The Agency Tour is Your New Business Secret Weapon
CONTENTS:
- The Agency Tour is Your New Business Secret Weapon
- Sit In the New Business Hot Seat? You Should Sit at the Team Tab
- Invitation and Fee-Paid Go Hand-In-Hand
- What Did You Call Your Firm When You Enrolled (It Matters)
- See Which Clients Have Already Checked You Out
- New Business is for Active Profiles; Is Yours?
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THE AGENCY TOUR IS YOUR NEW BUSINESS SECRET WEAPON
When offered, would you rather meet the prospect for the first time at their business or your agency? Anyone who has tried both will tell you the agency visit coupled with an agency tour is the killer. For that reason, each and every client using our service is repeatedly encouraged to embrace the virtues of conducting agency site visits and tours as part of the process to identify their finalists. Don’t be bashful about making the pitch yourself. On a recent food service win, the winning agency fought hard to convince the client to visit their shop. To hear it told, apparently the client was expecting a more traditional agency layout, only to be pleasantly surprised and a bit overwhelmed to discover this agency had audio, video and print production facilities above and beyond the norm. Although not needed for initial steps in the relationship, the presence of those facilities bode well going forward and influencing the award decision.
Here are some tour tips. Your tour is best orchestrated to move from station to station as much as possible like a job moves through your agency. Many of our agency students have built a tour outline that suggests a route that follows the production of a magazine ad. Begin your tour where the ideas begin; then move forward to whatever constitutes the next step. It’s only natural to introduce the players at each station and a perfect environment in which to discuss that technology or agency strength. If you’re actually using a mock ad and having it unfold as you progress, you have a perfect opportunity to seek input from your visitors. What they say and how they answer will reveal decision-makers among the visitors and preferences you can use to your advantage later when you really start pitching!
Save your conference room for last; let that serve to field last-minute questions, re-affirmations, and your chance to ask closing questions. Make sure to learn what the client sees as next steps. And be certain YOUR AGENCY is involved in those next steps!
SIT IN THE NEW BUSINESS HOT SEAT? YOU SHOULD SIT AT THE TEAM TAB
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 to identify 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!
INVITATIONS AND FEE-PAID GO HAND-IN-HAND
AgencyFinder is an annual membership opportunity. Pay up-front and you’re fee-paid for 12-months. That means all the client invitations you can handle for no additional charge. In a way it’s the e-Harmony or Match.com of the advertising industry, at least from the standpoint that our fees, like theirs, pay for “opportunity introductions.” Our affordable Manager Plan $500 Registration entitles you to be found in a review, invited and introduced to a client, then hold your “due-diligence” phone interview. All that for just $500! Contender Fees extra.
Special Attention: For the remainder of September and all October, and for less than what many agencies are paying monthly just for phone calls, the EVP Annual Business Plan @ $2,995 saves you $2,505 over the Director Plan and you’re fee-paid for 12-months. Upgrade or Enroll Now.
WHAT DID YOU CALL YOUR FIRM WHEN YOU ENROLLED? (IT MATTERS)
Each of you had to decide how to classify your firm, and we gave you these choices:
* Advertising Agency (SIC 7311)
* Direct Marketing Firm (SIC 7331)
* Integrated Marketing Communications Firm (Not yet classified)
* Media Buying Firm (SIC 7319-9902)
* Digital and Interactive Media Firm (Not yet classified)
* Public Relations Firm (SIC 8743)
* Sales Promotion Firm (SIC 8743-9904)
* and Minority owned and operated
Over the years we’ve learned something we want to share with you. Truth is, when a client enrolls and builds their profile, they seldom come with any predisposition as to “type.” They don’t tend to linger; just a quick swipe at ad agency or “integrated.” If you selected anything else, come back and change your Primary business to one of those, then be more precise with your Secondary choice. It WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE in your traffic volume.
SEE WHICH CLIENTS HAVE ALREADY CHECKED YOU OUT
It’s happening right under your nose! It doesn’t sound a ringer or blow a horn, but our system does note and document when any client search brought your firm to the surface. I can’t offer a clickable link, but it’s easy to get there. Login to your account as you would always do. You land on Registered Agency – Record Maintenance. Click at #15 – Agency Search Activity Detail and there you are. That report shows date, budget, Fields served, and client location. That’s the traffic your profile is generating.
NEW BUSINESS IS FOR 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 lets you describe your firm using more than 500 data fields; then 7 short essays you 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 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 you enrolled to get new clients. Please finish things up so we can do that for you!
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