We recently attended and sponsored WOMMA’s (Word Of Mouth Marketing Association in case you didn’t know) WOMM-U, the school of WOMM and social studies.

There were many takeaways from the several days we spent in Chicago, one being that Facebook scares me on a personal level and may take over the world, but I digress.

In all seriousness, we got a glimpse into the potential future of social and how it looks to evolve.

One facet I want to touch on in this post are the ever-increasing social platforms agencies can learn and harness for their clients, but also for themselves, in terms of getting more new business.

But those new platforms present a double-edged sword.

There is always that innate pleasure when you get in early on something like Twitter and then ride the wave.

But of course with so many new platforms presenting themselves, you’ll never get in on every one of them.

It absolutely behooves you and your agency to explore each and make your own judgment call; as you’ll see in our latest survey results coming in a few weeks (shameless plug, sorry) marketers are getting more and more savvy when it comes to social media and social analytics.

Your clients expect you to know what the latest and greatest is, as you should.

But, where agencies are still falling down, is the new business side.

Here’s Where The Shiny Objects Come In

Regardless of what shiny new platform is there and if you’re on it, unless your prospects are there-why are you investing your time and energy there?

Now-a caveat, the initial answer may be research, getting to know the platform, etc.

Far enough, however, I still see agencies every day who’ve been tweeting for quite some time and have a fairly robust number of followers and those they’re following, and yet, none of those are their prospects.

So by all means, jump on those new platforms early, but do your homework and spend that time appropriately.

Post by RSW/US List Development Team Member Cory Esselman

I work on the Operations side for RSW/US. Building and cleaning lists is my job and when I was approached with writing a guest post for our blog, I thought I’d start with the basics.

We are the first step in the new business process and if the prospect lists stink (aren’t targeted, industry specific and scrubbed clean), our NBDs’ probability of getting meetings drastically declines.

As list builders, we can usually tell how difficult a list is going to be based on the target industry.

Each industry offers its own list building challenges, and its own type of iron-fisted gatekeeper.

Here are the top five we see:

CPG/Retailer

Definitely a builder’s favorite because of the vast amount of information available.

Most of the time you are building out only a few of the many contacts available, so digging into and picking out the right one is important.

Challenges can arise with gatekeepers who get a ton of calls from people asking to clean, so you must make sure the list is solid and cross-checked on different information streams so they don’t give you the runaround.

Also, the companies are usually very large, so making sure you get a contact within the correct part of the company can be difficult.

Restaurant

I am reminded every time I see that delicious meal on television that they certainly have marketing contacts.

Brand Managers don’t cloud the waters and the generic marketing titles are usually right there for the taking.

Really, the only thing that can cause a problem is making sure you are staying within the approved geographic region.

Gatekeepers can be uncooperative at times but usually are not.

Financial

It’s no secret that banks try really hard to make everyone in their company seem important.

This often leads to a list full of Vice Presidents. To put a positive spin on that, it gives you a gatekeeper willing to share the information necessary to build a great list.

The biggest things we run into with banks are the name changes and narrowing the contact’s location down to a specific branch.

Finding that main phone number for the NBD to follow up with is a must.

Manufacturing

What an interesting industry this is.  The revenue amounts can go from astronomical to “How are they even a company?”

Usually your marketing contacts are hit and miss within these companies.

We deal with gatekeepers who don’t get an extreme amount of calls and can be an open book as long as we can reach them!

Manufacturing definitely yields mixed results.

Healthcare

This would have to be our most challenging industry.

The amount of information available isn’t the reason but, rather, the gatekeepers who (are supposed to) clean the contact.

The majority of the time, we are trying to find a contact for a particular drug (within pharma) which is nearly impossible.

When we are dealing with hospitals, the challenge comes from the health system and if it is centralized or not.

Overall, the gatekeepers are very tight-lipped, which is never good.

This was your first glimpse into our list building world.

Other challenges such as finding the right title, cleaning the contact, and how to build a good list, will be touched on in the future!

Post by RSW/US New Business Director Kris Klopp

“Women increased their purchase intentions by more than 200% when the models in the mock ads were their size.

“Conversely, when women saw models who didn’t reflect their size, they decreased their purchase intentions by 60 percent.”

I recently read an article in Elle Canada that presented research on how the body type, age, race and other demographics affected women’s purchasing decisions in the US and Canada.

The data gathered in this study counters the traditional belief that fashion marketing should be aspirational instead of realistic.

The truth is I won’t even waste my time trying to find a dress I like in a magazine if I see it on a 20-something, tall, stick-thin model because I know it won’t look good on me.

Sorry Calvin Klein – I like to eat occasionally.

As I read this article, I thought it was a perfect example of how consumers have changed in our interactive, digital society.

We want to be included not excluded.

We want the messaging to be relevant to our life – and no one else’s.

I am bombarded daily with messages from marketers.

I only remember the ones that show that they get me.

Stores that send me pictures of short women in dresses get far more of my attention because I am short.

They tell me how long the inseam is and what options are available because they know if I buy their dress, I want it to fit correctly.

I don’t want to have to waste time or money to have the dress altered.

It’s no longer enough to simply pull people into your stores or drive them to visit your Facebook page.

If you want that consumer’s money, you have to engage and become relevant to that individual consumer.

Because I am a woman and of a certain age, I get a lot of marketing geared towards Moms.

I don’t have children, so it’s really a waste of money.

It shows me that you really don’t know who I am so why should I bother spending my money with your company?

Just because I buy the occasional gift at Babies-R-Us, doesn’t mean I want to get weekly emails or diaper solicitations.

One Size Does NOT Fit All

The same holds true in agency new business development.

Marketers are overwhelmed with agency information.

If you want to break through the clutter and get that marketer to find money to spend with your agency, you have to show that marketer you understand their company, their brand, their customers, their pain.

Recently one of RSW’s clients shared a new business presentation it recently did with a hospital that did a fabulous job of engaging a prospect.

It began the presentation not by walking the prospect through their capabilities, but by walking the prospect through a situation that many patients face.

As they continued on with this narrative, there were a few slides showing some spec creative.

I love this approach because it accomplishes two critical elements:

• It shows the hospital that you understand its clients – patients and caregivers.
• It allows the hospital to visualize what you could do for its brand – outdoor, billboard, TV, etc…

The agencies capabilities and other case studies were at the end of the presentation.

But the spec creative was enough to start the conversation and it wasn’t necessary for this agency to run through either of those parts of the presentation.

This presentation was the right size for this prospect.

The Perfect Fit

Maybe it’s time for you to take the scissors and make some alterations to your new business pitch.

I’m not saying you have to think of a full-blown campaign for every single new business call you make.

You could take one simple concept and show it maybe an outdoor or a web setting.

The purpose is not to give away free creative but to use this example to start a conversation.

You want to show the prospect that your work is the perfect fit for their company.

You want the dress to fit.

We often talk about the need to pursue your top 10 ideal new business prospects.’

By this, we mean identifying the 10 accounts you most want to work with, and then going after them with a persistent effort until you win them, never taking “no” for a final answer.

But in addition to persistent pursuit, agencies need another new business characteristic—consistency.

What Is Consistent New Business?

Agencies tend to chase new business when they need it… when they lose or are about to lose a “gorilla” account (the big one that leaves a huge hole when it swings out the door), or when their current clients are determinedly sitting on budgets and stalling on projects.

These are the worst times to do new business; desperation is not the emotion you want powering your new business strategy.

Desperation makes you take business you shouldn’t… the “monkey” accounts that are not very profitable, have little hope of growing bigger, and take up way too much time in return for their tiny profit potential.

Instead, agencies need to pour their energies into a consistent new business process.

That translates to doing new business every week, if not daily. Here is what that consistent process involves:

Sending regular mailings to a pre-qualified list of desirable prospects.

Following up on mailings with phone calls.

Regularly researching your top prospects—their industries, competition, products and especially their customers—and using that research to proactively develop insights you can use to make “smart” calls aimed at getting meetings.

Networking to find contacts who can introduce you to your desirable prospects, so you can “warm call” instead of “cold call” them.

Re-contacting prospects you have talked to with new research “nuggets” and ideas aimed at getting another meeting.

Qualifying new leads.

Preparing pitches and proposals for scheduled meetings.

Ardently pursuing “hot” leads.

Sharing a bi-weekly current activity report with the entire agency team.

As you can see, consistency means committing to new business as a regular agency activity, not as an only-when we’re desperate response.

Consistency means your agency always has potential new clients “in the pipeline”—you’ve already contacted them, talked to them, maybe even are ready to pitch them.

They are companies you actually want to work with, and are equipped to help.

You’ve pre-qualified them based on your specific criteria, so you can expect them to be compatible with your capabilities, expertise and agency personality.

And you chose them, rather than settling for whatever you can desperately dig up.

Those pipeline prospects are much closer to becoming clients than prospects that aren’t even on your radar.

So if a “gorilla” suddenly decides to leave, you can “ramp up” your pursuit of prospects already being nurtured, and more quickly win new business you actually want.

That’s why consistency of process is so important.

You’re never chasing random business, never forced to take “whatever we can get.”

Aim to be both persistent in pursuit and consistent in process.

Your new business strategy will be far more successful at winning business and growing your agency.

Deborah Budd is editor and content developer at Second Wind, an association of smaller advertising, design, PR and interactive firms. Deb draws on her thirty years of advertising industry experience as an art director and creative director to produce content and training materials for Second Wind Online, its publications and seminars.  Contact her at deb@secondwindonline.com.

© 2012 Second Wind Ltd.  All Rights Reserved.

Post by RSW/US Director Of Business Development Lee McKnight Jr.

We returned last week from NYC and a second year of sponsoring the Mirren New Business Conference energized about all things agency new business.

Of course, the key after any conference that leaves you pumped up is to continue that mind set and take action on the mountain of ideas you walked away with.

For those who weren’t able to make it (and those who were) we’ll be touching on some different takeaways this next week or so.

And first off is a great reminder on an agency new business basic building block:

Your Positioning

Bob Wiesner from Saatchi gave an insightful presentation called Building Your Pipeline: Casting and Converting the Meeting and early in the presentation, asked the question, “Why Are You Prospecting?”

And he went on to talk about a subject we’ve touched on here many times-the positioning of your agency from a sales standpoint.

Unlike the creative side of any agency, when you’re prospecting for new business, you’ve got 20 seconds to a minute at most to concisely answer the question foremost in any prospect’s mind:

Why Should My Company Work With You?

And in order to answer that question, you first need to have your agency’s position of strength clearly distinguished as the foundation for your answer.

In one particular slide, Bob Wiesner laid out what that position of strength needs to flow from:

• You have valid experience
• You have persuasive case studies
• You have a point of view on the industry/the consumer

Simple-yes?

But it’s amazing how many agencies still don’t have their position of strength solidified.

If you don’t-do it as soon as possible.

Because once you do, your prospecting effort takes on a clarity and sense of purpose that enables you to grab that 20 seconds by the throat and very concisely tell your prospect exactly why they should work with you.

It’s only one of the early steps-but an important one.

Post by RSW/US New Business Director Kris Klopp

In the fairy tale “Snow White,” the evil queen gazes upon her image in the mirror and ponders this question, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

As we all know, the evil queen is SHOCKED to hear the enchanted mirror respond that it is not the evil queen, but in fact the delightful Snow White who is the fairest in all of the land.

Of course, this response leads the evil queen to seek out and try to destroy Snow White.

Instead of focusing her efforts on destroying Snow White, perhaps she would’ve been better served evaluating her own special skills, talents and capabilities and then aligning those qualities to best meet the needs of her citizens.

Let’s face it; Snow White could take care of seven dwarves, but does being “prettier,” make her more qualified to rule a kingdom over the evil queen?

Don’t let your agency rest on being “prettier,” to be competitive; your agency must be more qualified.

We in marketing call that a value proposition, it’s what makes you different from all of those other marketing shops in town.

It’s also what gives your prospects a reason to believe you are qualified to help them meet their sales challenges and generate business growth.

The evil queen failed to understand her strengths and the needs of her citizens.

In short, she needed a better value proposition.

How do you develop a strong value proposition without access to an enchanted mirror?

• Ask your clients what they want. Then align their needs around your core competencies.

For example, you might have the best media buying team in town, but if all of your clients are interested in increasing lead generation through their digital resources, you need a better solution than a few well-placed banner ads.

• Remove the following words from your value proposition: creative, collaborative and process.

Seriously, all agencies are saying this.

If you don’t believe me, go check out a few of your competitor’s websites – I just looked at 10 agency websites and 9 said this.

The lone 10th agency without a creative, collaborate process?

I just spent several minutes checking out its compelling video case study – that was easily accessed from its home page.

• Focus on statistics, client pain points and your solutions. Demonstrate that you KNOW your clients and your solutions delight them and grow their businesses. Sexy gets attention, but it doesn’t always generate sales growth consistently.

If I kiss your process, will it turn into Prince Charming?

In most prospecting situations, you have a window of 30 seconds to capture a potential client’s attention.

You do this by creating VALUE for them outside of their expectations.

Your value proposition needs to quickly and powerfully show prospects what makes your agency different from the 100 other agencies pitching to them.

It needs to create immediate impact – not be a long, convoluted fairy tale.

So don’t be like the evil queen and spend all of your time worrying about being “pretty,” when what you really need to be is smarter.

Post by RSW/US Vice President, Client Services Juri Tults

No, the question I ask is not an economic one because nearly every ad agency would answer they could be enjoying more billings and bottom line profit.

My question is upstream from billings and profits, and has everything to do with the basics of new business… staying in front of prospects through mail, email and phone calls, whether they are in a buying mood or not.

When I oversaw new business for my agency not that long ago I never took a prospect’s “No , not today,” the inability to reach them by phone after repeated attempts or their lack of returning a voice mail as meaning never.

However, that is often how it seems 99% of agencies look at new business when attempting to reach out to prospects… one swing, sometimes two and maybe a third, and if they miss a connection, they’re “out” of patience.

Keep On Keepin’ On Indeed

Frankly, it is often the element of patience and persistence that drives new business success.

RSW/US experiences this all the time with our clients.

While we strive for quick success, the rewards of our efforts can bear fruit several months or, yes, sometimes a year or more after prospecting began.

Prospects have told us on more than a few occasions that while they never took our call or responded back to an email sent, they were reading our messages, visiting our agency’s website and finding value in our value added emails, even to the point of sharing them with other members of their team.

And all through the silence we are building awareness and credibility on behalf of our agency client, so when our NBD called and the timing was right, the answer was “yes” and let’s talk.

So, does your agency have the patience to see new business through? It’s a war of attrition, driven by patience and persistence. If you have neither, welcome to the 99% and a new business program that won’t reach its full potential.

Post by RSW/US New Business Director Kris Klopp

There are probably 1,000 reasons why you can’t do any business development today:

• It’s Monday.
• I hate cold calling.
• Our largest client wants to make changes to the copy.
• I have a headache.
• Our best leads come from referrals.
• This coffee is awful – I’m going to Starbucks.
• I have to go over the new health insurance plans with our insurance agent.

Any of these sound familiar? I’m sure you could probably rattle off another ten without even thinking about it.

THREE reasons why you SHOULD

Instead of focusing on the reasons why you CAN’T shake any trees today, try focusing on the THREE reasons why you SHOULD commit to doing new business development every week.

1) Take a look at the mix of your client roster.

I’ve spoken with many marketing agencies about why they have come to RSW/US to help them with their new business development.

One of the most common answers is that 80% or more of their business comes from ONE CLIENT.

What happens to your agency if that client goes someplace else?  Is that remaining 20% of your business enough to sustain your business, let alone grow your business?

If the answer is no, then you need to pick up the phone and call a few prospects today.

2) Take a look at your competition.

There are hundreds of agencies, freelancers and other businesses, such as printers and IT companies, who are out there, talking to your current clients and your prospects about ways they can do what you do better and cheaper.

In this tight economy, marketers are more focused than ever on the bottom line.

A client you have been able to count on for a few $25K projects throughout the year now has a freelancer making updates to the website and coordinating social media at one-third of what you were billing.

There is always someone else out there who could do what you do for less money. Hoping your clients don’t realize this is not a solid growth plan.

3) Take a look at where you want your agency to be five or even ten years from now.

Now take a look at where your agency was five years ago.

Whether it’s a valid business strategy or not, many marketing agencies adjust their internal talent/resources based on their clients’ needs.

Five years ago maybe you didn’t do enough programming to need that weird kid with what I can only describe as a neon green golf tee piercing his ear.

Now this kid runs your team of eight programmers. Keeping your internal resources current requires money, for new people, training and other capital investments such as computers and other equipment.

Where is that cash coming from?

You can always find a reason NOT to do something.

If you spend more of your time focusing on these reasons NOT to do business development, you might not have a business to worry about next year.

Now stop procrastinating by reading this blog and pick up the phone today.

Post by RSW/US New Business Director Kris Klopp

If there’s someone strange in your prospect database, who are you going to call?