The last day of school in ad agency new business development

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s Friday. And this afternoon, I’m short timing it. Much like…wait for it…a kid’s last day of school. And quite possibly, your next new business pitch.

What this few hundred will get at is how you can tell you are wasting your time in a pitch. The post was inspired by a comment a friend of mine made on Facebook. They said the next few days of her children’s education will be wasted because no one wants to be there. Everyone is going through the motions. Kids are thinking about their summers. Teachers, too, are no doubt thinking about how they will enjoy the next few months.

Who hasn’t felt this way in a new business pitch? Like the potential clients are not paying attention to your thinking and creative brilliance? All that waste is enough to make one race out of the classroom, never to return.

In some pitches, the outcome was already determined earlier. And what you’re pitching doesn’t matter. So no one is truly engaged in the pitch event. When your prospects are looking at their blackberries and iPhones instead of you, that’s no good. But that suggests you’re well done the pitch path. You need to know sooner.

So, just how do you know that your audience is not taking you seriously? Here are a few things to consider:

You’re invited by procurement
You’re on the pitch list because someone paid to come up with options did a bit of research or heard you might be a good agency. The manner in which you were invited also counts. Was it via email? A phone call? An engraved invitation only sent to five agencies? Don’t know about you, but the last one would get my attention.

You don’t know any of the decision-makers
Closely related to the above thought. But if you or someone on your team doesn’t have a relationship…odds are not in your favor. The kids are looking out the window…

Your questions are met with non-answers
Typically, this happens earlier in the process. But when you get bad, not helpful or politically correct, meaningless answers? Another sign. Your sense of their willingness to participate is also a qualifying factor, right?

No love
What I mean here is no special treatment or enthusiasm. No flexibility. Easier to see this in person than over the phone. But over the phone, for instance, should you experience pauses, voice tightness, interruptions, and a general unwillingness to build conversation synergy…Alice Cooper is blaring.

A great spin on “no love” is from pitch guru Don Peppers. Read about that here. Look for the idea of testing your relationship late in the post.

Anywho, hope the above gets you thinking.

Should you be wishing to avoid crickets in new business pitches, look here. It’s a series of posts that will inspire you to more full engage and convince your prospect you are the agency for them.

If, however, you’re thinking about the above through a lens of qualifying your prospect, take a look at this.

Thanks.

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Filed Under: Closing, Pitch Strategy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How search consultants can survive in the ad agency new business world

May 9, 2012 By 1 Comment

Hi. A couple of well-written stories came up recently in our industry’s leading trade book, Ad Age, that made me think a bit more about search consultants. I worry for their business. There are, after all, some good guys out there. So I wanted to write a few hundred words on what they could do. The first story was about search consultants whining about procurement in the most recent Mirren conference. The second story was about the changes taking place in agency compensation (and the rise in performance incentives.)

Oh, and in full disclosure… I also worry because some of these guys will begin to get into my business – giving paid advice to agencies and agencies alone. They become an ad agency new business consultant. It’s bad enough that some play both sides. Happy to accept checks from either clients or agencies. We don’t need any more of this monkey business. Papa’s got a mortgage to pay. But we digress…!

So, what’s a search consultant do to?! Here are some thought-starters:

Sharpen your own marketing and business development
The Ad Age article about agency compensation was based on a survey performed by a highly regarded and well known search consultant. Very, very smart. Naturally, I encourage you to take a look around this site for new business strategies. But   here’s another place to find some inspiration and innovation. This “place” lists a few non-agency resources for professional service business development. Having suggesting this, though, there are a couple of really easy things to consider:

  • Develop win-win partnerships with other professional service offerings (law, accounting, etc.)
  • Get published regularly. Very smart guys out there doing this right now. But there are many platforms still available.
  • Re-engage with all your past clients. Odds are good they’ve moved on from the brand you served. I wonder if there isn’t some way you could keep in touch with your old clients each month with some valuable, helpful information.

Change up what you offer
Try to take a 30,000 foot view of what’s happening in the CMO suite. What are they looking for that you are not providing? Blow apart the Integrated Marketing Communications function. Find the areas in which your skill set has value. And yes, that’s a big, fat hint.

Specialize
Agencies are beginning to build practice areas and market their specific expertise in targets or categories. Is this something for you to consider?

Change your business card
Buy someone, join forces, or become part of a much larger firm. For instance, my experience has suggested that when a management consultant gets an agency search project, they bungle it. I wonder if there isn’t an opportunity there for you.

And these are just for starters. It’s not lost on the industry that the most successful search consultants are changing the way they do business. They have already employed one or more of the thoughts outlined above. YOU can do this, too!

Many search consultants are actually nice folks. Competent, fair, smart professionals that are industry experts. While I feel for you, we are at a point when change must be necessary to thrive. Don’t make me pull this car over!

Gentle reader, should you have any thoughts related to helping a search consultant out, feel free to share with the class.

Thanks!

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Here are just a few posts written about the consultant world on this blog:

The consultant world in ad agency new business

Do you need to know agency search consultants?

The 4as List of Search Consultants (and how to use it) 

 

Filed Under: Marcom Industry, Planning, Search Consultants, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Improve new business development at your ad agency with a brag file

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Hey there, Daddyo! Thanks for stopping by. I spoke with another agency new business development guru the other day and she reminded me to write a few hundred words on the value of having a brag file. Both for yourself and for your agency. In the continuing effort to be helpful, I thought there might be some value in sharing a couple if unique and interesting ways to use said file in smart career and business development for your ad agency.

But first, let’s define the term. A “brag file” is a collection of nice things people say about you. A part of your own permanent record. One of my first ones was mumble-something years ago when Dan Fox, Group Account Director at FCB wrote, “Nice job. Really!” on one of my Nielsen reports. It was routed through the Coors account team. But this is just one example. Letters of recommendation, voice-mails and emails are great things to have thrown in your file. And nowadays, you have a whole new source of things to add to the pile: tweets, LinkedIN recommendations, blog post comments and more. Of course, the higher the title from a recognizable source, the better. You could also collect other notable personal achievements.

From a career perspective, here are some more interesting things you might do with these kind of comments and positive juju:

  • Work it into a page and add it when you are asked about references
  • Sprinkle it in a resume
  • Throw them on your LinkedIN profile or on a personal blog
  • Share it with recruiters as you put your materials on file
  • Take a look at it next time you have a crappy day
  • Note why and how you received the accolades and make an adjustment or two

From an agency perspective, we’re really talking about a form of testimonials, right? With a little imagination, all of the above can apply to you. But here are some additional thoughts that might not immediately spring to mind:

  • Use them throughout an RFP response (or to add color to a specific question)
  • Create posters out of the comments and throw those on the walls between stop on an agency tour
  • Make a coffee table book out of them and put it in your lobby
  • Work them in in specific agent pitch videos

Anywho, hope this gets you thinking! Thanks.

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Filed Under: Agency Operations, Career, Prospecting, Recruiting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RFP how-to articles in ad agency new business

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Hi, folks. Thought you might appreciate a heads up on some interesting articles related to agency RFPs and RFIs. In this post, you’ll learn some tips you can pass along to clients, as well as get a reminder where you can insert client benefit in your agency’s story. All of which will drive new business development for your ad agency.

Chris Shumaker wrote a bit in Ad Age that offers up some tips to clients on developing RFPs. I love what he has to say. Chris would definitely be one to know, by the way. He’s an experienced new business hand, having worked in “the bigs” for years. Personal experience suggests he’s a smart, nice guy.

By the way, one of the things Chris recommends clients use are the new 4As / ANA guidelines. Agreed. Find Thunderclap posts here and here on how this can be used in your agency’s new business efforts.

Avi Dan wrote a piece in Forbes CMO Network also aimed at clients. Avi’s a search consultant – one of the good ones, I understand. He writes a good post. And while his message is a little self serving (that clients should hire search consultants instead of working through procurement), get over that quickly. He’s got some suggestions in it that you should be aware of as an agency. Here’s a snippet of what he writes with regard to a good RFP…

“ a good RFP should provide information about how the agency differentiates itself; what is its business model, what is its vision. We want to know: have any of your ideas ever failed? What did you learn from that?”

He goes on:

“You are not hiring an agency’s past; you’re hiring its future. And that future, while somewhat informed by previous accomplishments like case studies and samples of creative work, is more likely to be a reflection of an agency’s culture and people, and its willingness to embrace what’s coming rather than preserve what’s been.”

Pretty damn inspiring stuff from an experienced pitch man.

From your perspective, these articles can mean a couple of things:

Understand the benefits your vision, business model and culture can deliver to your clients
This should kinda go without saying. But you’d be surprised how often agency RFP responses don’t call out the value of these things to readers. I see this a lot when past responses are used as source material. The readers of your document are looking for the WIFM – what’s in it for me. Spell it out.

Take part in the industry paradigm shift
Value yourself more. The Ad Age article suggests that the smarter agencies are also evaluating their client just as much as the client is eyeballing them. Your taste alone in new business blogs suggests you are smart! Avi’s wisdom suggests it’s OK to be yourself, relying less on the Jedi mind tricks of ad agency new business. Should you be looking for more ways your uniqueness is marketable, do a search for “authenticity” on this blog.

Anywho, hope this helps. If you’ve noticed any new RFP trends, feel free to share. Thanks!

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Almost forgot: if you are looking for FREE RFP Response How-To tips, sign up for the RSS feed or drop me a line. Happy to send some over to you in the form of a presentation I delivered to a group of 4As agencies.

Filed Under: Client News, Marcom Industry, Pitch Strategy, Search Consultants, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ad agency new business – the Hollywood way

April 6, 2012 By 1 Comment

Had an interesting discussion the other day with a fellow agency new business fan. He and I were talking about an agency positioning and its value. It sparked an idea you might find helpful as you think about your own agency’s position / elevator speech / description.

Here’s the thought: can one Hollywood-ize an agency positioning?

A common perception of how people sell Hollywood movie concepts to studio head honchos is to describe it in familiar ways. The new movie is combination of different movies. “Got a great idea, Mr. Meyer. It’s Die Hard meets The Hangover.” (Adding a cute Rudy from the Cosby Show – or a Harry Potter “Expelliarmus!” – is strictly optional.) Movies the producers reference are blockbusters. Or well-known, critically acclaimed flicks.

This should go without saying. But a version of this is happening right now in our business – when your clients ask for the next viral campaign. Inevitably, it’s named. (You’d see a name or two here. But we strive for evergreen content here at Thunderclap!)

So, might this work with an agency description?

  • Could it be a combination of agency names? (e.g. Burnett meets Mother)
  • Marketing communication disciplines? (like media buying meets sales promotion)
  • Operating structures? (say, think tank meets hollywood agent)
  • Businesses, even?  (maybe an ad agency meets logistics company)

Maybe. What’s interesting about this is that by naming something that’s already known, you enter that space. You tie yourself to something and get a sort of halo effect – even if you say you’re the opposite of something. You’re taking advantage of something someone has already built.

Of course, you have to have some proof behind your claim. After all, if you say, “Die Hard” and it’s really The Von Trapp Family, Part Deux, you’re in trouble. Three more related thoughts:

Gimme a benefit
In Hollywood, “blockbuster” means revenue. “Critical acclaim” is validation. How does that work in our business? To clients, tying one’s position to revenue is never a bad idea. Insert other ROI success metrics here – awareness, intent, loyalty, etc. Break out that sales funnel.

Realize your positioning’s greatest influence – early
My friend suggested that strictly from a prospecting frame of reference, a strong agency positioning will have it’s greatest influence in the early part of a given pitch. Your outbound efforts and the inbound invitation to pitch. Winning the business is a combination of a ton of factors that aren’t as related to positioning.

Finally, what might maximize the impact of your positioning – even without the Hollywood-speak – is depth.

Pay off your positioning throughout your business
Call it what you will. I call it the 6Ps: the different elements of a professional service firm – your product, process, place, price, promotion, and people. After all, we’re talking about how you describe yourself vs. what a client might experience and see when they go to your site or ask around about your agency. Should be some alignment there, right? This will help avoid a box office dud. Each P could be an opportunity to reinforce what makes your agency valuable to clients and staff.

You can find out more about the 6Ps on this blog here and here.

Some very smart new business gurus – folks like Michael Gass and Tim Williams – have got a lot of smart things to say about agency positioning. You’d be smart to check those guys out. (Oh, and give me a call, too! Happy to be of service!)

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Filed Under: Agency Operations, Marcom Industry, Prospecting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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