What Are The Real Assets In Your Marketing Firm?

April 9, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Outward vs. Inward Leadership

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…

Focus Your Brand: Focus Your Efforts: Win

January 29, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

How did an agency in the middle of nowhere Amish country grow 50 percent at the height of this recession? At a time when agencies around the world are cutting back, down-sizing, reducing staff or just flat out closing, how did this agency seize this opportunity to grow? I recently met a fellow new business person, Lance Baird, whose B2B agency, Godfrey, has been recognized by Advertising Age as one of the fastest-growing advertising agencies in the country. The secret to their success: focus your brand so you stand out in the market.

Lance said this about Godfrey: “Regarding a specialty, initially, to be honest, people were extremely uncomfortable with this position as they felt it confined us. Today, this positioning is not only internally accepted, it’s promoted. We help highly technical manufacturers market themselves better. Period. I think this concept is really, really important for agencies: define who you are or someone else will do it for you.”

Don’t Label Me Bro!

Most marketing firms I’ve worked with are afraid of developing a focus that stands out. They never go beyond the generic “full service marketing firm, great creative, outstanding service” shtick. They never shout from the rooftops “we’re the world’s best at … something, anything!” Without focus you run the risk of trying to be everything to everybody and fail to be remembered – your brand effectively fades into the haze gray of marketing speak. In other words, you become one more marketing firm that is “integrated-marketing, brand-building, highly-strategic, results-oriented, media-natural, crowd-sourced, social-media, idea-driven.” The more precisely you can describe your ideal client, address their marketing needs, and deepen your knowledge, the more new business you’ll get.

Growth With Focus Is Easy!

Marketing an expertise is easy! If you commit to an area of focus, you then have a very specific client in which to market. Social media makes this more of an opportunity for you than ever. Focus your efforts, build targeted content and get found. New business efforts start to make sense.
Referring prospects to an expert is easy! If your agency is known as “the expert in …” then it becomes simple for clients, friends, family, and staff, anyone in your network to refer prospects to you. Focus means more leads through referrals – it’s that simple.
Familiarity makes relationship-building easy! Prospects don’t mind having a conversation with someone who has deep knowledge in their field. They need to know that you understand their specific industry and have something of value to offer. We’re in a relationship business, and relationships drive growth. If you are positioned as an expert, then more people will be interested in developing a relationship with you.
Winning a pitch is easy! There will be less competition, as you provide specific services for specific clients, in a specific way. Walking into a pitch as a recognized thought leader in a field gives you more freedom. Free to make a solid case for your recommendations. Free to stretch your strategies, ideas, and creative into real award-winning work.
Growing existing clients is easy! Experts understand how to get more organic growth. As you provide increasingly better service based on your client’s needs, the chance is that you will get more organic growth. Clients will come back for more and often will start spending more with you as the relationship grows.
Accepting projects outside your focus is easy! Becoming an expert doesn’t mean that you won’t get work outside your niche. In fact, I’ve found that the more an agency clearly defines their expertise, the more their brand stands out. And the more the brand stands out, the more prospects notice. And prospects are busy people, so they really don’t care what your expertise is IF they’ve noticed your brand. Counterintuitive I know, but it works.

If you are unsure of how to develop your unique area of focus, get help. Don’t keep doing the same ol’ same ol’ expecting different results. Don’t go in for half-measures. To focus your brand and become an expert, you must go in 100 percent. Seek out help from thought leaders in marketing, existing clients, new staff, and anyone who can assist you in finding that special niche.

Define Who You Are Or Someone Else Will Do It For You

Having a strong agency focus will open new roads to growth.

I thought it would be interesting to see how Godfrey marketed themselves over the last 10 years or so. Going back in time, you may notice a steady narrowing of focus over the years:

1999: Specializing in integrated marketing communications programs, we define, shape, and nurture your corporate positioning through marketing communications. We have the experience, skills, and in-house staff to develop and implement effective marketing communications across a wide range of industries.

2004: A full-service integrated business communications company specializing in strategically driven business-to-business marketing for both national and international clients.

2007: Specializes in developing strategic marketing solutions that drive growth, competitive advantage, and value for business-to-business companies.

2011: Specializes in helping highly technical manufacturers market themselves better.

So Godfrey, throughout the years, has clearly defined and narrowed the focus of their brand. By doing so, they are now one of the fastest-growing agencies in America. The future belongs to those agencies that brand themselves best, don’t compete where the competition is high, and avoid getting marginalized by quicker, cheaper competitors. Agencies are discovering that there are no winners standing in the middle – soon enough they will be forced to move one way or the other.

Update:

According to this recent survey by RSW/US over 77% of prospects state that having a focus, or specialization, is important to them. In the notes section of that survey this is what marketers had to say about specalization:

Reasons why Marketers DO want specialization include:

Agencies can be more focused and strategic when they’re specialized

I don’t have time to train “beginners” in my space

We don’t have the time or money to waste.

We need experts in our industry who know it intimately

Implications: At the end of the day, I personally believe that if Agencies can make the Marketer feel like they know their category (no matter your level of experience in their space), the Marketer will be more likely to feel good about the Agency. I recently wrote a post based on my past two Agency Searches we ran. In both cases, the marketing clients told us that they selected the winning Agency because they “felt like they were already ramping up”. The winning Agencies tailored their presentations to the Marketer, they showcased their knowledge of the space, and they shared smart, strategic thinking applied from the Marketer’s and other industries. In both cases, there wasn’t any marked advantage that the winning Agency had over the other Agencies in terms of category experience. They just came to the table with a smarter, more creative, more strategic, and more energetic approach.

Bottom photo by ~wojtaaa

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: Ad Agency, ad agency branding, Advertising, advertising agency consultant, advertising agency consultants, agency brand, agency branding, agency focus, Agency New Business, Agency Positioning, leadership, leading ad agencies, Marketing, marketing for a new business, Winning New Business

Change Marketing Is A Powerful Place To Find Prospects

January 21, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Smart agencies target recent changes or appointments in the marketing, advertising or management areas with key companies or prospects they want.

Change equals opportunity; if you know where to look.

The old change management rule says the new contact can continue for two months to blame problems on the old ad manager who got replaced. The old agency is good for more than six months of grace. Often, as we all know from the constant agency churn, the new contact needs time and a great place to buy some time is to conduct an agency review. That will typically last for three months. Add to that the six months of grace to blame the old agency while they train the new one and the new contact now has nine months of running room.

Change means change. Understand this and target the newly appointed executives at brands you have an interest in. You’ll find them hungry for new ideas, new approaches and new ways of doing things that allow them to make their mark.

Take advantage of this and reach out. It only takes a two sentence letter: “Congratulations. I look forward to following your continued success.” That letter usually generates a “Thank You” response which in turn leads to more contact and more contact. If you’re good; and understand how to build relationships.

Change marketing is powerful strategy in this most mobile of all markets. Use it to your advantage.

Target the change you see all around you and you will have a continuing stream of new prospects to replace the ones who turn into dry holes along the way.

Need More Ideas For Growth Like This?

Every year, we help more agencies develop their growth plans than any other firm in the world. Build the type of agency you will always be proud of. Grab market share the easy way by finding it when the opportunity is right.

Sanders Consulting Group has a wide range of learning programs for agencies to improve agency growth including DayOne, HighGear, Spark, Torch, Chemistry Wins New Business, Presenting To Win, Accounts in Review, Benefit Testing and many more.

We want to be your strategic counselor and your agency’s trusted advisor. Many agency presidents turn to us when it comes to improving their agency. We work with a wide variety of agencies from around the world. This perspective gives us opportunities that few firms ever enjoy, seeing the world’s best agencies up close and personal. We know what works and what is fantasy. And we help you avoid trial and error and that keeps you at the front of the line.

We start by earning your trust and respect.

We work in the world’s most difficult practice area because we deal directly with owners and operators of the best advertising agencies around. These presidents and CEOs wrote the book on entrepreneurial practices. They have no time for wasted time. They can spare no energy to chase castles in the air or to build empires on sand.

You see Sanders Consulting Group works only for agencies. We are on your side. We do no work for clients. And in today’s volatile market place, few consultants can claim that. We believe agencies need more friends like us.

Photo by `gilad

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: ad agency business, ad agency new business, advertising agency new business, Agency New Business, change management, ideas for growth, leading ad agencies, marketing for a new business, new business agencies, new business agency, new business ideas, new business leaders, new business presentations

The Agency of the Future

January 9, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Please Help! Take The Survey!

Rebecca Caroe, a Business Development person for ad agencies out of New Zealand, is writing a book called “The Creative Agency of the Future“. It’s about marketing agencies; focusing on how they are run; the challenges and changes that are happening in the advertising industry.

We’ve had some interesting conversations about that topic, and as you may guess, I have a few opinions (see below!). Now you have the chance to join in. Make your voice heard. If you have any ideas, thoughts, suggestions on what the world of marketing will look like down the road go here!

The idea is to compile some of the best thinking a then write a book for leaders in marketing.

Rebecca Caroe

From Rebecca:

We need more data for the book and invite agency owners and managers to contribute. It’ll take 10 – 15 minutes to fill in our online survey. All interviewees will be given a free copy of the book on publication – go to our questionnaire to share your views.

Client Brands: Do you buy services from agencies? We’d love to hear from you about what is the ‘ideal’ relationship an agency can have with a brand. How should the agency world adapt to fit your new needs and what are the best and worst things about working with creative agencies.

Can we quote you? We need more data for the book and invite brand managers to contribute. It’ll take around 10 minutes to fill in our online survey. All interviewees will be given a free copy of the book on publication – go to our client brands questionnaire to share your views.

Technology Companies: If you sell software or services to advertising agencies, one section of the book is about service providers and a double page is set aside for detailing your product or service and it’s utility for marketing agencies. Get in touch if you’d like to be listed.

Consultants: If you advise agency businesses and have a track record in the sector of over 5 years standing, we’d love to hear your views on what is changing and how your clients are adapting to the new business norms. Get in touch if you’d like to set out your views and be quoted in the book.

Our Point of View:

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.

You need to go there and contribute. The more we learn, the more we ask, the more we think about the future the better prepared we’ll be down the road.

Let’s face it – marketing firms of all stripes are being rocked by some serious structural changes that are taking place within our industry that are not good for agencies. I see more and more signs that clients are falling out of love with marketing communication firms and advertising agencies.

The strategic high ground of marketing has been seized by the outside consultants. They meet with the CEO in the board room, discussing strategic issues that CEOs believe to be necessary in order to jump the corporation ahead. Things like the corporate mission and goals. The brand strategy. The new customer retention program. This means access to the top level client management has been blocked for agencies except in unusual situations. In the near future you will find, if you haven’t already, you and your firm taking action based on directives and strategies developed by the consultants. That’s bad enough. An attack on our industry from above. The strategic high ground lost to agencies. Perhaps forever.

And from below? Another attack by a new breed of design firms and project shops. Firms that respond quickly and give clients what they ask for. Firms that are cheaper than agencies and offer strategic planning or branding help only when needed.

And that means the term “agency of record” will soon be found on the trash heap of business history. Out of date. Gone forever.

Is your agency ready for any of this?

Now, let’s get to the action. Specifically, what steps should you be taking to prepare for the future? There are six strategies I want you to follow.

6 Strategies To Prepare For The Future

Make yourself easy to do business with. I mean real easy. Easy like design firms work. Make doing business with you very easy. Don’t try to sell what clients don’t want to buy. Give them your opinion, but be sure and give them what they are asking for. You don’t have any other choice these days. Build up some good will to cash in later for a real strategic game changer.
Go after the consultants by offering consulting services of your own. Open up a large new revenue stream into your firm, millions of dollars are available.
Learn how to sell harder. Focus on overt benefits you offer to the client. Make it very clear what you can do. Don’t be subtle in times like this. Overtness is the key. When taking in your ideas to clients and prospects, please forget written proposal. Proposals are for losers. And don’t use Powerpoint decks with good clients. Decks have no power to sell in your ideas. Once the page is turned in the deck, your idea or concept is out of sight and probably out of mind. Learn how to use California boards, process sheets, logic trails, and emotion stops in your presentations to clients.
Think about growing the old fashioned way. Buy growth. Yes, do a cross town merger with another firm similar to yours in your market. It’s a wonderful way to grow these days. And it’s a quick way to add new services and new resources clients want.
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. Do you have an old sounding name? Are you looked at as an old fashioned firm? Ask yourself if your agency have a strong brand promise? Does your firm live your brand, is it part of your culture? If not, maybe it’s time to re-brand.
Focus on generating leads meaning opportunities to go visit good prospects. Don’t get trapped in the fog of new business worrying about all the minutia of new business. Ask yourself this; Who is building relationships for your firm today? Not who is doing new business. But who is reaching out to good prospects, creating awareness that you are around? Turning awareness into relationships? If no one is doing that today for your firm, if no one is working on outreach, but you are working hard in new business, then you’re probably trapped in the fog of new business.

I have no idea what the Agency Of The Future will look like… I only know that if you’re really good at all of the above then you will not just survive, but thrive in the future. If you want to discuss these strategies any further, reach out and ask! We’re always happy to discuss the future of marketing with anyone.

Photo by ~uploathe

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: Ad Agency Planning, advertising agency consultant, Agency Future, Agency of the Future, Creative Agency, Future of Ad Agencies, leading ad agencies, Market Leaders, marketing for a new business, Marketing Planning, New Ideas For Ad Agencies, Planning for the Future, Thought Leaders

Ready For New Business In 2013?

January 3, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Preparing The Agency For Change

"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." Yogi Berra

It’s not a difficult formula to understand. Start with a well-planned leadership retreat. Have key members of the agency leadership team attend, prepared to discuss the hard issues.

We begin by looking at where the agency is today. Then, we move to adopt a strong vision for the agency that will point the new direction for the agency in the future. During this process you will come to understand that there is no more powerful engine for driving an agency forward than an attractive, worthwhile vision of the future.

However, adopting a strong vision is nothing more than a hollow shell without a leadership team that can get the agency staff to dedicate themselves to their vision. To do this the agency staff needs to be prepared for the changes that this new vision will demand. Without these tools, most agencies wander from change effort to change effort without much success. We will show you how to win the hearts and minds of your staff not by the command and control leadership techniques of the past but through careful planning, training and implementation that will give ownership of the vision to the entire agency, not just the management team.

After attending the leadership retreat, it will be clear what it will take for the agency to achieve the future it wants. The reason — the agency leadership now has the tools to create its future rather than react to it.

Our Top 10 Post On Planning For The Future:

An outside-in look by us starts the process from which everything else flows. It’s a clear-eyed look at your agency from consultants who have worked with thousands of other agencies. Most importantly, it’s straight talk about where to go and how to get there.

And finally, a repost from last year:

It’s a new year– time for renewal, reflection and looking forward to a better year! As part of that process it’s helpful to review this past year and think about what worked and what didn’t. Time for some New Year’s resolutions! After all, a New Year’s resolution is a challenge to achieve one or more goals. Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands honesty.

But sometimes it’s not about what you need to start doing; it’s really about what you need to stop doing that’s important.

So here’s our list of 6 things agencies should stop doing right now!

Photo by *PansaSunavee

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: ad agency leadership, agency leadership, leadership lessons, leading ad agencies, marketing leaders, new year, Planning for the New Year

The Most Important Client At Your Agency

November 13, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

This management team is working on the agency’s most important client.

They’re at a leadership retreat planning the agency’s future. And the management team understands that the agency is the most important client in the agency.

Unfortunately most agencies spend too much time doing client business and forget to do the agency business. And that attitude can get an agency into serious trouble in this fast-changing marketing-communications environment.

The best advice might be to get out of town, away from the phones and the pressures of everyday client concerns and focus on the agency’s concerns. Where is the agency going? How to get there?

What resources are needed for the agency to prosper and not just survive? Do high investments in creative talent pay off or should the agency take some new initiatives into consulting, planning and brand building? What’s the right balance between new business and client retention? What are the best agency practices around the world? And what is the right management structure?

These are critical decisions for all agencies but most agencies leave them to chance. You wouldn’t expect a smart client to let the future just happen. Why let the future happen to your agency?

It All Starts With Vision

Look at it this way. Having a vision marks you as a visionary. Then if you have the ability to get others to buy into that vision, you’re called a leader. The reason is simple. You know it will take others within your organization to help you achieve your vision. And you have seen what happens when businesses, both large and small, try to operate without a clear vision.

Trying to managing a firm that doesn’t have a strong vision is like trying to get a group of friends to run through the woods at night. You might cover a lot of ground but you and your friends get banged up a lot. There is a better way.

Why: Vision seems so simple but it’s so important. With a strong vision, you know where you are going and how you hope to get there. That’s the start. Then you need to let others in on that vision so they can help you achieve it.

We work with firms of all sizes around the world helping their owners and operators set a vision for what they can become. And then we work together to make that vision a reality. If the vision word troubles you, then just consider the whole vision thing as a way to create the future.

We Can Help

Sanders Consulting Group has been a leader in the marketing communication industry for over 20 years. Our track record for helping agencies grow through client retention and new business wins is unparalleled. In any given year, Sanders Consulting works with most of the top ten advertising agencies and hundreds of local and specialized firms. Our extensive roster of programs and services is unique in the industry.

Beyond agency growth, Sanders Consulting has developed practice areas dedicated to agency re-branding, operations management, productivity improvement and information technology, as well as a wide variety of management concerns and ownership issues.

As you evaluate opportunities and challenges at your agency, never hesitate to give us a call.

Phone: 1.800.899.1538

Mail: info@sandersconsulting.com

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: Ad Agency, ad agency branding, Advertising, advertising agency consultant, Agency New Business, Agency Positioning, leadership, Leadership Training, leading ad agencies, Marketing, new business agency, standing out

How Many New Business Leads are Out There?

October 10, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

New Business Math | The Foundation of New Business

Math tells us HOW many clients will change agencies every year? And what, exactly, are you doing about THAT?

One of the big problems marketing firms face when thinking about new business is trying to understand the math.

Have you ever wondered just how many clients are satisfied with their current agency at present? Or just how many clients will look around at other firms during the next 12 months? Who in your market is going to invite another agency to stop by? Or perhaps go and visit another agency? Perhaps start a search? Or even worse, engage a search consultant? Is your perfect “client” writing an RFP right now that you don’t know about?

Just how many clients will actually change agencies during the next 12 months?

The Rate of Change is Accelerating

I was there when Budweiser ended a 79-year relationship with DMB&B. And how many of us remember when Harley Davidson parted ways with Carmichael Lynch after 31 years? Or when Dr Pepper broke up with Y&R after 40 years? How about when MetLife, after 83 years, cut Y&R? The list goes on and on… We all understand the client-agency relationship has changed. But how many of us have thought about that from the new business side: the math of all this change for new business hunters?

AAR now reckons that the average life of a relationship between agency and client lasts between three and four years. A study of US-based CMOs, commissioned by Adweek early in 2008, asked how many of them planned to change one or more of their agencies in the coming year. Forty-five percent of those surveyed said they intended to fire at least one of their agencies.

Avi Dan’s group reports that;

“Relationships are fraying and turnover is accelerating. Agency tenure has been declining steadily…”

This means that if you have 100 prospects in your target-list, around 30 of them will be hiring a new agency this year. And what if you have 200 prospects in your pool? How about 500?

The Famous No-System New Business System

Yet even with all this turnover, we are always amazed at how many agencies have no new business system in place. All of their leads are generated from infrequent activity and casual referrals. There is NO system in place to generate leads or referrals. Most firms don’t even have a centralized prospect list!

I recommend that you have between 500-600 strong prospects that you’ve targeted as a good match for your firm, and that you have an active program to reach out and touch base with them every other month or so.

That means around 180 prospects could offer you a chance to win their business in the next 12 months. That is if you have any type of system to reach out, build awareness, foster relationships, and just connect with those prospects.

New Business Is Too Important Not To Be Your Agency’s Top Priority!

There are many, many lead opportunities out there.
There are so many good lead opportunities out there that agencies should not pioneer by trying to win clients who have never had agencies.
Agencies shouldn’t waste time trying to convince firms with in-house agencies to go outside.
Waiting for leads to come in is a luxury few agencies can afford.
Waiting for leads to come in also means letting the market define who you are. And that definition might be wrong, out of date, and not reflective of the “new you” or the “new you” you want to be.

If you’re serious about growing your firm, then hire an account executive for new business called the New Business Spark. The Spark is responsible for building agency awareness and creating large numbers of relationships with key prospects.

The Spark System is a European way of doing business. European agencies work to establish relationships so they will be invited in when there is a good opportunity.

Most agencies need a new business system that generates a steady stream of leads into the agency. If you don’t have a steady stream of leads, you need a Spark. New business is too complicated, too important and too competitive.

Twist Image President, Mitch Joel, brings a very stark point of view on these numbers here. And as they say, read the whole thing.

Photo by ~ssutanto

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: ad agency business, ad agency new business, Ad Agency Winning New Business, advertising agency consultant, advertising agency new business, Agency New Business, Agency Search, Client Relationships, client retention, Formal Presentation, leading ad agencies, marketing new business, new business agencies, new business agency, new business math, Pitch Training, Presentation Strategy, Presentation Tactics, Presenting Techniques, Winning New Business, winning the pitch

Not Getting New Business Calls? Focus!

April 10, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

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 in 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, improved, they failed to communicate that with prospects. Even worst, the market perception was out-of-date and just plain wrong.

So here are 5 easy steps to help your brand stand out in the market:

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Use a Spark: Hire an Account Executive who is responsible for building agency awareness and creating large numbers of relationships with key prospects. This is the fastest way to build agency your agency brand with prospects. And that means more calls asking you to swing by for a visit. More new business.

There you go… 5 easy-to-forget strategies that can help you establish and maintain your brand in the mind of your ideal prospect. And just think, once they’ve heard of you, perhaps know you, and think you have some smart solutions then they will call you.

Next Steps

Agency leadership needs to build a long-term vision for success and gain commitment from staff to that vision. Any planning needs to ensure that agency teamwork, which is essential to making the vision successful, comes forth. Sanders Consulting Group, the recognized experts in agency growth, has proven techniques and strategies to transform your agency. Give us a call and let us show you how.

Photo by ~xEmDeex

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: ad agency business, ad agency new business, advertising agency consultant, advertising agency consultants, advertising agency new business, Agency New Business, business consulting marketing, business marketing companies, business marketing consultant, business marketing consultants, consulting firm marketing, leading ad agencies, marketing and consulting companies, marketing business consulting, marketing consultant companies, marketing for a new business, marketing new business, new business agencies, new business agency, new business presentations

Half Your Clients May Walk This Year

October 24, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

When it comes to new business, plans are often worthless. But new business planning is invaluable

Client retention at agencies across the country is dropping like a stone. A few years ago agencies could count on keeping clients for four years or more. Now this retention rate is moving towards two years. This means half your clients are at risk of leaving in any one year.

Agencies must become new business machines. This means agencies need to step up their new business activities substantially and treat new business similar to other parts of the marketing communication industry that work on a project basis and deal in episodic relationships.

It’s not good news but it’s true news. For most agencies a whole new way of looking at new business is needed.

One Bad Year Can Put You Out of Business

In the past, agencies found it easy to recover from a bad year in new business. In the grim realities of this economic environment, with clients changing agencies faster and faster, a bad year in new business could put your agency out of business.

Add in the effects of the slowdown in client spending, and the situation becomes worse. For many firms, this changing situation means new business efforts must be doubled just to stay even.

The Changing Face of New Business Math

Client satisfaction has dropped significantly over the past ten years. And some experts are expecting clients will keep changing agencies at an all time rate in the coming years. Most clients are tired of having to fight with their marketing partners. As a result they’re hiring new marketing managers and looking for new ideas. As a result the new business wars are going to heat up more as the economy slowly recovers.

The Solution

Look around. Ask questions. Call your peers, your friends and family, business owners and leaders in growth. And most importantly find some experts in new business. The best thing to do now is understand how the game is changing. Many of the old tactics no longer work. Some very old tactics are working better then ever. And there is a whole slew of new tactics that may or may not be effective for your firm. Find out how other firms your size and condition handle new business and what results your can expect.

Then assemble your management team for a one-day new business mapping session. Refer to it as an 180 meeting because the purpose is to change the directions of your agency’s growth pattern. Usually in a direction 180 different from where it has been. If you can have an outside mediator that comes with a 80 page training manual designed to review 12 key new business skills and probe your firm for any weakness.

Work with your team to make decisions on which direction to go, determine the priority for a wide variety of growth tasks, choose who will be responsible, and allocate the resources needed to change your agency’s new business trajectory.

Fix New Business Forever

Map out the best new business strategy for your firm – we call the session DayOne. You’ll call it a miracle because you won’t believe the breadth and depth of the planning accomplished in so short a time.

The DayOne session is tailored to your needs and your situation. There’s no wasted time. Your team will appreciate how smoothly the day moves. And how critical issues are probed and resolved. Many sacred but out-of-date-paradigms are put to rest.

Even if you choose not to hire someone it’s your job to ensure the new business planning session is the most important day in your agency’s future.

The day you decide to fix new business forever.

Photo by *Garacci

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: ad agency business, ad agency new business, advertising agency consultant, advertising agency consultants, advertising agency new business, Agency New Business, leading ad agencies, marketing for a new business, marketing new business, new business agencies, new business agency, new business presentations

You Want to Be a New Business Champion?

September 22, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

Then grow your agency. That makes you a new business champion.

If you have the ambition to be a New Business Champion then you’re at the right place.

Not sure how to get started? Then you’re at the right place… for over 25 years we’ve been perfecting the art and science of growing your agency.

And if you want to be a champion then start with prioritizing your new business needs. Learn the vital skills. Get consensus. Build a plan. Launch!

We’ve already listed some of the top new business challenges… now let’s list some of the top “needs” we hear from agencies.

Top Marketing New Business Needs:

1. Need more leads?

Build more awareness and relationships

2. Need to best use branding?

Better brand the agency
Win accounts with branding
Win revenue with brand consulting
Bring in a strategic development/branding process

3. Need to be better at closing?

Stronger first visits to set up prospects
Know how to use the 48-hour close or 7-day close
Understand how and when to pitch

4. Need to understand Chemistry?

Improve new business success
Strengthen client relationships
Improve internal communications
Develop internal language to manage clients better

5. Need to get started but not sure how?

Get a plan!
Get consensus on new business priorities
Get support for a new business plan

Your objective remains: Be a new business champion!

We can help a couple of ways… first hold a DayOne: New Business Mapping session at your firm.

Objectives:

Grow the agency by winning new accounts
Get the agency in good position to handle any economic changes
Map out the new business process for the agency
Build management consensus behind the plan
Give agency staff confidence that the agency will grow
Assign roles and responsibilities for new business effort
End the agency’s confusion and uproar over new business
Fix new business forever

Strategy:

One day new business mapping session on-site at agency

Content:

Briefing by top management over breakfast
One-on-one interviews with senior management
New business evaluation session with senior management
Agency’s unique situation reviewed
Agency brand is reviewed
Agency new business performance SWOT completed
Review of performance against 12 key new business skill sets
New business options and alternatives outlined and discussed
Timeline set
Roles and responsibilities assigned
Expected new business payout analyzed
Action steps set
Next step decided upon

The second option is join our LinkedIn group – the New Business Institute!

New business in now more intense and the rules have changed. Overall new business activity is much higher but accounts and projects are smaller. Competition is tougher and different with firms of all sizes and shape competing for the same accounts. Budgets don’t seem to matter because big firms are chasing little accounts they ignored several years back. That’s the landscape. Join the New Business Institute and see what should you be doing about it.

About Us:

Sanders Consulting Group teaches more marketing communication companies around the world more about new business than any other firm. The world’s largest and best managed agencies and networks use Sanders Consulting Group as a trusted new business resource. Sanders Consulting Group offers the best advice, insight and training on how to grow your firm – from branding your firm to understanding outreach to winning the pitch.

Photo by ~birdswithoutwings

Filed Under: New Business Tagged With: ad agency business, ad agency new business, advertising agency consultant, advertising agency consultants, advertising agency new business, Agency New Business, How To Win Clients, leading ad agencies, marketing for a new business, new business agencies, new business agency, new business presentations, Winning, Winning New Business