Agency New Business: A Framework To Drive More New Logos

Did you know.... that a recent survey conducted by RSW/US indicates that 66% of agencies believe that their new business leaders were unsuccessful because they did not leverage a specific methodology?

In addition, 71% of agencies believe it is more difficult to break through to prospects than ever before. This is backed up by IDC's research which found that as compared to three years ago, 50% more leads are needed just to generate the same amount of revenue. Open rates are down and marketers are busier than ever-a by product of the Great Recession-as they are now typically doing 2 or more jobs. 

A methodology is critical to the biz dev department's success because bringing in new logos has become infinitely more complex that it was just a few years ago. 

Here are some of the key elements of a new business development framework:

Research: Understand your agency inside and out. Not only its services, but its personality and its point of view. What has it done well? What is its true core competency? What is the agency's point of view and how is it unique? At iNDELIBLE in the early days of digital, we offered many different services, but our pioneering in online video experiences was at our core the most distinguishing point of difference. Next, work with the other senior leaders in the agency to determine the best client prospects, industries and roles to target from a new business perspective. Lastly, using case studies and proof points from successful client engagements, create compelling insights which you can use in your campaigns and pitch decks. Create a prospect list which maximizes your chance of making a match. Now research those companies--their financial reports, websites, social media and executives. Create Google alerts so that you are notified of key moves within and by the organization. What are the key challenges facing those prospects? What are the key initiatives? What does their competitive landscape look like? How would you help them..? Work with your team to craft a few high level concepts. Then....(in tandem with your PR and marketing teams--if they exist at your agency)...

"Push:"  Reach out via email. Include a value-ad--a link to relevant work or recent blog post and success metrics. Your prospects want to learn what their peers are doing successfully. Also send a brief Linkedin inMail requesting an intro meeting and a chance to discuss some of those ideas in more depth. Help the prospect see how you understand her business issues and how you can help her build a bridge to the desired state. Connect the dots(constantly!): Schedule coffees, lunches, phone calls, chats, skypes, face times. Everyone you know needs to be briefed on what you and your agency are doing and the type of people with whom you are looking to connect. That means all of your circles--old and new friends, high school, college, grad school alums, folks from your daughter's soccer team, your train mates. When you meet someone new, ask what they do. I delivered a major win for my agency out of a chance meeting at a "back to school" night for my son. Your antenna must always be up and on high receive. Turn your family into disciples of the agency, asking them to be on the lookout for marketers. Your kids' friends' Moms and Dads, your wife's friends, your husband's golf buddies---push the envelope. You want to get your team to the plate but it takes an extraordinary effort--a multi faceted approach. Meetings=revenue!

"Pull:"Many prospects prefer to find you, and are researching online so you and your team need to be blogging and posting to social media. Podcasts interviewing clients and industry luminaries, links to work, case studies, speaking at conferences and relevant news programs(MDC Chairman Miles Nadal does a great job of appearing on networks such as Fox Business and CNBC)are all critical. Establish thought leadership in key areas which map to your expertise.. Make sure the content is compelling. Give them a reason to call you.

Phew...So, you've got the meeting at long last. Great job, yes, but now its time to shift it into overdrive. A new set of skills are needed.

Assemble and prepare the team for the initial meeting: Select the team that matches up the best with the prospect based on the assessment you have conducted of the prospect's challenges and business objectives. In addition, based on the personalities and constituencies involved on the client side, assemble the team that will mesh the best. Deliver all of the key intel you have collected to your team and prepare as a group for the meeting. Provide strategic direction and insight. When you get to conference room and its showtime, start and finish the meeting strong, watch the clock and make sure there is sufficient time for questions and next steps--moderate accordingly--if people's eyes are glossing over--change the direction- call a time out and regroup with the team. Make sure everything presented maps back to the objectives and challenges you uncovered previously. Establish timing for the follow up meeting/call---try to schedule it right there on the spot if possible. Make sure everyone connects on Linkedin.

Write a summary of the meeting: What was discussed, agreed upon and include all follow up materials. Keep it short but continue to paint the picture of your prospect achieving his goals and moving toward a successful partnership with you and your agency. You heard them, you get them, you can help them and here's a brief overview of how you'll do it and what it will mean to them in the way of results.

Close with ROI: Assuming your follow up meeting goes well, when you proactively scope out the engagement, deliver the SOW, and ask for the business, there is one key element that is a must and potentially the difference between ringing the cash register or going back to the drawing board. The term ROI is thrown around a lot in marketing circles these days. In fact a study released recently and published in AdAge (http://bit.ly/1tG3VUp) says CMO's are increasingly being asked to deliver 'measurable ROI' for their marketing spend. 93% of CMO's in the study said they feel this pressure. More importantly, the CMO's in the study said they do not have the tools and/or team/skills to do so. This is a major challenge of the modern CMO and the agencies that can deliver proposals which clearly show the value of their services will have a leg up on the competition. As an example, in the high tech world, the companies that can quantify benefits, lead with value and ROI have seen sales cycle times decrease, deal sizes increase and stalled deals move to the win column by being able to demonstrate value. For the agency new business team you need to work with the prospect to determine what levers are going to be pulled and what KPI's need to be impacted. The final proposal sent in to the client should include a value analysis with an estimated ROI. According to best selling author Jeffrey Fox from How To Become a Rainmaker, "Rainmakers sell money." "They turn benefits into dollars." At Alinean, we train our clients in value selling and create tools which intelligently deliver the appropriate value messages based on the prospects' profiles. Buying decisions today occur with equal parts emotional and rational components. Many agencies are great at nailing the emotional...rolling out the A team, showing off their coolest work--Connect and feel good for sure, but there is another part of the decision makers' brains which need to be satisfied--the logical. The procurement teams are there to remind you of that! The agencies that can demonstrate ROI will be ultimately more successful in sealing the deal and winning new business.

New business leaders and growth officers have a tough job. Like a good NFL coach, you need a well thought-out, orchestrated and executed game plan which covers all bases and possibilities. No doubt your team is an impressive group of individuals, but like the coach you need to put the right players in the positions that fit the team the best. You need to strategize, research, prepare, practice, and execute a detailed and airtight plan. Happy selling!

The # 1 Reason Agencies Miss Revenue Targets and what Biz Dev Leaders Can Do About It Part 1-by Dan Sixsmith

According to marketing and sales consultancy Sirius Decisions, the number 1 reason why B2B companies—agencies included- miss their revenue target is not the lack of a cool website, awesome team, great client roster, or a killer pitch—but the inability of the organization to properly communicate value to new prospects. Traditional sales and marketing efforts, which worked well before 2009, no longer work today. The reason for this is that the buyer has changed. The CMO’s job is much more complicated and he/she is one voice among a growing list of stakeholders. [Interestingly, the average tenure of the CMO has nearly doubled over the past 3 years(now 43 months)while the Biz Dev leader's longevity has slipped dramatically(now roughly 24 months).] Procurement and finance are in a stronger position and are less inclined to buy into the wow factor. They want to know why they should invest millions with your agency. What will be the return? And what are the expected results?  It is widely known that agency margins are under attack. How do you win new business but at the price you need to make the engagement profitable? Here are a couple of key skills now required:

You’re a Doctor-Put on your stethoscope and Re-Frame the conversation-A doctor friend of mine told me recently that very often patients walk in and ask for certain medications based on TV commercials they recently viewed or from research they performed online. Of course, she cannot prescribe the requested medication until she performs an assessment. She needs to take a step back and ask the patient questions in an attempt to properly diagnose the patient's condition and only then can she prescribe the correct medication. In business development, we often face a similar situation. As we know, buyers today are 60% or more along in their decision before engaging with an agency. This means they have already drawn some conclusions as they move toward selection. Brand leaders come with RFP’s in hand for specified services. Or they march into your conference room asking for a new website, a mobile strategy, banner ads, or programmatic media. The power has shifted to the buyer right? Not necessarily!  The new business leader needs to be skilled in reframing the conversation. He needs to work with the team to force the prospect to take a step back and uncover the business challenges that the brand is facing and the KPI’s that are most critical to their success. Based on this assessment, the agency can prescribe the most effective engagement and one that will improve the chances of success. This moves the agency more into a strategic partner role versus a fulfillment house. It also leads to a potentially larger engagement and one that is mutually profitable. 

You’re a Therapist and Matchmaker-Be an Active Listener and help them deal with a broken relationship-Chemistry is key to all relationship success and the agency-brand partnership is no different. Brands are changing agencies with a great deal more frequency. According to the marketing consulting focused Bedford Group in 1984, the average client-agency relationship tenure was 7.2 years. By 1997, that number declined by 25% to 5.3 years. Today the average client-agency tenure is thought to be less than three years(and perhaps a lot less) The Biz Dev leader needs to probe as to what has worked well for the prospect team in working with agencies and what hasn’t. Why are they seeking a new partner? She needs to deliver the correct team to that initial pitch meeting—the team that matches up the best based on the intel collected--your version of Match.com.

The bottom line is just like Quinn said to Carrie at the end of Homeland last week, “It’s not about you.”  The focus needs to be on the prospect—their issues, their challenges—not your reel, your client list, your team, and your awards. The more you can learn and deliver to the pitch team, the better your chances of reaching your revenue targets.

The Changing Face of the Agency Business Development Leader: What’s Needed to Succeed in 2015 and beyond: Part 1

There is no denying that Great Recession has changed the way that business is conducted and the agency-brand relationship is no exception. What do we know? Buyers of agency services have permanently and fundamentally changed. They are more knowledgeable than ever before thanks to the wide range of information readily available to them—social media, corporate websites, and financial reports. They are also forced to do more with less, often doing 2 or more jobs and the budgets available to them are still well below where they were just a few years ago—so as a result they are more frugal than ever before. We also know that they invite agencies into their buying process later than ever. The research from Google and CEB (see “The Disappearing Sales Process” Forbes: http://onforb.es/1BA1DUX ) says that buyers are already 60% through their buying decision journey before engaging with agency’s business development teams. In addition, competition is fierce—no shortage of options in selecting an agency partner.

This has left the agency new business process in a state of flux. According to a 2014 RSW/US survey of 220 senior agency leaders, only 26% of agencies are happy with their business development team, which is down significantly in just the past two years. The Biz Dev leader has now joined the CMO on the ‘short time’ list with tenures lasting on average less than two years.

So how does a senior biz dev’er lead his agency to success in this tumultuous new economic climate? It is clear that what may have worked prior to 2009 does not even come close to working in 2015 and beyond. It also means that the profile and skill sets of the new biz leader are going to be radically different. What follows is part 1-a list of tips for the modern day head of new business:

1) Engage Pre RFP: According to research firm, Forrester, 76% of deals won today in a typical B2B transaction go to the company that engaged early and helped to set the buying agenda vs. only 24% that were won in the shootout. Yes, RFP’s are a necessary evil, but there is gold in those hills for the agency that masters the ability to engage earlier in the brand’s buying process. Not only that, but there will likely be less competition than further down the buyer’s journey. How is this done? A couple of different ways.

The business development leader needs to drive the demand generation process and work with the marketing and PR departments to hone the inbound marketing process. Marketing content must be not only be sexy and high impact but also value focused (more on that later). Agency web sites must do more than show off cool work. They need to lead new prospects to email into the agency for a consultation—a call to action. Furthermore, more like those of technology companies, the websites should include case studies and testimonials from satisfied clients and discuss how  the agency moved the needle and which needle? What was the ROI to the brand? Which KPI’s were impacted? In short, today’s buyer needs some steak with his helping of sizzle. Next, agency thought leaders must be actively blogging—weekly at a bare minimum. More marketers prefer to find a new agency rather than being solicited. In addition to a well-oiled inbound machine, there still needs to be outbound efforts. But rather than the traditional approach, the business development team needs to be surgical. It needs to work with the senior leadership to create a target list of realistic prospects that match up well with the agency’s current service offering and client roster. Referrals and Networking are still the top 2 means of generating new business according to the RSW/US study and we will address in more detail in part2.

2) Move to a “Challenger” Pitch Process: Once you get in the door, how do you increase your chances of winning the business? If you haven’t read The Challenger Sale by Matt Dixon and his team at CEB, you need to pick up a copy today. The book leverages groundbreaking new research that states that prospects want to be challenged out of their comfort zone and learn something new when they meet with potential partners-and that the days of relationship selling are over. Insight selling is a term being used quite a lot in the tech space. Prospects care about their issues, not your agency’s services. If you can teach them a new way to solve their biggest issues, you have moved that much closer to a win. What’s more, find out who will be attending the pitch meeting from the prospect’s team. Buying decisions have become more complex with a typical decision today including 5-7 stakeholders—each with a potentially different agenda. Make sure that the pitch is personalized to each constituency and their associated challenges. Challenger says to Teach, tailor and take control. If you do the first two, then you’ve done the third as well.

3) Help Procurement Do Its Job: You’re moving closer to a new logo acquisition. But now you’ve got to deal with procurement. Just hearing the name, makes you cringe, right? It’s the “sales prevention” department out to collect their pound of flesh. But it doesn’t have to be this way. At Alinean, a value-focused B2B marketing and sales services and software company, we give procurement what they need in every single proposal we generate. We calculate the specific value of each proposal to the client based on their challenges including the payback period and the ROI the client will realize by investing in our engagement. This exercise has led to a decrease in our sales cycle time when sales cycles in general have increased by 30% in the past 3 years ago. We work with some of the largest tech names in the world and help them to do the same. The result has been that more stalled deals move to the win column and of equal importance, discounting is reduced.

4) Deliver the Agency’s Value to Maintain Margin Integrity: How do you fight the downward pressure on agency margins and profitability? Winning new business is not going to feel as good if it comes for less than what your agency needs to make money. Agencies have mastered the sizzle and the emotional part of the buyer’s brain. But today, we are dealing with a new and empowered buyer whose rational brain needs to be satisfied in order for you to win profitable business for your agency. How do you maintain your margins? You need to know the prospect’s challenges, the KPI’s he is looking to effect, and then create an analysis of the value that your services will provide-how you will deliver those improvements and over what time frame. At Alinean, those of our clients that effectively demonstrate value, win more profitable business for their company.