5 Easy Agency Hacks for Business Development
Long gone are the days when agency business development was just the combination of a prospect database, an automated direct mail program and a tenacious new business “Hawk.” Ask most anyone today charged with reeling in client prospects how they do it and they speak to the vast array of present options. All said, all things work or nothing seems to work from within the choices now on the table. 
Consider the obvious. Your agency has a website with as much SEO as your IT staffers swear they know. By hook, crook or accident your site is getting traffic. Do you know what kind and by whom? Three services that can help answer that question are www.kickfire.com, www.clickback.com and www.leadforensics.com. But they all suffer the same drawback – they can’t identify precisely who the visitor was because that’s against the “rules.” However, those programs do have value. Those prospect visits are gold in the making. Let me introduce 5 easy agency hacks for new business development that spring from those visits.
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Contact Us Tab
An unofficial and unscientific survey suggests that more than 50% of agency websites fail to identify where they are – as in city, street, State, then zip, phone, fax and email. The ruinous but narrow minority resort to fill-in-the-blanks forms – “tell us visitor who you are, where you are, and then adding insult to injury, tell us what you want!” Client visitors know the Worldwide Internet is “worldwide” and most know where they want their new agency to be. If you were selling an “item” maybe China is acceptable, but as a service, they want close if not closer. Golden rule – show them where you are and how to get in touch in proud glorious detail.
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Team Tab
Along with location, clients want to know who they will work with. Agency veterans admit when all else is essentially equal, chemistry wins! Sanders Consulting Group and Stuart Sanders the “Guru of Growth,” for years taught hundreds of agency business leaders that “Chemistry not Creative Wins new Business! Translation – chemistry is likeability and most people are pretty good making judgment once they get face-to-face. Clear the path for a face-to-face visit with photos, even caricatures can do the trick. Include an interesting but short non-cv story to embellish the visual.
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Incoming Calls
There ought to be a law with penalties for any agency that uses a robot service to answer the phone. Back to chemistry – people like people but not all people, so in this instance, whoever answers the phone needs to be pleasant, mature, intelligent and quite familiar with who works at the agency. The automated directory is a bust. Frequently it fails to find long-time employee. There are times when one can’t type fast enough and the line gets dropped. If you insist on the robot attendant, change the sequent the caller hears. Begin with “If you’d like to speak with us about handing your account dial #1.” No first-time caller knows your extensions.
Designate who should answer an incoming call. Just because one is ringing, not just anyone should answer. Transgressions are moderately acceptable if the caller is selling something, is a wrong number, or wants your services for free. But if it’s anyone who could legitimately hire your agency or pass their experience to someone who could, those calls are gold. Even a crank call deserves proper handling. Forward that call to your best defender; just to be certain it isn’t simply an unusual inquiry in disguise! BTW, test your own system from time to time by calling (you or a trusted business associate) from an outside line. Test to see how and who handles the call.
Finally, if the call or prospect has any potential value, return that call without fail immediately or no later than within 24 hours.
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Your Client List
Your posted client list serves many purposes. First, it probably shows your current clients. A prospective client can run a quick conflict check to clear you. That list also shows the categories of business you’re handling as well as their calibers. If that’s the extent of your posts, then the value of legacy clients is lost. Those deserve a listing as well. You can never tell or predict what a prospect is looking for or will use to judge you. If you get an AgencyFinder invitation, your legacy experience may be the reason for your invite. Be sure they can find that.
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Client Logos
Make logos large enough to read. If the general public wouldn’t recognize the logo or name, a hot link to that site is a good idea. Same is true for all of them. The same rule applies here – show current AND legacy clients. Some agencies group clients by type or vertical market. The choice is yours.
These 5 hacks can be addressed immediately, no waiting required. Install and active to grease the skids in your direction! Happy New Business.
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