Kaizen for agency new business

Agency new business.

Never static.

Always changing.

This includes the tools you use, the process you employ, and the people that support the program.

It also includes an objective look at what’s working and not working on an on-going basis.

  • Just left a meeting with a current marketing agency client that has been with us for over two years.
  • The program has paid out handsomely.
  • Average return on investment across the two years has been 243%.  Not bad for a young program.

But that said, we all recognized there are always things we can be doing better.

The meeting we had with this client was great.  Brought their key team members together for the meeting.  We set an agenda of opportunities and potential ideas.  We had a super exchange and agreed on things that we can collectively do to make the program even more successful as we rolled into 2017.

I bring this is up because despite how solid your new business program is today, there’s always room to make it better.

If you’re managing the program for your agency on your own – or if you’re a principal trying to carry the load yourself – get a group of your team members together, and talk about the process you’re using.

Talk about the wins you’ve had and why.

Talk about the losses and why you think you didn’t win the business.

Prior to the meeting have people think about ways they, themselves can help improve the opportunities to improve the agency’s winning percentage.

  • Share ideas.
  • Challenge conventional thinking.
  • Don’t accept “we’ve always done it that way.Kaizen for agency new business

Agency New Business is a dynamic, every-changing animal that has to be aware of shifts in marketer challenges, advances in technology, and the need to bring the right, smart thinking people to the table to engage with marketing prospects.

Think the principle of Kaizen.  We not only need to evolve as an agency in terms of what we deliver to our clients, but we need to evolve as an agency in terms of how we connect and engage and convince.

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.