One of my favorite bands, R.E.M., broke up in September 2011. What does that have to do with the new business letter? Read on. It is widely argued that perhaps it should have happened when original drummer Bill Berry left in 1997. (I am, sadly, inclined to agree.) Nevertheless, they left a great legacy, with […]
In this blog we’re consistently trying to show you ways to improve your new business program and it’s typically in the form of what we recommend you should do. In this case, it’s all about what you shouldn’t do. Several of us in the office went to a sales symposium to help inspire us and […]
We frequently talk about the importance of multiple channels when prospecting for agency new business, and today we’re talking agency new business email. And more specifically email subject lines. I am constantly on the lookout for subject lines that will cause just enough curiosity or present just enough value to open the email but avoid all […]
I was talking with several of our new business directors recently about email, its prospecting effectiveness and ways to consistently improve those ad agency new business efforts. One of our NBD’s mentioned the timeliness of our conversation, as a friend of hers had just remarked on the sheer amount of sales emails she gets and how […]
Get ready for a very unscientific post, but an important one for your new business program nevertheless. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at length, both on the phone and in person this week, with 2 of our agency clients. As Business Development Director at RSW/US, I talk to agency principals just about every working day, […]
It’s interesting how often we still see, in agency collateral or on agency sites, some variation of the phrase “we help you break through the clutter.” Please stop saying that. It’s like saying, “our point of differentiation is that we’re unique.” Ultimately, it actually ends up creating its own clutter when a prospect reads that. They’ll gloss […]
We celebrated an agency new business success yesterday as a fairly new client got their first win through our efforts. Particularly satisfying is the fact it happened after roughly 3 ½ months of prospecting. It doesn’t always happen that quickly, but always nice when it does. Think about the emails, mail or social media messages […]
The post title, Get Naked for Ad Agency New Business, OK, Not Really Naked, comes from a few recent conversations about outbound lead generation with agency principals and internal agency new business directors. Cutting right to the chase: as in any field, a large part of your success as an agency new business person is […]
I received an email from a salesperson this week that was similar to many I receive: giant blocks of text, staring at me, unyielding, from my screen. I was immediately exhausted and the delete button became my savior. Interesting that Marketing Profs had an article last week discussing this very issue, titled Two Sure Ways to Make […]
Ad agency new business, you’re such a fickle mistress. As an agency principal and/or new business director, you’re given a great deal of advice, but one channel you rarely see mentioned as of late is direct mail, and more specifically, the envelope. The envelope gets no love, does it? It’s funny, we’ve actually heard […]
