Can a team really be that bad? What will it take to turn them around?

Let’s examine two NFL teams, in two very similar cities, just a couple of hours apart. One has a long history of winning, 6 Super Bowl rings and since 1999 has won a record number of division championships. Over the past 20 years they’ve only had 2 coaches and just 3 starting quarterbacks. The other team, just two hours away has gone many years without a winning season, and has never won a Super Bowl. Over the past 20 years they’ve had 28 different quarterbacks, 9 coaches, and in 2017 they didn’t win a game going 0-16. Of course I’m talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.

What makes one team so much better than the other? There is a lot you can say about the different organizations, their leadership styles, recruiting and training programs, and more. But there is one indisputable fact – the Steelers have a winning culture. They simply refuse to accept any excuse for losing. The Browns, on the other hand, have never been able to shake that losing funk. In Cleveland there is almost a perverse pride in continuing to lose. We call that winning attitude, or that terrible stink, “culture” and it can make or break a team.

Marketing firms can also be separated into winners and losers. There are those agencies that just always find a way to win, and a few that can never seem to get out of their own way. The vast majority of agencies just seem to muddle through. The problem is often a question of culture and leadership.

Leading an agency is hard work. Agencies are filled with driven, opinionated, creative, free-spirited people, along with a few nuts and some outright lazy types. And somehow they ALL need to work together.

Agency culture is a powerful tool that can help your agency attract the right prospects, keep clients and team members longer and make it easier to lead. Culture is basically the beliefs, values and behaviors that everyone in the agency knows and understands. Culture is most often defined as “the way we do things around here.”

The Rules of Agency Culture:

• Watch what you think about clients because your thoughts turn into words.
• Watch what you say about clients, because your words turn into actions.
• Watch how you act towards clients, because that becomes the agency’s culture.
• Watch your agency’s culture, because that determines your destiny.

Who Is Responsible for Agency Culture?

A) Creative
B) Operations
C) Owner/general manager
D) Agency senior management
E) Finance/administration
F) Account management
G) All of the above

If you didn’t answer “G” you may be thinking about culture wrong.

Different types of agency culture we’ve seen over the years:

1. Creative-driven: Creative drives everything. If the agency is not willing to fire a client of a creative disagreement, they’re not really creative.
2. Staff-oriented: The key here is building a people-first agency. The emphasis is on quality of life, and building satisfaction and pride into the agency environment. Employees always come first.
3. Financial-oriented: The focus of the agency is profit over everything. The bottom line is king, and the agency is willing to do anything to make a buck. Every project is closely watched.
4. Client-oriented: Clients always come first. The agency adopts a client-focused mentality and does everything in its power to keep clients happy, no matter the cost.
5. Account-driven: Different from client-oriented, here the account team leads the entire agency – good or bad. The focus can be on strategy, service, money, or anything, and often changes depending on who is leading the charge. Ego plays a big part here.
6. Job-focused: Many agencies fall under the spell of focusing on the most immediate job at hand. The work runs the agency. Staff and work often suffer.
7. Process-driven: CYA and procedures drive everything. If the proper form is not filled out the work stops. Everything else, creative, client service, employees, and more end up getting the short shrift.
8. Agency-denial: Agency resigned to going through the motions. Low energy, slow decision making and a lack of leadership. This culture is by far the most dangerous.

No culture is impossible – it’s always there, and it either helps or hurts your agency. Chose wisely and pay attention to your culture.

It’s hard to change a losing culture.

The strongest agency with the best brand, the most effective operations and a terrific staff are always looking better ways to build cohesion, to create a powerful winning culture. Leadership must drive culture from the top down, and it’s vital to get it right from the start. Once a negative culture takes hold it takes twice the effort to change behavior and attitude to something positive. Always remember the Browns.

If you want to get serious about culture, focus on something everyone can agree on, new business.

Last year we helped agencies all over the world better understand what it takes to create a winning agency. We believe in winning. We can show you how to win, not just play. It all starts with just one day.

Call your Sanders Consulting Group representative at 412.897.9329 or email us at info@sandersconsulting.com for details, pricing options and schedule availability.

Game photos by Erik Drost and used under creative commons.

In the agency world, you grow or you fade away to nothing.

This fractured and evolving environment makes growing an agency tougher than ever. As a consultant to the marketing industry it’s a challenge we face every day. If there is one big leadership mistake that I see most of the time, it’s a failure to properly challenge the agency. I believe every agency should develop a plan built around growing 30% or more each year. Challenge yourself, your staff, and your agency with significant growth – reach for the stars. If you don’t plan for significant growth you will not put in the effort it takes for sustainable growth.

Plan Now to Grow Your Agency

To be effective, your new business effort must clearly state exactly what benefits you provide to clients and what they can expect from your agency. Focus on identifying what sets you apart from all the other agencies out there. Clearly communicate your unique capabilities, area of focus, and expected deliverables. And if you have a clear industry or market specialty, make that very clear. And never forget the all important chemistry side where you show that you have real humans doing great work for clients.

When you break new business down to the fundamentals, it really only takes two steps:

Step 1: Establish a system to get good meetings with prospects:

• Focus your new business efforts on getting first meetings with qualified prospects.
• Turn good leads into invitations for first meetings, the key to growth.
• Don’t waste time going to see prospects who aren’t interested in changing agencies, design firms, PR companies or marketing communication suppliers.
• Stop wasting time with cold calls on good prospects.

Step 2: Learn how to win because you make the prospect like you more:

• The biggest obstacle to growth is poor chemistry with prospects.
• Chemistry is more important than industry-specific capabilities.
• Position your agency as the type of firm your prospect wants to deal with.
• Decide whether to emphasize results, process, relationship, or inspiration before you pitch a prospect.

First, if you want substantial growth for your agency, focus on lead generation. Set up a proper new business system at your agency that will result in a steady stream of leads from qualified prospects. Your goal should be to visit one or two good prospects a week. If you can achieve that, you will grow at 30%.

Second, the biggest secret in new business is chemistry. It’s the least understood of all agency new business skills. And it’s the one skill that counts the most. More accounts are won every month because of good chemistry between an agency and a prospect than any other reason. And more accounts are lost every month because of poor chemistry between an agency and a client. If you learn how to control the chemistry between prospects and your agency you will find it much easier to win their hearts and minds. And 30% growth will be easy.

I believe new business is an agency process you can learn. It’s not personal charm you are born with. But to prove it, you need to give me a chance.

Remember, an agency manager takes the agency where it wants to go. An agency leader takes the agency where it must go – and that takes significant growth. Invest today in your agency new business and reap the rewards of growth.

After working with us I promise you’ll never look at new business the same way again. The reason is you will know finally understand how to really grow your agency. Grow or die.

Photo by Hans Van Den Berg and used under creative commons.

“Hire me!” Clients often end up on this end of a pack of agencies all asking for their business. How can you pick one? How would you? What stands out?

The key question is why? Marketing firms, from traditional ad agencies to creative hot shops to specialty firms, all have a difficult time finding a way to create a unique brand that stands out in the market. Too many of these marketing firms say similar things about themselves: that they’re creative, full service, win awards, fun, and so on. This verbiage becomes a wall of words that ends up sounding the same to clients.

So what is truly unique about each of these firms? Unless you have something that is unique, an industry focus or a specialty, it can be nothing more than the agency’s leadership style.

Leadership style drives each marketing firm’s culture. Culture can be felt as soon as you walk through the doors into any marketing firm. It’s the one thing, doesn’t matter if you work at it or not, that every agency has. It’s a very real feeling everyone gets as they walk through your door. Generally, strong cultures go hand-in-hand with strong brands. If you want your brand to stand out in the market, start with identifying your marketing firm’s culture and use that to help drive your brand.

Everything a marketing firm does is a reflection of its culture. It’s everything you and your leadership team do: your management style, Twitter feeds, blog post, discussion points, articles, office space, and more. It’s how you manage and reward your staff, how you treat your clients, how well you play in your community at large. And it’s something prospects notice. It’s one of those hidden factors in new business success – or failure.

The culture you create is nothing more than a system of shared values, beliefs, and activities that unite your staff. It’s that intangible feeling about “the way things are done around here.” Culture affects how your staff feels and acts. It affects the types of people that are attracted to your marketing firm and it shows in new business. If you let your culture drift without direction, you may end up projecting the wrong image. And this often happens at the worst possible time.

The key to establishing and creating a strong marketing firm culture is to identify consistency in attitude, action, and style. A strong culture makes it easier for marketing firms to maintain their individuality, their focus, and their direction. Marketing firms that adhere to a well thought-out culture are less likely to be sidetracked by the fickleness of client pressure or vagaries in the marketplace.

Essentials in the development of a strong agency culture:

1. Top Down: Culture starts at the very top. Without the active participation and support of agency leaders, culture ends up being driven by the strongest personalities – perhaps one that is toxic.
2. Purpose Driven: Have a strong point of view about the “who and what” your agency stands for. State your purpose for being in one simple sentence. Make it simple, real, and most of all, true.
3. Value Based: Make sure you’ve established a clear set of values that everyone in the agency practices. No excuses. Publish them. Publicly show them on your walls.
4. Holistic: Anything and everything that is a reflection of your agency brand should be in line with your values. From business cards to titles, make sure everything syncs with your culture.
5. Consistent: Everyone in the agency must do more than just follow the stated values, but know them, live them, believe in them. You must find a way to recognize the type of behavior you strive for, and eliminate behavior that runs counter to your values. Inconsistent handling of behavior is a culture killer.

Your culture is being defined all the time. A few agencies work hard to define and promote their culture. Most just end up happening. If leadership does not take charge of controlling the agency’s culture, the market and competitors will. And you may not like the result.

Take time and fix your brand today: How To Brand Your Marketing Firm

Toxic Agency Culture Leadership Lesson:

Many years ago I was hired by the local office of a large global agency to do a review of their operations. It was a very successful office, well-recognized and rewarded for their work. The global name and famous brand had sustained them for many good years. Sadly the past few years had been a struggle. It was becoming difficult to keep good staff, and they hadn’t won any new business or awards in years. It seemed too difficult to get any work out the door, and the clients were complaining it was off strategy or late. In short, the agency was looking for some answers.

As soon as I walked through the door, I could feel something was off. There was a lack of energy in the office, no buzz, and the staff had that cautious look one gets when waiting for the other shoe to drop. After spending a week with various departments, interviewing staff, conducting process review sessions and pouring over old projects, the feeling was stronger than ever – but I could not figure out what was wrong. Nobody was talking.

The operational issues were easy enough to address. The agency suffered from departments that were overstaffed, or understaffed, or suffering from a lack of leadership and or direction. These issues could be fixed with a little research and planning, and I soon had an action plan designed to address the shortcomings. But I still could not identify the source of this feeling something was wrong. I could fix the operational issues easily enough, but the culture, the source of this odd vibe, was proving difficult to isolate.

Throughout the staff interviews I asked and probed as much as I could and, at some point I hit a wall. With my time running out, I decided to dig deeper. I offered to take some of the young account executives out for drinks. If you want to get the inside scoop at any agency, get some of the younger staff out and feed them drinks. Soon enough the truth came out. One of the young staff members took me aside and told me the real story.

It seemed one of the very top officers was using his position to take advantage of some of the younger staff. I’ll leave out the details, but it was an open secret within the agency, and one that the senior management team had addressed years ago. Or so they thought. The leadership team felt they had corrected this issue years ago and had moved on. But it was still going on.

The staff felt the leadership team was just turning a blind eye to the issue. Any new staff quickly figured it was “the way things were done around here” and moved on. Over time it became business as usual. But it was having a direct impact on employee morale, culture, and clients. Good staff left for brighter futures, the bad ones stayed. I’m sure the clients and prospects had the same feeling I did when they came by for a visit.

I immediately addressed the issue with the CEO and advised him this situation had to change – fast – or it would kill the agency. Together we engaged their HR team, legal counsel and some of the best advisors in the business at handling this type of situation. A quick action plan was developed to get this senior officer out of the agency, save the client relationships, and restore trust with the employees. Within a few days the plan was put in action. The senior leader was removed from the agency, the leadership team briefed, staff informed, clients contacted, and a page was turned.

A few months later I returned to the office, and you could feel the difference. The new organization structure was humming along. The younger and smaller leadership team was active and engaged. There was vibrancy, a buzz in the office, and staff was no longer hiding. After my last meeting, the entire agency was on hand to give me a very nice gift for all the hard work. A few years later they were recognized as one of the hot creative shops, and went on to win many awards.

Every marketing firm on the planet is unique, but there are only so many ways you can describe creative thinking, advertising, direct, PR, design and marketing. This makes it very difficult for most marketing firms to stand out. If you maintain a strong culture this can help you create a lasting point of differentiation from your competition.

Photo by S. Carter and used under creative commons.

There are many agencies, all showing a different face, and yet everyone’s the same.

The news is filled with stories about consulting, ad agencies, and the various attempts to combine the two. Most of the large-system agencies have experimented with some sort of consulting model. And most have failed. The reasons include a refusal to fund a separate new business activity behind the new practice area and believing existing clients will flock to the new service. Agencies have difficulty separating the new practice area from the more traditional creative side. In many cases, the agencies offered the consulting services free to their larger agency accounts, mostly as some sort of value-added service. In effect, they’re giving away more for free and diluting their brand.

Several large agencies and direct response firms have sought to combine consulting with advertising by hiring consultants to run their advertising agencies. They hope the skills and methodologies these consulting leaders bring to the organization will transfer into the world of advertising. It can, but not in the way they expect or anticipate. Consultant leaders can’t overcome the inherent bias towards communication solutions, but they can help drive organic growth if positioned and managed. The overall verdict on this trend is still out – but the early results don’t bode well.

The large consulting firms have been buying up marketing agencies for years. Accenture, Deloitte, et al. have all added significant marketing talent to their rosters, taking a bite out of agency revenue. It is much easier to add the more tactical communication and creative services to their existing business model. It’s a less strategic service, much as an ad agency can add design services.

We’ve been shouting at the rooftops for agencies to add a consulting arm to their business model for years. Along the way, we have helped many agencies set up their own successful consulting shops and even offer a one-day training session on how to go about doing this. Below are a few lessons we’ve learned coaching leaders and helping agencies succeed.

Ad Agency Consulting Model Lessons Learned So Far:

• Setting up a separate consulting firm within a marketing firm can be very profitable – but it must be done correctly.
• A new consulting organization helps. Trying to do consulting under the current agency brand has proven difficult. The same base name, but different look, can work.
• Don’t mention advertising or communications in the title or in the underlying copy for the consulting arm. Never show creative. That reduces you to just another communication vendor.
• To date, agency people have had difficulty in consulting because they rush to communicate. They see everything as a communication problem, solvable with better communications, a new ad, or an improved website.
• It’s been difficult to sell consulting to existing clients. For existing clients, it’s been proven more effective to sell in value-based initiatives.
• The people who buy consulting typically are much higher in the organization than traditional agency contacts. To be successful in consulting you must target at the C-level (CEO, CFO, CMO, COO).
• A separate new business program is needed because your consulting new business prospects are different from your agency new business prospects.
• Consulting can increase the value of the agency dramatically.
• Many companies in the middle market have no place to turn to except for one-or-two-man consultancies or college professors. Traditonally, this is because the big consultants usually have a cutoff of $1 million in revenue per year per client. It’s a target rich environment, if the consulting firm is correctly positioned.
• Getting an experienced consultant on board and teaching that person branding and advertising hasn’t proven difficult.
• Your current advertising clients are also your consultant clients. That means you have an established consulting practice now because you have consulted with your advertising clients in the past. You just didn’t charge for it.
• You need a consulting process to follow and a strategic process to merchandise.
• Consulting clients flow easily into the agency, becoming agency clients. In other words, the agency can do very nicely off the output from the consulting table.

There is Another Way

One option open to traditional marketing firms is to consider becoming what we call an Enterprise Agency with a strategic side and a tactical side of the business. Create a mini-holding company model with a separate consulting firm right within the agency. The consulting firm goes after C-level prospects offering a range of services that appeal to senior management. Things like building the brand, getting everyone on the same page, taking marketing leadership within the category and more. The advantages to firms that move this way are many, including opening another stream of revenue, we recommend targeting a minimum of $500,000 per year.

This option offers a perfect way to recycle top talent that has grown tired of the ad game and can’t work comfortably with the younger client-side managers. And this option acts as a feeder of new business assignments into the agency side of your business because consulting can generate plenty of creative work. The investment is minimal, perhaps a new phone line, some stationery and promotional materials and an outreach strategy to touch C-level prospects. This option is called the Enterprise Agency because the new structure works at all levels of the client’s enterprise, from the top to the bottom. And that builds a much stronger relationship and really maximizes profit potential.

Photo by Ryan Berry and used under creative commons

Build a specialized training program that matches your unique agency

When done properly training can make your agency faster, stronger, and more effective. Even a simple training initiative can lead to a happier, more satisfied team, which in turn reduces staff turnover and costly new hires.

But finding an effective training program that works and is focused on our unique industry is difficult. The problem is most of the training programs out there do not support your agency brand, values or leadership style. Another problem can be that many training programs are too broad and include too much information or have nothing to do with advertising.

Let Us Design a Custom Training Program for You

Building a custom training program for your agency isn’t that difficult or that expensive. In many cases, you can use one of our existing programs as a model and essentially customize the program to your needs.

That means your firm’s name is used throughout. Your own case histories are used. The customized training program becomes part of your agency’s culture. And every new person joining the agency goes through the training as part of orientation with the training done by one of your own staff members who has been taught in a train-the-trainer program conducted by Sanders Consulting Group.

Custom Training Benefits

The benefits of using a custom training program are many. The investment is small and the payout is big. You can keep using the program year after year without any on-going payments. You own the program. You print the training manuals when you need them.

And you conduct the learning program on a just-in-time basis, meaning when it fits in your schedule. And having your own branded training program is impressive and a definite strong point in recruiting.

Some Case Histories

Sanders Consulting Group has undertaken the development of a number of custom training programs, some for larger advertising firms and some for much smaller operations.

For one firm with multiple offices around the world, Sanders Consulting developed a curriculum of five separate training programs in new business covering everything from lead generation, going on first visits, conducting agency tours, personality profiling, and building new business presentations. Agency personnel around the world were shown how to deliver the material in a series of train-the-trainer sessions and then hundreds of agency managers were put through this agency-only custom training. This was all done in less than six months.

And in the next two years the agency set worldwide growth records that won it Agency of the Year awards from national trade publications. Previously the agency was the laggard in new business growth within the holding company’s portfolio.

Another regional agency wanted to upgrade its account service with better client handling skills. The objective was better client retention. The base program this firm selected was our program on Account Management but customized to the firm using the firm’s own terms, procedures, protocols and case histories.

To keep cost low, the firm produced the materials internally using source material written by Sanders Consulting under the agency’s direction. Subsequently, the program proved so success it was used in agency orientation for all new hires, not just account service. The agency has set records on its ability to keep clients for many years, pointing to its internal training program as a major reason for their success.

How to Get Started

Give Sanders Consulting a call to discuss custom training. It’s an area we know well, and we’ll work with you to develop the training materials you need, either within the budgets you have or we’ll work with you to develop a budget for management approval.

Apple puzzle photo by Salvatore Gerace and used under Creative Commons

Use this time of year to think, carefully and persistently, about your agency’s growth and where you want to be next year.

Most agency leaders have a hazy idea about their agency goals and objectives for the New Year. Some may even hold a planning session to set tangible goals. However, many have more questions than answers on what tangible new business activities they should target.

Think back to last year around this time. Think about what was planned and what was achieved? How much did the agency grow? With the power of hindsight what could have been done differently? What worked, what didn’t work and why?

Here are a few tips to help agency leaders set some New Year goals, plan them effectively and carry them out successfully.

1. Establish SMART (Specific Measurable Assignable Realistic Time based) Goals: New business doesn’t happen overnight, and it can be extremely frustrating if agencies don’t plan properly. Most new business plans fail because agencies never put in the effort to properly plan. Or they create overly complex initiatives that will never be followed. This most often happens because agency leaders don’t understand new business and focus on the wrong things. Our advice, start small and establish habits that contribute to your growth. Establish a robust list of prospects that match up with your agencies brand and you know you can do great work for. Put into place a simple mechanism that will reach out to everyone on the list (what we call nudging) multiple times a year. Follow up each nudge with a warm call. Leave a nice message and never ask for a call back. Set a goal to build your agency brand (and make sure you have a clear brand) through blog posts, white papers, talks, conferences, and great content. No matter what, keep the activity up.
2. Get Everyone on the New Business Bus: Employees must be involved in new business, after all it is the lifeblood for agencies. Everyone has stake in the game. Leaders, managers, staff, all employees must walk the talk. Everyone can help build and reinforce the goals of the agency through their actions. Set specific goals and make sure to review progress on a regular basis. However, it’s difficult to hold people accountable for new business if you don’t provide leadership, guidance and training. Do so. Make sure you have tools that support new business efforts: to do list, database, goal reporting and more. Provide focused new business training to help everyone in the agency understand the importance and rules for successful growth.
3. Grab the Low Hanging Fruit: Keep your clients happy, and leverage your relationships for more growth. Many agencies have a difficult time managing client’s expectations. They don’t understand them, they’re not sure how to measure them, and they don’t use them as a growth strategy. It is vital agencies under promise and over deliver. This way you build a bank of goodwill that you can leverage later to get truly game changing work through, or access to greater opportunities and new relationships. Be sure to take in a steady stream of business building ideas, at least one a month, and keep the focus on moving up the strategic ladder. Set up a simple, easy to follow organic growth plan for top clients, the ones with great potential or that can open up new opportunities. And make sure everyone understands the importance of client retention and growth.
4. No Money, No Action: It’s really quite simple – if an agency is not willing to invest in growth (throwing money at pitches doesn’t count) and establish a detailed budget for consistent new business activity, then the agency is not serious about growth. Budget for website and content development, outreach, interesting mailers, and most importantly, time for the staff to execute the new business plan. Include time allocation for the agency to develop great content that can be used on many platforms and channels. Dedicate some staff time to monitor all media looking for great content, client activity, potential prospects, and emerging trends. It’s important to place a value on new business if the staff is going to be involved. Most agencies are running a tight ship, that’s a given. But agencies that are serious about growth are willing to give up something to keep the new business machine running.
5. Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way: There are a few agency leaders that that truly understand new business. They take control and drive the process – they run new business as if the very survival of the agency depends on finding new clients. It does. There are a few leaders that recognize they don’t have that skill, so they must do something different. Some end up handing off the role of New Business Driver to someone who has the focus, skills and energy to be successful. No matter what is done, understand that someone at the agency must be in charge of agency growth. Key reminder, do not be one of those leaders who swoop in at the last minute and try to put their thumbprint on everything. Give the New Business Driver room to execute, stand back and simply measure the results: leads, wins, hits, etc. If the plan is not working, then you can make some changes. Never be a backseat driver. Create a new business plan with actionable items, and stick to the plan.

New Business Starts at the Top

The staff is looking to agency leaders for direction, inspiration, and growth. With this in mind we recommend that every agency should execute a DayOne planning session to understand the secrets and tactics of agency growth and develop a strong plan moving forward. The overall objective of investing a little time and effort into the agency is to create a new business strategy that everyone can buy into. And fix new business once and for all.

Great winter photo by Jelle and used under creative commons

There are many benefits to growing your ad agency.

Our training programs are 100% directed at all marketing communication companies of all types, and they build skills in learning how to do new business better, and how to improve account service by learning new ways to present and new skills in project management, time management, work flow, account planning and negotiation. Other learning programs cover how to increase client retention, learning how to do consulting, and new tools to help agencies learn new ways to provide better strategic leadership to clients. Most of the learning programs are supported by very detailed training manuals designed to keep the skill building fresh for years to come.

Ad Agency Growth

In today’s fast-changing market leaders who are interested in growth have three choices: 1) Do nothing and hope things change back to favor the old way of operating; 2) Start to make slight adjustments and tinker on your own, but confuse your staff and end up making things worse. 3) Work with us to shape a strategic direction for your agency based on current realities and what’s best for you.

Remind yourself once again of the 15 ways that your agency benefits from serious new business growth:

1. New growth brings new employees with lots of new talent and skills. Your agency gets better.
2. New growth increases the number and type of services you offer. Your agency becomes more valuable to your clients.
3. With a growing agency, you’ll need larger facilities and better working space. The agency’s “curb appeal” improves and that attracts more and better clients.
4. Adding new business means replacing old equipment and technology with new and better equipment and better technology. Service to existing accounts gets better.
5. Revenue flow is better. There’s more money to operate with and bills get paid quicker. Credit improves. Lines of credit get paid back faster.
6. A growing agency usually improves employee benefits, making it easier to attract and keep good employees. And good people help the agency grow faster.
7. The creative product is always better at a growing agency. There is a freshness and a feel in the creative work from a growing agency that’s easy for prospects to spot.
8. The agency reputation grows as the agency grows. More people talk about you. More prospects want to see you. You get invited to more presentations.
9. Clients like doing business with a growing agency. They may not admit it, but given the choice, they would rather see you grow rather than stand still. It’s an affirmation of their good judgment in choosing to work with you.
10. Your peers in the business know which agencies are growing and which ones aren’t. Your esteem improves. You have a certain swagger that makes others in the industry jealous.
11. ADWEEK and AD AGE write about agencies that are growing. They forget agencies that aren’t.
12. There’s always more fun at a growing agency. The smiles come quicker. The laughter is louder. The enthusiasm is higher. And the staff works harder because everyone likes being with a growing agency.
13. Agency spirit is easy to feel at an agency on the move. When an agency isn’t growing, there is a certain coldness and clamminess that chills clients and prospects alike.
14. The pay is better at a growing agency. You know it. The staff knows it. Your family knows it.
15. Other agencies and holding companies are always interested in a growing agency. And growing agencies are worth a lot more.

New business for agencies requires professional solicitation, not selling.

To reap the rewards of significant growth you must understand new business isn’t about having skills in selling, it’s about applying the time-tested principles of professional solicitation. Selling is what vendors, media reps and suppliers do. Agencies need to act in a much more consultative manner. This is why so many new business heads fail at their job. It’s this professional approach that every agency needs to know and master if they want to grow.

If you’re really interested in learning how to grow your agency schedule a DayOne now!

Beautiful apple photo by Marco Verch

How your new business pitch is presented will define the way the prospect reacts to it.

“I’m looking for the Sandman.

He’s somewhere ’round ’tis said;

But as I’m rather sleepy,

I think I’ll go to bed.”

Susan Holton’s “I’m Looking for the Sandman”

The New Business Pitch

It’s always shocking when we watch agencies present. It’s shocking at just how BAD so many of these highly creative, outstanding agencies really are when presenting. The really sad part, however, is that so many agencies think they’re doing a great job!

The only reason we can think of for this disconnect is that most agencies focus almost exclusively on developing the perfect content; the perfect word, the right image, the turn of a phrase, all to show how smart they are. Think of the hours spent arguing over trying to find the most powerful word or image. The simple fact is any agency’s content is the least important part of any presentation and the most easily forgotten.

Prospects will remember long after the presentation how you looked, what you wore, how charming your presenters were to one another, how well prepared the entire show was, and whether or not you entertained them. Your perfect line, your break-through strategy recommendation, or the neat way you executed some new digital plan is usually forgotten within an hour.

We have helped agencies win new business presentations around the world, sometimes acting as presentation advisers or strategy sounding boards, often as producers, directors, and even script writers. We understand how important the show is to prospects, and how a great strategy poorly presented will lose every time to a weak strategy presented in a highly professional yet entertaining manner.

Our Winning the Pitch Presentation Rules:

1. Understand the Difference Between Advertising and New Business
2. Take the Lead Right from the Start
3. Quickly Decide if You Want the Account
4. Know How the Agency Will Be Selected
5. Agree Early on the Presentation Make-up
6. Decide on the Agency “Hero”
7. Use Profiling to Win on Chemistry
8. Establish the Presentation Chunks Early
9. Present the Right Way
10. Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

The fully expanded list of 12 rules, with some more explanation and detail, is here: 12 Winning the Pitch Presentation Rules

More Pitch Advice

When pitching, lose the slides that only show one concept or thought, as these may well be forgotten when the next slide appears. Use mind maps, logic trails and emotion signs to help clients first understand and then accept the agency’s point of view. Put the emphasis up front; help clients grasp the strategic thinking behind the recommendation. Integrate media, marketing, planning and creative all together in one strategic sweep clients easily appreciate.

Mapping techniques encourage prospects to use both their logical side and their emotional side to evaluate the agency’s position. This blending encourages acceptance that moves the agency into a position of trusted advisor rather than creative vendor – a strategic partner that prospects are more willing to hire.

If done well, the agency’s presentation style will impact client retention as well. When an agency changes to a more visual style, moving away from just PowerPoint presentations, fewer recommendations get rejected because when clients understand, they buy. The agency spends less time on rework and staff morale zooms. Productivity soars. Write offs drop. And the agency’s creative reputation improves because more daring work gets produced.

What separates a great creative agency from all the others isn’t necessarily better ideas. It’s the ability of those agencies to sell their ideas better. And great work won’t sell if it’s not presented properly.

More Tips on How to Improve the Pitch:

• This memo outlines the steps needed to win. Plan To Win: A Winning Strategy
• The four key pitch elements – Style, Format, Content, and Chemistry. Winning Pitch Advice
• What are the main reasons people fail in New Business presentations? It’s because they make the same common mistakes over and over.
• Key reminders for any presentation: 6 Winning Tips For Presenting
• Be prepared, bring your “A” game and cover all the bases: The Defining Moment
• The single most valuable thing you can do to win: Focus On Rehearsals
• And lastly: When to Call

Photo credit: © Dmitriy Shironosov | Dreamstime.com

Trying to grow an agency without senior management is like fishing without bait.

Many agency leaders tell us their senor leaders don’t do any proactive new business activities. Oh, they’ll happily jump on any pitch opportunity. And they work hard to keep the current clients happy – that’s their job after all. But try and get them to go out and generate any new leads? To really help grow your agency? Good luck. And everyone knows there is a direct line between the lack of prospecting and the lack of growth at most agencies.

The sad truth is most agencies haven’t taken any steps to show their senior management team how to do new business – targeting and closing decision makers. These agencies are content to let the management team drift along with only the occasional opportunity to present or participate in a new business pitch. This is a lost opportunity and a waste of your best talent.

Your senior talent should help you take a big bite out of new business. And they will if you train and motivate them the right way.

The Process To Follow:

1. Set up a process that’s easy to understand:
   • Who to go after?
   • What to say?
   • What to send?
   • What’s my role? (Focus should be on getting first visits)
   • What do I get?
2. Build a team to support them (which adds important peer pressure to the process)
3. Get input on building the right system that works for everyone
4. Give them training, teach them the skills to give them confidence
5. Provide lots of support with the critical first steps
6. Add metrics along the way (monthly) to keep them on the track
7. Show clear rewards that make it important for them to play the game
8. Keep it competitive
9. Keep it fun
10. Report regularly on progress (at least monthly)

We call it Sharking: How Top Managers Fish for New Business.

Sharking teaches your most valuable assets why it’s so important that everyone within the management team actively participates in the new business process. The Sharking program outlines how your leadership team can become Sharks, always on the prowl for new growth opportunities, both organic and external, in the course of their normal business day. Specific skill sets are taught that show the leadership team how they can move from being lost in the open water to being new business Sharks by incorporating simple steps and procedures into their normal business routines.

Set up your management team to reel in the big ones!

The good news is that your senior management team can be developed, with good processes, leadership and encouragement, into new business sharks. But before any effort can take effect, you have to invest in them, invest in your agency, and create a culture that supports growth at all levels. Set up a training program now for your management team so they can learn how to really help your agency grow.

Hook photo © Carolyn Franks | Dreamstime.com

Make time to work on that most valuable client.

A client who will never leave you.

A client who will always pay its bills to you.

A client who will quickly respond to your instructions and follow your lead.

A client that is usually ignored, forgotten and rarely talked about by your staff.

A client that will stick with you all through your career in advertising.

A client that is so appreciative of any time you give it.

That wonderful, valuable client is your agency – the most important client in the agency and the one usually least serviced by you and your agency. If you’re like most agencies, everything else gets top priority at your agency except your agency. And most agency owners spend a lot of time working in the agency, but little serious time working on the agency.

When an agency isn’t growing, it’s usually because agency management will not recognize who their most important client is.

Isn’t it time to sit down and spend some time working on that most valuable of all clients?

Empty chair photo by Thomas and used under Creative Commons