New Business Tips from an Agency Review Consultant

Last week I posted a blog called Things That I Have Learned as an Agency Review Consultant.

Just some perspectives from the reviews that I have been involved with that I thought could help both agencies and clients.

I have conducted the Jenny Craig, Villeroy & Boch, and Raley’s Supermarkets agency reviews and many others. I began my career developing successful New Business programs for agencies.

So here are some simple tips to help your agency improve your New Business process.

I believe that Capabilities presentations drown in a sea of sameness. Try something new to improve your odds.  When you get an RFP have you ever thought of just submitting a one page Executive Summary of your agency and then sending a link to a YouTube Video where you summarize in an entertaining way on camera why your agency should be considered? Believe me if the summary had the type of criteria that the client needed I would make sure your agency went to the next stage.  My job as a review consultant is to find the right resources for the client.

I don’t think that clients are looking to fill their office with thick Capabilities presentations.

If you want a sample of an Agency Executive Summary send me an e mail to hank@hankblank.com

Trust me that this is a difficult time for clients to take great risks.  When I inform agencies that they aren’t going to the next stage of the review because their experience isn’t really relevant they tend to be disappointed and say the thought the client would make the leap between what they submitted and the client was looking for. Once I was doing a review for a high end luxury product and one agency submitted a case they thought was relevant. It was for a semiconductor client that they positioned as high end.  Yes true. What agencies see a as a small step, clients often see as a chasm.

Try something new in the way you present.  What have you got to lose? New Business is a very low probability game so take some chances like your agency used to.  Hire a play producer or an experiential event person to stage something new.  Remember there is a huge difference between New Business and Advertising.  Try something creative.

Leave your smart phones in your office because they make you look dumb.  You might not believe it but it is true.  During a recent review I saw agency people sneaking looks at their e mails when other members of their staff were presenting.  I saw people doodling when their section of the presentation was done.  Are you becoming teenage children?  Multiple tasking is not good form during a pitch.  Shows a lack of respect.

I love trayliners.  No I don’t miss McDonald’s.  What I am talking about is a larger sheet of paper with the photos of all the agency principals and short bios or relevant experience of all the agency people that will be presenting in the meeting.  Believe me it is difficult to remember who is who when you meet six people in sixty seconds and this helps clients with names when they are asking questions.  In all cases, I always see the clients fold up the trayliners after the presentation and take them away.  It helps their recall when they are reviewing the agencies.

Simple but effective tips that will help you hopefully win more New Business.

Hank Blank frequently speaks on the New Business Process.  His presentation is called “Why Agencies Don’t Want New Business.”  To contact him to speak to your organization or agency send him an email to hank@hankblank.com.  He also helps clients find the right agency partners.

You can connect with Hank on Linkedin

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