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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big agency experience and your career, part three

April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

OK. So, you’ve read a bit about how much big agency experience you should get . Then, you might pondered what a big agency can throw at a pitch and why this can help you. But you didn’t read about another thing to consider: your function in new business at agencies of this size.

So, here are three typical roles, ordered from least to most valuable in the eyes of senior management. And, well, folks that hire new business professionals.

Producer
You’re the go-to person. You take the lead on RFP responses, credentials presentations and finals. You develop the pitch schedule, arrange the meetings, research, participate and lead the internal meetings. You have “the football” – the deliverable. It’s part project management, part strategist and part thankless. Being a producer is typically how most people get started in the new business department. Or, they take part in a pitch at their agency. And then, get hooked!

Marketer
You help make the bits & pieces that tell your agency’s story. This list is endless: website, blog, social media, whitepapers, agency thinking, events, partnerships, credentials, etc. Typically, you plan and execute elements of the new business program that last beyond a single pitch. This kinda stuff ultimately increases the number of phone calls your agency earns.

Prospector
Rolodex-grower and relationship builder. You’re working it. One of the proactive faces at the agency that gets the proverbial fish in the boat. These are typically more senior people, capable of having conversations with directors of marketing and CMO-types. This could also include search consultants, a key target for big agencies.

Of course, your mileage may vary. But the above are the basic functions of a new business department of any agency. Not just the bigs. The bigger the agency, the more compartmentalized the functions become. At FCB Chicago (now DraftFCB), we had a five-person team. Ultimately, it became a boss, a prospector and some marketers/producers. At a 150-person shop, you might have a boss and a producer. At a 50-person place, it’s one professional doing a whole lot of juggling. Lots of variations here.

But ask just about any agency principal, and they’ll say they need more pitches. Which means marketing or prospecting.

So, you career-minded folks…

Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to be valuable across the functions. Smarties may be paid for producing, for instance, yet contribute to agency marketing…AND build their network. So that over time, your personal network produces leads for your agency. But we digress!

Hope this gives you a perspective. Happy career-ing.

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Oh, almost forgot. A bit on general new business experience and what it can do is here. Now, yours truly has gotta hop. There’s producing, marketing and prospecting to be done.

Filed Under: Agency Operations, Career, Marcom Industry, Recruiting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Big agency new business experience and your career, part one

April 18, 2012 By 2 Comments

Today, yours truly wanted to offer up some perspective on the value of big agency experience as it relates to your new business career. The advice comes from a practitioner – someone who’s worked in full-time new business at agencies large and small. And as a recruiter. Every so often, yours truly is retained by a shop to find said staffer. Great projects, by the way, as people with these proven, demonstrable skill sets are very hard to find. And I happen to know a few…!

So, big agency new business experience. The advice?

Get some. But maybe not too much.
It never hurts to have ANY big, alphabet soup agency experience on your resume. It looks great, suggests competence and professionalism, and commands more money.

Agencies are like other professional service firms. The bigger places have bigger, better-known client rosters. But to get on the roster, there’s a pitch. These kinds of agencies have much more active transoms than smaller firms. Their phone rings due to the existing awareness, networks and relationships that come with a larger agency. (This is just one of the advantages of working in new business at a place like this.)

But an active transom is the rub.

The phone rings without them having to do much of anything. As a recruiter or agency president, I’m far more interested in new business professionals who have increased the pitch rate of an agency with little awareness. Or have helped their teams win more of what they currently earn. These folks have had to market their agency.

“Go to a smaller agency and make it bigger,” has been some of the best career advice given to yours truly. This was after, of course, I’d had the chance to work in new business for a big agency. (You can find out more here.)

Naturally, this is just one perspective. One could argue the changes taking place in our business suggest this isn’t nearly as important as it used to be. Related, crazy talk: some digital experience might not be a bad thing to have, either. But I digress.

There are plenty of very successful and happy new business folks who never work at a big agency. And there are some professionals who have spent their careers only working at big shops.

What say you? What has been your experience?

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Interested in more career talk? Here’s a nice post that discusses why new business should be a part of any professional’s career.

 

Filed Under: Career, Marcom Industry, New Business Lore, Recruiting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to spin your agency’s experience in new business

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This might be a bit basic for many of you. But it’s being shared because it’s an essential new business skill as it relates to your agency’s experience, capabilities or expertise. By “spinning,” I mean, in a word, RELEVANCE. Tying an aspect of your agency story to a prospective client’s need. Here are some common links:

  • Category / business segment?
  • Marketing communication challenge?
  • Target?
  • Marketing challenge? (Think 4 Ps)
  • Distribution / channel structure?
  • (Specific retailer?)
  • Internal stakeholder challenge?
  • Media investment?
  • Industry changes?
  • Product/service life cycle?
  • And on and on
I’m sure you’ve got the hang of it.
The skill is seen in just about every aspect of the new business pitch process: from prospecting to closing. Here are two related tips:
  • Kinda goes without saying, but the closer your story matches the prospect’s need, the better off you are. Period. Spin too much and you risk losing precious credibility. Your competitors that don’t have a relevant story will play a card like the following. “We have no experience in the category. But this can bring innovation to your brand and business.” Or something similar. Believe me, if they had a good tie or relevant spin, they’d use it. One could ask why the agency is pitching, but we digress…!
  • Call out this relevance in a case study before it is presented. This ensures you have the prospect’s attention. In a written RFP response or presentation, for example, I like to add a bullet point or sentence or two.
Oh, and the term “spinning” is, well, what it is. The word itself has become a negative. Everyone thinks about slick, inauthentic PR folks, political mouthpieces or unprofessional “media relations” people. The perception is that “they” are usually backpedaling or trying to shape a perception.
It’s too bad the term has been maligned. And sure, when you think about it in the common way, the bullshit meter goes off, right? I suggest to you the term is used differently here. But to be clear, it would be smart for us as an industry to coin a new word for this essential practice. The agency business has enough problems with our perceived image.
By the way, if you’re interested in discussion around the common definition of “spin,” check out Arment Dietrich. For years, Gini Dietrich has been writing about the practice through her blog, “Spin Sucks.” She has since morphed into helping businesses and firms with their social media efforts. Very smart. Nice, too.
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Filed Under: Marcom Industry, New Business Lore, Pitch Strategy, Prospecting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,