All I Want for Christmas (or Hanukkah) is…
Flash Report @ AgencyFinder – December 18, 2006
CONTENTS:
1. All I Want for Christmas (or Hanukkah) is…
2. Whassup with that Wal-Mart?
3. New Fields Served; New Services
4. Guest Authors @ agencyfinder.com
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS (OR HANUKKAH) IS…
Looking forward to new business and new clients in 2007, we’d thought you’d appreciate some last-minute gift ideas for those challenged with new business assignments; either as their exclusive job description, their part-time job description, or as the manager or supervisor of one or the other. Select your favorite(s) and ask Santa.
a. A pre-qualified, pre-tested prospect list of 750 warm, friendly, honest and receptive company presidents or marketing vice presidents, each with a declared budget (none of the “You need to tell us” declarations) and needing a new or additional agency (pr firm, etc.) and needing one right now!
b. A highly automated and “loaded” computer (PC or MAC) including contact manage- ment software that will schedule all my initial and subsequent prospect calls, dial the phone, encourage me to make useful notes of my conversations, reschedule rude or in- sensitive prospects to “later” or “never”; then replace those with new, fresh receptive prospects (relatively close-by or in warm tropical climates).
c. Prospects (as above) that are willing to travel to tour our agency and meet my people; don’t ask for spec creative; demonstrate they know how to discern one agency from another; and identify the best agency for their business – based on a combination of creative capabilities, on-target strategy and execution, and personal chemistry all while encouraging competitive but profitable pricing for our agency services.
d. That little “Bird” to sit on my shoulder and remind me that “one call is never enough!” Unless you’ve been summarily rejected, keep calling, and when you do connect, practice active listening and then gently make your new business points.
e. A “killer” agency brochure, fresh with all our latest work, written by our best creatives and “in-stock” at all times. f. Agency new business team players that actually work as a team; no head-butting egos and no last-minute presentation quarterbacking by otherwise uninvolved agency management.
g. Agency management that not only makes me responsible for “new business development” but gives me the authority to allocate and spend funds.
h. A complete, up-to-date, tantalizing and magnetic AgencyFinder record – and kept that way by our best agency talent!
i. A great on-going relationship with the AgencyFinder folks and ALL agency selector consultants. Love ’em or not, they’re often the front door to profitable new clients.
WHASSUP WITH THAT WAL-MART?
Talk about the new business story of the century! It’s intriguing at the least. I have mixed empathy for Julie and Howard – what a bummer for both and for everyone affected by the fallout. And talk about disconnections in the agency search process.
Maybe you think we’ve heard enough already. But for the sake of thousands of small- to-medium
agencies that will never get a chance to even be near a project of this magnitude, we still need answers. Like why didn’t or did SRI brief every agency on the strict and almost impossible rules by which Wal-Mart wanted to play? For a consultant that is normally quite involved, where were they when folks were rocking and booze was flowing?
Why does the press quote people who have nothing to do with this review, and would never be involved in something of this magnitude? More importantly, why aren’t we hearing from those in the know – like Catherine at SRI, or any of the first, second and third-round agency candidates? Imagine their pain when they didn’t make the first cut; then when they learned who did; and later when they read what we all read.
How about checking and reporting what Russ Wohlwerth might have to offer, and while they’re at it, get some idea what SRI charged to manage this newsmaker. Explain why the press reported SRI was again hired to manage its upcoming mulligan… “mulligan”, as in a golf shot not tallied against the score, or more specifically – a free second shot or pass. In this case, a second free assignment. So why does the press say they were “hired” when SRI probably felt they owed Wal-Mart another round at no-cost? There’s a lesson in all this; I’m adamant we learn all there is to learn – for next time.
P.S. – Hooray to Roy Spence for moving on.
NEW FIELDS SERVED; NEW SERVICES; NEW ORGANIZATIONS
After the first of the year, we’re going to be adding to the database. Adding new client categories, new agency services, industry organizations, and whatever else you might suggest. By example, in agency services we’re looking at: Virtual marketing; Virtual world development; Blog production; Podcast production; Video podcast production; RSS communication strategy; Social intermediary marketing; Web applications development; Mashup development; Web 2.0 development.
We welcome your thoughts and suggestions (like we NEED them!)
GUEST AUTHORS @ AGENCYFINDER.COM
For those prepaid Directors Club or Referral Network agencies, you’re invited to become a “Guest Author.” An opportunity to blog a bit at
agencyfinder.com. Your topics should be around and about new business. We aren’t setting a specific length just yet; send an outline of your topic and give us a feeling for length. You’ll hear from us either way. That work will find its way into the Flash Reports and if there’s enough content and interest, we might add a page at the site. I’m all ears…
Sincerely,
Charles G. Meyst, Chairman/CEO
Business Partnering International, Ltd.
Vantage Place, 4327 Cox Road
Glen Allen, VA 23060
Voice: 804.346.1812
