Go Easy Into 2016; Plan and Execute Carefully
CONTENTS:
1. Go Easy Into 2016; Plan and Execute Carefully
2. The Latest PitchCast Postings; Anything there for you?
3. If Your Website has a Team Tab, You Should Be There Too
4. At Services Offered, Have You Claimed All You Can?
5. Attention – New Business Is for Those With Active Profiles; Is Yours?
6. A New Business History Lesson; But You Won’t Be Tested
GO EASY INTO 2016; PLAN AND EXECUTE CAREFULLY
If our experience over the years is any indication, clients (as in those you want to hire you) do the same thing we suggest you do – take the month of January to plan your strategy and execution. There may be an argument to play the early-bird thing, but in most cases, unless their worm has surfaced, your bird will just eat dirt!
THE LATEST PITCHCAST POSTINGS; ANYTHING THERE FOR YOU?
Take a look at what came across our transom the last part of the year. Some are already history, but you will never know unless you ask!
1. People Love the Taste of Chicken – Can you Help This Producer Sell More
2. Calling all Farmers, Need Help Selling Corn Heads; Yes Corn Heads!
3. The Folks Who Perform Thorough Background Checks Need to Hire an Agency – Southern CA
4. B2B Management Software Company Seeks AOR
5. Growing Toy & Game Manufacturer Looking for an Agency that’s a “Kid at Heart
IF YOUR WEBSITE HAS A TEAM TAB, YOU SHOULD BE THERE TOO
Most agency websites, in recognition of the fact that chemistry is a critical element in agency selection, see the wisdom in an agency “Team” tab. There you’ll find the smiling faces (photo or illustration) of the key players – at least that’s how they are presented. For a first-time visitor, they may care about your management, but if they want to reach out to hire an agency, they want the new business contact. If that’s you and you aren’t posted yet, show this to your boss and ask it be done. It needs your photo and a pleasing bio!
AT SERVICES OFFERED, HAVE YOU CLAIMED ALL YOU CAN?
Who knows what the client will want? But the more the merrier (as in quantity of vertical markets or services you’ve laid claim to). We use our Histogram to see what our agencies have claimed and how many. Here are some with low counts; if you can claim them it’s to your advantage; please do!
Services: (120+ choices)
Beta testing:
Business development training
Business plan development
Custom publishing
Digital production
Environmental/ecology marketing
Experiential marketing
Gaming
Geodemographic mapping
Green initiatives
Initial public Offerings (IPO’s)
Labor Relations
Lobbying
Logistics
OOH (Out of Home)
POP (Point-of-Purchase)
Political campaign management
POS (Point-of-Sale)
Pre/Post IPO marketing
Shopper marketing
Telemarketing (inbound call center)
Telemarketing (outbound)
Word-of-mouth marketing
Youth marketing
Same is true for Vertical Marketing Experience:
Fields Served: (180+ choices)
Agrichemical
Auctions
Building materials
Chemicals
Cloud service vendors
Cruise lines
Dry cleaning
Fabrics, Yarns, Sewing notions
Floor coverings
Flour & Cereals
Funeral industry
Horse Racing
Infant/adolescent items
Licensor, Licensing
Logistics
Lotteries
Medical & physicians groups
Medical (In-home care)
Metals
Mining
Oil & Gas
Plumbing
Religious organizations
Relocation services
Rental (equipment)
Rental (vehicles)
Research Organizations:
Shipping
Solar goods & services
Veterinary products & services
Waste & water treatment
ATTENTION: NEW BUSINESS IS FOR THOSE WITH ACTIVE PROFILES; IS YOURS?
Some agencies quit our registration process prematurely and don’t realize they did so. When you begin, you are walked through 2 or 3 pages. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A complete profile contains more than 500 data fields you select from and claim; then 7 short essays you are meant to write, same for case histories and confidential client list. When that’s finished, you click at Item #13 – Set Your Record Active. When you log back in here you’re greeted with “Welcome Back Agency Name.” If you didn’t get that far and you still need to finish, you’re greeted with just “Welcome to agencyfinder.com.” We assume every agency registers because they want new clients. Please finish things up so we can do that for you!
A NEW BUSINESS HISTORY LESSON; BUT YOU WON’T BE TESTED
If you expect an agency new business service to bring you new clients, I would suggest they know something about how agencies go about getting new clients; as in the do’s and the don’ts. And that service needs to be much more than a simple directory or database; it needs the inclusion and management by experienced new business veterans. To my point, I officially entered the “agency new business arena” upon joining Sanders Consulting in 1990. At the time, Sanders were THE unchallenged agency new business experts in the US and would eventually branch out to add England to the mix. Stuart and his gang tackled educating agencies at new business from the largest (like McCann) to small regional specialists. We produced seminars on diverse topics including the then revolutionary “Re-Engineering.” But we did more than teach; they taught us. The combination was powerful and memorable and to this day many remember their “Spark & Torch” training and they clearly remember Stuart.
In 1994 I left Sanders to launch Sales Marketing Institute; still consulting in agency new business but from a different angle. My team and I tackled the small-to-medium agencies promoting one-on-one training and consulting. There were exceptions, namely multiple sessions at Campbell-Ewald in Detroit. Two years in on a return trip from there, teaching new recruits hired to replace two we trained a few years prior that it hit me – there weren’t enough hours, days or consultants to cover all the agencies that needed help. Flying home I was reading a book on entrepreneurship and one paragraph struck me. It suggested, “An entrepreneur isn’t someone who invents something new, but rather takes things that exist, combines elements with one from another and introduces a fresh new solution.” I took some of the concepts I discovered at iMarket (a D&B and Lotus Notes product), built a re-configured version for client & agency match-making and voila – 11 months later in 1997, AgencyFinder.com emerged fresh and new, ready to make marriages. To my knowledge, AgencyFinder was then and still is the first Internet ad industry client/agency match-making service that functions as an agency search consultant. And to those with historical recall and to his credit, registrant number one was the agency search consultant Skip Pile.
Now it’s 2016. 19 years later and we’re the oldest, established and maybe most unconventional agency search consultant around. At a time when the Internet was evolving, to the delight of advertisers looking to hire an agency, we introduced our “Free Search” model. Ironically even after all these years, agencies occasionally question why they need to pay our annual fees. They don’t realize clients search for free and always have, so agency annual fees power our service. If anyone working at business development spends a few minutes with us on the phone, they invariably come away as a firm believer. I note with pride that our payment model is now the standard for the likes of many like e-Harmony, Match.com, HomeAdvisor.com and a new player – A Place for Mom.
Our staff of experienced consultants, aided by our powerful onboard proprietary search engine gets the job done. That’s true more than 10,000 times since 1997. But we’re only as good as our content, as in “your finished profiles.” So set aside some time during these first weeks of 2016 to finish up. Login here to begin: https://www.agencyfinder.com/agencies/agency-login/
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FOR MORE ACTIVITY, UPGRADE YOUR PROFILE: https://www.agencyfinder.com/agencies/plans-and-prices/ Get a leg-up with Manager Plan.
