Our Agency New Business Thought Leader panel just keeps giving!

Hopefully, you’ve had the chance to see the 2016 RSW/US Thought Leader Report, and related material.*

In addition to providing questions and advice for the survey, each of the six participating Thought Leaders generously shared time for a more in-depth interview around the area of agency new business that their section of the survey presented.

Blair Enns, Founder of Win Without Pitching, presented survey questions focused on the importance of “affecting the buying process”.   Through this process, agencies assume a position as “expert advisors” rather than “order-taker suppliers”.

Three legged stool

My interview with Blair looks at this process from the beginning.

Listen to what Blair has to say, as he describes the foundation of this process as a “three-legged positioning stool”, with the legs being:

  • What do you do?
  • Who do you do it for?
  • What’s your over-arching perspective on how this should be done?

 

Importantly, consider Blair’s counsel that this over-arching perspective – your point of view – BE POLARIZING.

It’s the polarization in your point of view that works to differentiate your firm and your market position.

Blair advises that the more competition you have, the more polarizing your point of view should be.

He also counsels, if a competitor can do what your firm does – you shouldn’t be doing it.

For another interview that is rich with agency new business ideas, listen to Blair here.


*See Thought Leader material below, including blog posts and interviews:

Blog Posts

Mark O’Brien: No Silver Bullets for Agency New Business

Blair Enns: The Only New Business Indicator That Matters

Jay Baer: Account-Based Marketing –What’s in it for Agency New Business?

Michael Gass: Fish Away from the Boat

Peter Caputa IV: Differentiate and Articulate – Emphatically

  Tim Williams:  Agency New Business Success is NOT about LOCATION!

 

Interviews

Mark O’Brien: Marketing Automation and Agency New Business

Mark is a 30-year veteran of the consumer packaged goods, advertising, and marketing service industry. Mark started his career at DDB Needham in Chicago prior to earning his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Business School at Northwestern where he majored in Marketing and Economics. Prior to starting RSW/US in 2005, Mark was General Manager for AcuPOLL, a global research consultancy. Sneider worked in Marketing for S.C. Johnson and KAO Brands. Sneider has been invited to speak at numerous Agency events and network conferences domestically and internationally including the 4A’s, Magnet, NAMA, TAAN, and MCAN. Sneider has been featured in prominent industry publications including Adweek, Media Post, e-Marketer, and Forbes. When not working (which often seems like not often), Mark likes to run miles, go to church, and just chill with a hard copy issue of Fast Company.