Agency New Business

This is Part 13 of a 17 chapter eBook, “Agency New Business: Put On That Damn Sales Hat,” which you can download at no cost here.

The eBook covers everything from pre-prospecting preparation to working opportunities to close. 

The majority of the eBook focuses on elements that agencies either often overlook, are too busy to consider, or are simply too lazy to pursue.

The agency landscape is changing rapidly and daily, not only for agencies, but for clients: doing things the same way won’t cut it.

We released “Put On That Damn Sales Hat” as an overall agency new business primer for marketing services firms, so they can put on their sales hat with purpose and confidence.

That Damn Sales Hat

Chapter 13: Overthink Everything!

One of the important steps in winning new business is making sure you’re 110% prepared going into that final pitch presentation…or I would argue, at any step of the agency new business process.

If it’s a Q&A/Chemistry call (as an example), find out what the objectives are, who is going to be on the call, how long you have, and what the boundaries are.

Make sure you’re as prepared as possible.

If you’re going into an intro call or an intro meeting with a prospect, find out what their situation is, what pain points they’re feeling – or at the very least, make some assumptions about what you think they might be experiencing and prepare some conversation points to get the prospect talking.

Have you finished your homework?

In either case, do your homework on the client.

Be a good student of their company, their category, the trends.

Here’s a hypothetical…you’ve been invited to a final round of a review…so what do you do?  Prepare your pitch and present it?

Not so fast.

Find out the following:

1) How big is the room?

2) How many (and who) will be in the presentation?

3) How much time do you have?

4) Is there time for Q&A?

5) How important is it that we present capabilities?

Agency New Business

The little details make a big difference.

And if you’re not prepared and you haven’t practiced, it can create major problems.

We were in a Q&A/Chemistry call on the RSW/AgencySearch side of our business recently something happened to me that has never happened before:  An agency was so unprepared, and asked such “in the weeds” kind of questions, that they ended up getting tossed out of the consideration set.

I had no choice but to recommend to the client (and they agreed) that it wasn’t worth carrying that agency forward.

So prepare, practice, study, be anal and over-think it all before you walk in the door or get on the phone.

As in previous “Damn Sales Hat” posts, every touch point counts…they’re watching you at every step.

The more you can prepare, the more comfortable you’ll be when the conversation starts.

The more you know, the more you can control, and the better you’ll perform.

Knowledge is power when it comes to 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.