect's management team. These relationships should encourage good prospects to say, "Not only do I know they are interested in my account, but I know somebody there at the agency that really cares about my business."
The relationships can be built using all the relationship tools (twitter, facebook, phone, email) by the agency new business Spark or senior management, called Torches, who are trained to reach out and maintain contact with prospects important to the agency.
If your agency has a new business program underway that builds awareness and relationships with key prospects, then your agency isn't so dependent on winning with formal presentations. You have a steady series of quiet visits going on every week at your agency and this means you have a steady stream of opportunities to win business before a review is called. You might have all the new business you can handle.
But if you have a quiet visit with a prospect early and you don't take the right steps to fast close the account, then one thing is guaranteed: The account will drift into a review and you will be presenting against other agencies before you know it. The advantage you created with the quiet visit is diminished. Your lack of boldness will probably cost you the account. Other agencies will be invited to come in. Perhaps a search consultant will be engaged. And even more agencies will start to swarm the battlefield.
Winning without formal reviews is more European than American. It puts more emphasis on who you know than who you are. And it's more about making the agency available to be invited in rather than trying to butt into a review process already under way. Quiet wins are rarely talked about in our industry trade press. The media may notice that Agency A was fired and Agency B was hired and never rates a mention for more than a week. It might get an inch or two in the press. But a formal review makes the news, catches everyone's attention, and gets analyzed and debated for weeks on the pages of ADWEEK or ADAGE. It's such a waste. Win before the battle with fast close tactics that either give you the account or give you such advantages you win most of the time a new business battle begins.
Put plans in place at your agency that will generate a steady stream of quiet visits with key prospects at the rate of one or two per week, every week. These quiet visits will translate into opportunities for your agency to win two or three accounts without a review for every account you want to win in a formal review. That's new business math that really pays.
Remember that the size of the account has nothing to do with winning it without a review. It has everything to do with creating opportunities to win an account before the pitch and then making an effective quiet visit on the account that encourages the account to hire you. That's winning the account before the battle, something every great general knows how to do. It's not good strategy. It's perfect strategy.
Posted by Robert Sanders on Fri, Jun 11, 2010 @ 11:06 AM
Often when speaking with agency leaders they bemoan the state of their finances. Projections are looking better, but they're still not great. Marketing firms aren't setting any records for growth. Client marketing schedules are still being pushed back. What can an agency leader do?
1. Productivity improvement. This was once described as "pushing the staff to work harder." Most agencies are at the limit now when it comes to how hard your staff is working. It's more effective to strip non-value-added work out of the process. Streamline the workflow, implement new tools to enhance communication, remove old forms and steps that were implemented in another age.
2. Compensation and contract terms improvement from clients. This is a great option if only you can figure out a way to make your clients pay you more. Revisit your contracts, utilize benchmarking results, establish performance goals and understand how to negotiate.
3. Organic growth. This is the British term for getting more work from existing clients. It can be difficult if all you do is try to sell more of your existing services. It is far more effective to find ways to sell Business Building Ideas and Value-Added Services.
4. Merge or acquire. An effective way to reduce overhead or add services you are now buying from someone else. Look around your market for a good opportunity for a cross-town merger. If done properly, this can transform an agency.
5. Realign your brand. Focus your efforts on one category and become an expert. By adapting a more consultative approach for your existing and new accounts you can increase revenue to the bottom-line
6. Cut salaries and staff. This is a meat axe approach and is usually the last resort before the door closes. If not handled correctly, the end result is often good people leave and bad ones stay. There are some effective ways to better align staff with your overall agency goals. If this is done correctly, it can reenergize staff by removing deadwood.
7. Grow. Win more new business. One of the things Sanders Consulting Group is best known for is our new business prowess. Over the years we have taught more marketing communication people around the world more about generating new business than anyone else. If your firm needs more new business, give us a call.
By following these tips you can increase your bottom line, even during the recession. And, if you need help - don't be afraid to ask the experts!