Apparently, there are some new business agencies currently doing the rounds saying that cold calling is dead!

Clearly, their experiences are very different to ours at Alchemis.

 For the last 18 months (after the drought during the first half of 2009) we have witnessed an ever increasing number of wins for our clients, generated by our cold calling approach to prospects. It may sound slightly old fashioned, but it’s still the most effective method of identifying a prospect’s needs, challenges, priorities and issues.

And without that specific company/decision maker information or insight, all you can achieve via a piece of DM or an email is raised awareness.

We have run (and will continue to do so where needed or appropriate) email/DM campaigns on behalf of our clients, and have compared these to cold calling campaigns running alongside these. The statistics show that engaging one on one with marketing decision makers still deliver the best quality meetings. Some of these DM/email campaigns have helped increase access to decision makers, but only those with genuinely relevant insights. A generic campaign will neither help nor hinder.

I remain to be convinced (and would love to hear from any of you who have some proof of success) about the use of social media when targeting senior marketing decision makers, for the very reasons that I have outlined above …

Here are some top line results from the analysis of our 2010 business development activity on behalf of our clients.

They summarise why a prospect will agree to meet an agency based on calling prospects who meet the agreed criteria of vertical market, size, spend, profile and location.

1. Rapport with prospect (this scored highly in those disciplines where there are neither discernible differentiators nor clear ROI, for example, creative or corporate comms agencies)

2. Direct relevant experience supported by case studies (this scored highly in all disciplines, particularly PR and creative)

3. Proven ROI supported by case studies (particularly relevant in PR and DM)

4. Unique methodology (primarily in research)

5. Niche skill set, namely in technology (mainly in digital and research)

6. Chance of gaining insight from the meeting (mainly in creative and PR)

7. Location of the agency (again, mainly in creative and PR)

This insight into what prospects are looking for when meeting new agencies is one of the many reasons our clients win new business from working with us.

Another key reason is our ability to develop rapport with prospects through asking the right questions and being able to empathise with their current challenges.

Our Sales Director, Dave, will be writing a more detailed paper on this, so watch this space…

Well here we are, the end of another Alchemis year. As I sit here shining my baubles ready for the festive break, I look back at a year of winning new business and what has been pushing prospects’ buttons.

It’s been a good all rounder, with my clients winning business at a steady rate. Across the board most marketing disciplines have been successful in securing new clients, but the unique and still relatively untapped area that’s been winning new business has been social media marketing.

Social media marketing is as hot a topic as it was a year ago, but you would be amazed at how prospects in all sectors have yet to realise what can be done. It’s not all about a fan page on Facebook but what you do with it that matters.

The great thing is that a vast range of clients in the marketing services sector can help companies and brands to harness social media successfully; micro sites, viral campaigns, search marketing, and even market research can all be applied.

I will certainly be pushing this angle next year, as there are significant opportunities as more marketing budgets are being shifted towards social media.

One of my favourites of 2010, was the Marmite Bars Facebook campaign.

The campaign asked the public to become part of a travelling video diary, and were given samples of the cereal bars to have their reaction videoed with some funny results. Brave move.