Ad Agency New Business Truths You May Be Avoiding

It’s amazing how many agencies we talk to that still don’t have a new business process in place. If you’re one of those, or even if you already have a process in place, don’t avoid the truth about new business. I’ll explain.

Social media continues to get the lion’s share of press and attention, but I came across a post from Brian Carroll’s B2B lead generation blog this week that deserves some attention. He post is entitled How to improve lead generation with prospecting 2.0 and touches on cold calling, social media and other techniques that, in total, need to be employed for a successful effort. From Brian’s post.

Cold calling. Feel a shiver move up your spine? Too bad. It’s a shame that you, like many others, choose to dismiss cold calling as a lead generation tool (there’s that shiver again). I’m not saying that its reputation hasn’t been earned. I just think everybody is going about it all wrong. Cold calling works…you’ve probably just never been shown the right way to do it.

I hope I don’t sound like a broken report from previous posts here on The ANB, but Brian’s absolutely right. Another quote that Brian takes from Mike Schultz, Publisher of RainToday.com encapsulates parts of the methodology we employ for our agency clients here at RSW/US. (The portions in bold are mine.)

Of course, not everyone is going to respond the way you want them to. But, if your list has been carefully planned and targets specific people that need your service – people that are already exploring versions of what you have to offer – a good number of people will give you a foot in the door.

If your problem is that you’re just too busy to do it, hire someone to do it for you. And, then once you get someone’s attention, don’t fail to stay in touch regularly and meaningfully. We can’t expect that first conversation to make the sell; Cold calling done correctly will achieve exactly what it’s supposed to: it will give your company an introduction that could turn into a fruitful relationship.

The truth as succinctly put as you’ll ever hear it and one of the biggest challenges agencies face, hands down-they don’t have time to go after new business the right way. Because it’s not a quick fix, it’s a process.

Per the quote above, staying in touch regularly and meaningfully is absolutely essential, as is a targeted list. Also, per Mike’s quote above, if you can’t do it yourself, hire someone. That could be someone internal, although certainly that has associated challenges we’ve covered here recently.

The other alternative, you may not be surprised to read, is the outsourced option, like RSW’s program. We won’t start the hard sell now, but the truth about agency new business: you have to structure a comprehensive, ongoing strategy that includes accurate, targeted lists and a seasoned professional who knows, not only how to sell your agency, but can “talk the talk” when conversing with a prospect, all along providing that regular and meaningful contact.

In the long run, whether it’s RSW/US that you contact to help you do that or if you decide to go a different route, accept this agency new business truth. Don’t think you can truly build your business without a structured new business effort.

Brian’s post here