INFLUENCE.   In agency new business – where facing prospects who hold the decision making power that can potentially carry your firm to new heights – influence is a coveted ability. At every phase of the new business development process, building credibility and influence is vital. It’s quite an art to accomplish this pleasantly and […]

Ever put a bumper sticker on your car? I have – usually during political election seasons. Bumper stickers typically very clearly and very succinctly articulate an idea or a position. If you had to create a bumper sticker for your agency, what would it say? How would it define your point of difference in a […]

Brad Jakeman, the President of Pepsi’s Global Beverage Group, had a pretty tough message to send to the 2,700 attendees at this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing Conference: Stop Calling It Advertising! Jakeman, in an impassioned speech given on Thursday at the event, suggested that agencies have not kept pace with the changes that have […]

if you missed the Fuel Lines Conference in Nashville last week, I strongly recommend you attend next year. Michael Gass put on a first-rate new business conference, aimed squarely at small to mid-sized agencies. I was privileged to present and have included my deck from the presentation below.  (I’m told there’s audio of the presentation as well, […]

In a conversation with one of my New Business Director colleagues the other day about particularly successful clients, she reflected on the importance of “Thank You”. She specifically recalled the AdAge article reporting on the new business panel discussion at their Small Agency Conference, when one panelist remarked: “I’ve seen when an agency won the […]

Over the past few weeks, our posts have presented the Agency of the Future, describing traits agencies will need to flourish in our rapidly evolving industry. Several traits we presented described how agencies can continuously grow in value as a partner to their clients.  Others centered on becoming a more effective competitor as marketers consolidate agency partners. […]

Your new business prospects are looking for something to sink their teeth into.      As our series on future-proofing your agency has illustrated, marketers are consolidating agencies, and agencies are intensifying their agency new business efforts. Amid this increasingly competitive activity, marketers are telling us they receive information from hundreds of agencies who sound […]