In an Emergency (Like a New Client Invitation) how can we best reach you?
2. Dear Mr. AgencyFinder Business Advisor – I have a question …
3. What’s Getting you New Business This Summer?
4. Are they out of their minds!!! They’ve dropped their prices …
5. Garbage In; Garbage Out – Your profile is your lifeline to new business …
IN AN EMERGENCY (LIKE A NEW CLIENT INVITATION) HOW CAN WE BEST REACH YOU?
Let’s talk about media agnostics … (By example) We work day and night here in Richmond
candidates to handle their amazing account. Over the years, we’ve perfected a process that
begins with an e-mail alert to each intended agency – to the primary plus alternate new
business contacts (as listed in your profile). That alert includes client name, location and
URL. Our next step is to send the full RFD (Request for Dialogue) via fax.
Why fax? Because the invitation is a collection of documents originating from different sources
and for us, it’s easiest to aggregate them and send via a plain-paper fax machine. Yes, we
know some tell us “no one uses fax anymore” yet surprisingly, some in New York who say
that have a fax address prominently posted at Contact Us on their own website.
So tell us; what’s the best way and when to contact you? We know you are often out of the
office, in meetings or on the phone. We know you carry a Smart Phone and check them
wherever you are at whatever time you decide. But when new business is on deck, we
need to reach you and you need to be reached – if new clients and new business are
on your radar and that’s why you asked for our help!
DEAR MR. AGENCY NEW BUSINESS ADVISOR, I HAVE A QUESTION …
A real question from a real agency …
Agency – When I pitch, the response I sometimes get is… …we just want a video or brochure.
And what I may see is that their customer service model is FUBAR and needs to be fixed before
some kind of creative should be done. Like what we do is a band-aid for their bad business
practices. Maybe I should not care, but I do. I see marketing as the total customer experience.
Advisor – In some ways, new business is like dating (remember?) You need to start slowly a little
bit at a time. Having proved yourself, you are then welcome to go further … Same situation here.
In any proposal, even if just for a video, make certain you note that the video in itself will only work
effectively if all else is in order. Don’t accept (better to deny any responsibility for “performance”) if
you have identified roadblocks. At the same time, give them a proposal for what you believe is also
needed and be specific. Make it conditional in that you’ll get the next work if they are satisfied with
the first assignment (you need to identify the conditions). The agreement/contract part is all
business (no creative hokey-pokey!) Make sense?
Agency Responds – (food for thought) Thanks. Very good input. I was an executive at a TV network
and did a lot of entertainment industry marketing for networks and record labels when I left. A pitch
there may last 3 minutes. They want to know you are competent and you can get fired if you don’t
take the initiative to do it all right. You don’t wait around proving yourself; if you see a chink in the
armor you take action. You don’t deny responsibility, you take action. I have found that is not the
norm in most businesses, unless you are in a place like LA or NYC.
Most people choose pain over getting well. Statistics tell us people want to stay sick, believe it or
not. If I have to change or die, most people choose death. – Same goes in business.
My business coach says, just hunt for those people that are authentically seeking real change or
improvement at the level you/we provide; as appropriate for their situation. In other words, pre-
qualify them to make sure they are ready for the change.
The flip side is that (in my eyes) the people I see making money at advertising take the work that
comes in the door and if the client is screwed up, ignore it. Just take their money. A sucker is born
every minute and when that company takes a dive, there is another sucker behind them to bill.
Just keep doing really pretty creative and billing. – Silly me, I was on the other side of the table
wanting something tangible for my money. I want to give them stellar results. It is one of the
sons, we mostly pay for results based marketing.
But maybe I am wrong …
WHAT’S GETTING YOU NEW BUSINESS THIS SUMMER?
When summer rolls around, most agencies used to resort to half-days on Friday and straggle in late
on Mondays. That was true in them good olde days. But in this economy, with agencies running at full
capacity with overworked staff, that custom isn’t as prevalent today.
But how about your agency? Are you running a lean week? Are you looking for prospects on the
beach, at the river, at the cottage, at the lake? Or sitting near you at a Charlotte NASCAR event?
Or are you (or someone assigned) plugging away on the phone, sending e-mails or mailing
tchotchkes or rubber chickens with a clever letter?
ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!! THEY’VE DROPPED THEIR PRICES …
That’s what some said. But it’s true and we think it’s just good marketing. In a recent agency
newsletter, we wrote: We’ve got some important news to share. We’re instituting our first
substantial reductions and changes to our pricing model in years. Based on pre-testing, I
think you’ll find what we’ve done quite appealing. Check it out …
Plans & Prices: A simple presentation of four (4) Plan options. Starting with the “Free” Iridium,
then moving to Manager, Director and EVP Business. See which one makes sense for your firm.
Getting started on the Iridium Plan: Regardless of size or experience, everyone starts at
Iridium. In our original pricing scheme of Gold, Silver and Platinum, Iridium (a white metal) was
where everyone began. Iridium is important; for starters it’s Free! And it’s the building block of
your profile and how you move up to the next plans.
Special Offer: Enroll at the Manager Plan and receive a Free Audit. we’ll evaluate your chances in
real terms. Our search engine takes your agency profile and exposes your data to all registered
client searches that occurred in the last 12-months. That process produces a report that’s yours
to keep. For every client search where you surface, you’re able to see each client category,
budget and their location and its not guessing. We can even discover adjustments to make
Plan Comparisons: EVP Business Plan is your best bet if you’ve got a new business budget.
Let’s say you get a client invitation where their budget is $5MM. The Contender Fee plus the
$500 Registration puts you at $5,500 for the year. Compare that to your EVP Business
investment at $2,995 EVP saves you $2,505.
If however your firm is new, with only a few employees and little set aside for business
development, select the Manager Plan – so you can walk before you run. You can get
involved with what’s going on, but you only contend when it’s a perfect fit!
Little secret … If you’re invited at Iridium or Manager and want to contend, skip the
Contender fees by paying the EVP Business $2,995
July 16th we called your attention to some important changes and additions to our database and
your profile. It read:
Important Database Additions: We recently added some new Fields Served, then removed
some as well. Same is true for Services Offered. Clients are now selecting from those, so if you
haven’t claimed them, you’ll be overlooked. You are urged to check & update your profile. (see
below)
Your data must be both current and complete. By example, we added “Cloud service vendors” to
Fields Served and OOH (Out of Home) and Shopper marketing to Services Offered. These and
others were also added to the client side (where the Client specifies what they want from their
new agency). If a client includes any of these in the search criteria and you have the experience
or offer the services (but you’ve failed to update your profile) you are automatically and
absolutely eliminated as a candidate.
We’ll do our part, but please do yours and update!
