The Powerless (Impotent) Rainmaker: Responsibility Without Authority
CONTENTS:
1. Client Seeks Heavy Duty PR Push for New & Truly Unique Employee Benefit for First Responders
2. The Powerless (Impotent) Rainmaker: Responsibility Without Authority
3. Agency New Business Secrets Every Rainmaker Should Know (or share)
4. Finding London PR Needle-in-a-Haystack from San Francisco & Richmond, VA
5. (IS THIS) Real Bad News for Agency New Business Pros?
CLIENT SEEKS HEAVY DUTY PR PUSH FOR NEW & TRULY UNIQUE EMPLOYEE BENEFIT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Our client has developed and will soon announce a new class of employee benefit, designed to address the specific occupational risks of healthcare and law enforcement workers. This product provides coverage in the event of infection with HIV, Ebola, Hep B & C through accidental cuts, bites, needle sticks, or any other bodily fluid transfer. The product also provides benefits for workplace violence.
Cant disclose much publicly, (continued)
THE POWERLESS (IMPOTENT) RAINMAKER: RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT AUTHORITY
The problem is they often have no authority to command what they need to get the job done. In agencies where someone does actually have the title, the person might be charged with making 25 outreach calls each day, mailing 25 letters with great client suggestions, or searching the press for suspect activity. But if that same individual needs some paltry sum of money to purchase, subscribe to, or participate in something that isnt free, our rainmaker runs up against the ever-present lack of authority. He needs to submit a request to someone in finance who would prefer to charge it to a client account. (Note: Some rainmakers will actually advance funds of their own and hope to get reimbursed!)
Here are three areas where you need to consider your investment and how it affects your new business executives ability to actually bring in new clients and projects: (continued)
AGENCY NEW BUSINESS SECRETS EVERY RAINMAKER SHOULD KNOW (OR SHARE)
Every agency has them; every agency new business consultant has them; virtually anyone whos taken a crack at agency new business development will claim to have some. There arent many real secrets, but there are some simple tips worth noting and worth doing.
In the outreach category, you need a computer, telephone with headset, and contact management software (ACT, SalesForce, etc.) That platform will give you a place to create prospect and client databases, plus it allows you to auto-dial anyone in the database and record your discussion notes on-the-fly. Its absolutely THE most efficient way to manage business relationships. Anything less is cheating yourself and your agency.
In the prospect first meeting category, (continued)
FINDING LONDON PR NEEDLE-IN-A-HAYSTACK FROM SAN FRANCISCO & RICHMOND, VA
Were always a bit more than ordinarily motivated when we can manage an International search. The good folks at Baidu came to us in late May this year looking for help not in the US but in the UK. Baidu is Chinas 1 search engine, answering more than 5 billion queries each day. Baidus international products are already in use by more than 120 million people outside of China, but brand recognition is relatively low. They came to AgencyFinder looking for a PR firm in London that could help to both establish their brand and drive downloads of their free products. Speaking of International, Baidu Director of International Marketing is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California on their Silicon Valley campus. Read about their plans here.
Baidu has developed a number of mobile (Android) and desktop (PC) applications available to the wide world. These consist predominantly of … (continued)
(IS THIS) REAL BAD NEWS FOR AGENCY NEW BUSINESS PROS?
A recent Adweek broke a story by Maureen OLeary that portends bad new for agency new business pros. Various recent industry surveys revealed the half-life of someone working at agency new business is measured in months, not years. The article prompted me to check Whos Who at Campbell-Ewald in Detroit; just when I was getting to know Barbara Yolles, shes gone! Many of our contacts there have retired or moved on. Maureen makes the point that new business is a risky business. So I countered with my position based on our experience here at AgencyFinder coupled with my new business consulting at Sales Marketing Institute and Sanders Consulting. I said
Face it, new business is not a job for an agency person. Lets stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Most agency people are not fit for a new business because theyre creatives by nature and creatives flinch when their work is criticized. Imagine the internalizations when a prospect tells them to get lost! At VCUs Ad Center here in Richmond, Virginia, unless things have changed, there isnt a single course or a single semester that even introduces the critical topic How an agency gets new business. As in, how do we pay our bills and pay our employees. New business doesnt fit an agency-trained individual and never will.
New business is a sales job (continued)
