Why Agencies Are Hired & Fired-Buckle Up

The Agency Management Institute and Audience Audit recently released a new study, Hiring and Firing Insights 2015 and you should definitely check it out.

They surveyed over 500 marketing decision-makers to “better understand the circumstances and motivations behind the hiring and firing of advertising and marketing agencies.”

Download it here at no cost.

A few stats you should pay attention to relative to your new business program:

46% of marketers said there are factors that automatically disqualify agencies.

A few of those factors?

“Lack of prep. Talking too much and not probing for buying signals”

“They think they can address our needs with little input from my team”

“No experience in my industry”

“Horrible website”

“Typos in proposals”

What’s the commonality between all these?

You can control them.

Through preparation, careful review or taking the time to focus on the pieces that are critical to your gaining new business-all of these must be employed.

To provide a counterpoint, in regards to things you can’t control, the survey also asked Marketers if their company has a “special sauce “for finding the best agencies and 51% said yes.

Many of their answers, however, will make you laugh, because your only other alternative is to drink very heavily or sob uncontrollably.

Some of those answers?

“We take a ‘Hunger Games’ approach”

“We reach out to their former employees”

“A sixth sense”

“We ask them to take a personality test”

Wow.

In all seriousness, what do answers like the above mean?

Your new business efforts have to remain consistent, because when you have a prospect who plans to take a “Hunger Games” approach to hiring you, run very quickly away.

If at all possible.

Keep that pipeline full, so you can find those clients who are a true fit, will work with you as an equal partner and are reasonably sane.

(There’s a lot more in the report, it’s worth a look people.)