We have approximately 55 clients and a good proportion of these have won business this year, with fees totalling £3.5m so far. There is, however, a fine line between those who win business and those who don’t, particularly in this climate.

Setting the meeting with the right person at the right time is our job, but maximising the opportunity is obviously the responsibility of our clients. Our approach on the phone tends to focus on a rational sell (relevant experience, case studies, size and location of the agency we’re representing etc). The meeting itself then tends to be more about the emotional part of the sell (chemistry, trust etc) as well as the reiteration of the experience.

So, based on our experiences this year (and in no particular order), here are our top 5 reasons why prospects are prepared to give out a brief or an opportunity at a cold meeting:

1. A willingness to listen to the prospect’s priorities and challenges

2. A demonstration of flexibility of approach and potential solution

3. A clear and simple proposition with absolute relevance to the prospect

4. A desire and hunger to work with the prospect

5. A Trojan Horse such as an audit or workshop

Do you have any others to add?

Top 5 reasons why prospects choose to work with a new agency is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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 The focus was on the advertising industry and cited example agency/client relationships such as AMV and Sainsbury’s (30 years plus), DDB and Volkswagen (50 years plus) and JWT and Shell (47 years). These large agencies don’t fit the Alchemis client base profile, but it is interesting to view the reasons why these relationships have withstood the test of time. The usual statements and parallels are made – “The secret of success is as simple and as hard as in marriage” (Stephen Woodford – Chief Executive of DDB). Cilla Snowball (what a fantastic surname!) of AMV says “the relationship, the work and the output have to be bigger than the individuals at any point in time”. Nigel Bogle of BBH said of the departure of the Levi’s account that it felt like “your arm has been cut off”.

 These are all the things a client of any agency would want to hear, but what does it actually mean? Of course you work hard for your clients and losing one is a painful experience. Whilst it is not common at Alchemis, we do lose clients from time to time, and it is gut wrenching when it happens. However, reading between these slightly clichéd comments, the article, in fact, does capture the essence of a strong working relationship which applies to the Alchemis/Client relationship as well. An open, honest approach with constant evaluation and evolution is fundamental. An agency should never get complacent. There are numerous others out there with enthusiasm and fresh ideas waiting to grab that account, so you need to stay focused and constantly supply innovative, quality output. However, therein lies the opportunity. “The average client-agency relationship is only four and a half years” highlights Snowball. With the scale of creative requirement in the UK, that means opportunities for our clients. If incumbents get complacent, don’t quite deliver as they have before, or the company requires a new approach/change in direction and a new way of communicating, we need to ensure that our clients are in place to win that business and that is what Alchemis is good at. We have the tools and processes plus high quality New Business Managers to ensure that we are speaking to those prospects at the right time.

 I don’t want to sound too sceptical, but I do think the article needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. These 30 year plus relationships are great and show that the agencies involved must be producing quality output. However, these are “glamour” accounts. There is no doubt that the agency will ensure involvement from the top level. These clients will win that agency new business and as a result don’t want to be lost at any cost. However, is that the case for all of the clients under that agency banner? With independently owned and run companies, senior (owner) level involvement is the norm on each and every account. Livelihoods depend on it. That is the case for 99.9% of Alchemis clients (and most other small to medium sized agencies), but it really is something that prospects like to hear when being courted by a new agency.

Good work if you can get it! is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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Good new business development opportunities are hard to find. One thing is for certain though – if you think going on meetings and then sitting back and waiting for those briefs to come in is what happens, then you will be disappointed. All meetings should be followed up with a good contact strategy, which is stuck to. A proportion of meetings our clients go on will result in immediate opportunities, but by their very nature, if briefs are on the table, they are likely to be competitive.

How many times have you heard “we have an agency in place”? Rather than look on this as a negative, any company with an agency in place should be viewed as an opportunity – they have work and they have a confirmed budget. The next challenge is how to ensure you get a piece of their marketing pie.

You really need to maximise any new business opportunity you get to ensure you give the process every chance of being successful. We give realistic expectations that any return on investment is likely to take as long as six to twelve months or potentially longer, depending on your discipline and offer.

However, that does not have to be the case if you are prepared to take a few risks. We have recently started working with a creative agency. In reality, they don’t have a real USP. There is just great work, strong case studies and a really positive outlook (that description fits the vast majority of our client base). We are only three months into the campaign but only last week we received confirmation that the first meeting has converted into business.

This is rare, but the story behind this win is fantastic in illustrating what can be achieved. The prospect had agencies in place. However, the client in question really used that initial meeting to dig into the prospect’s problems, ambitions and requirements. Using that understanding, they pressed the prospect to allow them to present some ideas relating to their next project (despite being told that this was tied up with the current agency). They bit the bullet and invested time (and money) in photo shoots and creative work, whilst continually speaking to the prospect. The end result was the work they produced wowed the client and they are now undertaking the project in full (and being paid).

In reality, this is not always going to be the case and we certainly wouldn’t advocate this sort of effort in every instance. We know you have active, paying clients to service. However, where the prospect potential is right, the chemistry is right and you know you could do a better job than the existing agency, it is well worth thinking about what you could do to force their hand and get a foot in the door. In a number of cases, it will be a risk worth taking.

Don’t take no for an answer – a case study in the right approach, busting a gut, tenacity and great results! is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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The objection is similar to the emotional response of passing over your child to someone else (something most parents experience when their child first goes to a childminder or to school). Most of our clients are small-medium sized agencies and are owned and run by a founding partner, therefore handing over responsibility for contacting prospects and articulating their proposition on their behalf can initially prove unsettling. How can I entrust my child to another person? How will they able to put across my offer to prospects when they haven’t grown up with it? See how easily the experiences can get blurred…

The rational response to this is that someone from the outside can add great value to your business/child. We all fondly remember a teacher who made a difference to our lives by pointing us in a direction we hadn’t previously considered or opening our eyes to an author we hadn’t previously read. Run with the analogy and you’ll rationally understand that an outsider (with 23 years experience in this market) can add enormous value to your business, helping to refine your proposition to work in this current marketplace for example.

However, it’s the emotional objection that is the most difficult to overcome, which is why we always insist on our prospective clients meeting our team of New Business Managers prior to appointing us – the only way they will ever truly feel comfortable with handing over their child is by spending time with the childminder.

Handing your child over (aka appointing a new business agency) is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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This attitude of large brands and advertisers is having a major impact on the agency world and is one of the main reasons why we recommend getting our agencies ‘under the radar’.

This approach avoids the pain, expense and stretched resources of procurement and pitching which frankly most agencies can do without, particularly in this climate.

New business – who pays wins? is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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However, all of this MUST be done and one of the real benefits of working with a new business agency such as Alchemis has been highlighted starkly over the past few days. As an agency, Alchemis lose very few New Business Managers (NBMs). We, along with our clients provide a stimulating and enjoyable place to work (or we think we do!), but we are just about to lose our first sales team member for over 13 months. Anyone involved in a sales organisation will tell you that this is a very low turnover.

The benefit of using Alchemis and having a stable New Business Manager is the continuity it provides. That New Business Manager knows exactly what is going on, who they should be calling and when.

However, we do lose NBMs from time to time, and we have the systems and processes in place to ensure that there’s no break in momentum and that all important continuity.

As a company owner, you want to feel that the service you provide is as good as it can be, and most importantly in our industry, your people are the best in the market. I can honestly say that this has hit home over the past two weeks. We are very sad to see this particular New Business Manage leave. He has been a great team member and achieved some fantastic results for his clients. However, he is leaving and we have robust processes in place to ensure that accounts are handed over to new callers seamlessly, but these processes are nothing without the input of the outgoing NBM.

The key is an effective, well run internal briefing for each client. I have sat in a few of these briefings over the past week or so and it has become apparent that the outgoing NBM has a real passion for their clients and genuinely cares about the new caller taking on the mantle effectively, not missing any current leads and continuing to do a good job. This infectious enthusiasm for their clients clearly rubs off on the new Account Manager. I can genuinely say that seeing this first hand has instilled pride in myself at the company I co-own, the quality of the people we have employed and the commitment that they have to their clients’ businesses.

From a client perspective, there is no break in momentum. Versus an internal resource, there is no reluctant notice period, no break in activity whilst a replacement is found (we know from experience that quality sales people who work well with agency propositions are few and far between), no recruitment fee, no training or build up whilst the new person gets to know the systems and tries to decipher someone else’s notes and leads. At the end of the day, we don’t miss any opportunities on behalf of our clients if someone leaves.

I can understand if you think this sounds a little self congratulatory, but there are times when things happen within your business when you should take a step back and be proud in your achievements. Working with the other owners of Achemis in selecting and developing our current team is one of those times.

Business development continuity – there’s no other way! is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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Here are our top 5 tips for making sure you achieve your first meeting objective of securing a second meeting.

1. Research the prospect, their marketplace and their competitors with the aim of developing opinions, observations and insights – these insights show you’ve done your research, that you’re capable of independent thought and also allow you to bridge the gap between the social niceties and the business end of the meeting

2. Always set the scene – signpost the journey and state the desired destination up front. Pre-closing makes the end of the meeting more relaxed for everyone

3. Do NOT bore the prospect with a Powerpoint presentation – take sharp tools (aka case studies) and leave your comfort blanket at home

4. Prepare and ask a series of planned and considered questions, giving you the information you want from the meeting – focus on their challenges and priorities

5. Pre-empt the prospect’s likely objectives to using you; putting objections on the table allows you to deal with them or at the very least, lets you know why they won’t be using you

Top 5 tips on managing first meetings is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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2. List all the reasons why your agency is suited to the markets that you work in and try to remember what initially attracted you to these markets.

3. Identify the specific issues that are currently facing the market sectors your clients and prospects work in and showcase how you have helped your clients tackle these challenges.

4. List all the objections you have encountered in your efforts to win new clients and develop a pre-emptive strategy to overcome these.

5. Use your intuition and empirical evidence in equal measures to help you decide how you can best evolve into the agency you have always wanted to be.

Top 5 tips for developing a new business strategy is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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This couldn’t be further from the truth; effective business development is all about listening and being genuinely interested in your clients’ and your prospects’ challenges, priorities and their marketing and business goals.

Effective salespeople are almost always extremely organised, although not to the exclusion of their passion about their offer or their business. Equally important is the ability to get on the same wavelength as your prospect or client, helping to build a strong working relationship based on both chemistry and trust.

There are no great secrets to effective business development; it’s a relatively straightforward process based on common sense and hard work.

Does anyone else have any tips or opinions?

Characteristics of effective business developers is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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From what he’s written it appears that direct mail enhances a brand’s value for a number of reasons including:

• When a piece of DM was held and read by a participant, their reactions suggested that they were experiencing thought patterns similar to those the brain exhibits when processing memories and emotions.
• It appears easier for the brain to process messages from tangible direct mail compared to digital marketing material, and subsequently easier to remember.
• When asked to keep or discard items, the physical direct mail provoked activity in the right-middle cingulate, a region of the brain that is associated with decision-making connected to emotions and social issues. Therefore the research suggests that direct mail has links to emotion-based decision-making.

Did I mention that the research was funded by Royal Mail by the way? No? Well it is.

However, cynicism aside, I thought about our own experiences between the incoming new business enquiries we generate through a result of our direct mail and email campaigns.

For the most part, our direct mail follows a very simple formula. It tends to be very short (usually no more than a few sentences) with a prompt for action at the end. And, like Marmite, people tend to either love it or hate it. But either way, most of the people who we speak to when we follow up the campaigns by phone (that is our rasion d’etre after all) have one thing in common – and that is they remember it.

I weighed up the pros and cons of the campaigns we sent by post and email and this is how they stacked up:

Email costs next to nothing to send and you can be reasonably sure that, providing you have the correct address in the first place, it is going directly to the in-box of your intended recipient. On top of this, the functionality that exists with our email marketing system allow us to see specifically who has opened it, who has clicked on a link, who has forwarded it, who has deleted without opening, etc. This gives us extremely valuable insight and allows follow-up calls to be targeted to recipients that are most likely to have an interest, even if they didn’t respond directly to the email.

Direct mail by comparison is much more expensive. Paper costs, printing costs, postage costs, the time involved in folding and stuffing, environmentally less friendly and after all that you can never be 100% sure that your intended target received it. Maybe after all the thought, time and effort that went into sending it, some vindictive PA intercepted it and binned it (no doubt a Marmite-hater) before the MD of The Jolly Nice Potential Client To Have Agency got to see it. Or maybe the postman delivered it to the wrong building, which – given the amount of post we get delivered here which is clearly marked for various other addresses – is a very real possibility. Or perhaps Royal Mail were just on strike again.

However, despite the pitfalls in the postal system, a very significant proportion of new business that we win has started with a response to a mailer. And this trend hasn’t shown any real sign of decline, despite our increasing use of email marketing in tandem with direct mail.

Now, I’m no scientist so I don’t know what part of my brain is being activated between the time it takes me to open any direct mail addressed to me and the time it takes me to throw it in the recycle bin 15 feet away from my desk. What I do know that in that time I will have glanced at it for a few seconds and those few seconds need to get the sender’s message across effectively, thus saving it from the bin. So if this applies to me, I’m sure the same rules apply to the very busy people we send Alchemis mailers to. Once you’ve opened the letter, you can’t help seeing the whole page. And if there’s not much on that page aside from one reason why it may be of benefit to you to respond, you could easily end up “accidentally” reading it even if you don’t want to.

The sheer volume of e-marketing shots I receive on the other hand may not even get a few seconds of my time. If the subject line doesn’t instantly grab my interest it’s likely to be deleted unread. If the sender is a company rather than a person, chances are I’ll assume it’s spam of some sort.

So what does the future hold for both mediums?

As far as we’re concerned we’ll continue using both direct mail and e-marketing campaigns whilst they are producing a decent return on investment, but the primary focus will always be on picking up the phone to demonstrate first hand to prospects our amazing telephone marketing skills. After all, you’ve got to practice what you preach.

Generating new business – the email vs snailmail debate is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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However, it is not that simple. We can’t conjure new business from thin air. Cold new business is a tough process and we, along with any other new business agency, are only as good as the effort both parties put in. There is no doubt that a collaborative approach works the best, not only in terms of results, but also as an enjoyable working experience. Communication and relationship are everything. After working with c.500 marketing agencies over 11 years, these are my top tips for maximising your new business agency:

1. Get off on the right foot:

Set the partnership up from day one. You will have shared some business objectives and goals before making your decision to use us, but be open with your designated New Business Manager. We are genuinely interested in how your business is structured, your core vision for the future and your objectives from the relationship. You would share this with an internal recruit, so why not your agency.

2. Invest time in the briefing process:

Inducting your New Business Manager into your agency is key. Take them around to meet and talk to key personnel as hearing about your company from a number of viewpoints gives a well-rounded picture. Your caller needs to feel part of the team and this undoubtedly helps.

Really take the time to give a full briefing on your company. We know you have been through it a thousand times before, but we haven’t. It is new and exciting and we want to hear about why you set the company up and the ethos and philosophy behind it. Often there are gems, which can work wonders on the phone. Give us as much as you can and we will take the relevant “sales” parts from it.

3. Case studies, case studies, case studies:

These are the most important sales tools we have. We will guide you as to the ideal format, and as always, quantifiable results are gold dust. It is well worth spending time in creating great looking case studies, which can be used as a sales tool for your caller and also by you in new business meetings.

4. Be passionate:

All our clients are passionate about their work and achievements and this really filters through to your New Business Manager. It is a requirement of both parties, but getting the enthusiasm you feel for your company and your work to manifest itself in your caller can only come from you. They need to leave that initial briefing feeling inspired to sell your business.

5. Communicate:

The briefing is the starting point. We will keep you updated of progress, but you need to commit to do the same. It is rare, but occasionally we have worked with agencies who have been “too busy” to take our calls for weeks on end. We can’t work effectively like that. We never lose sight of two things.

• You are paying us to do a good job
• We are taking responsibility for your business growth and frankly, personal success

6. Keep your agency updated:

It is the hardest thing to do. You have just finished a great project and moved onto the next. The former is confined to history. Take time to tell us about it and write up a case study. We love going back to prospects with something fresh to say and it gives your agency the air of vibrancy and success.

7. Feedback:

It is not always 100% positive, but we need to know in order to change or develop our approach. Once you have been on a meeting, let us know straight away if it was good, bad or ugly. Let us know why and let us know what the next step is. A good meeting needs to be followed up on and we need to agree when and by whom. That way we can drive the process.

More importantly, your New Business Manager likes a pat on the back for a job well done, so make sure you send that email or make that call after a great appointment.

8. Honesty:

We give you total permission to be honest with us (you are paying us after all), but we need the same. If you have concerns, we want to nip them in the bud. If something is not working on the phone, we want to let you know and agree a new strategy or direction. We don’t like surprises, so please tell us if something is keeping you awake at night.

We don’t always get it right first time, but if we don’t know, we can’t fix it.

9. Manners:

It costs nothing. Treat us, and your caller as you would treat your own staff. Rudeness and disrespectful behaviour will not get the results you are looking for. It adds an additional pressure that can only be detrimental. As previously mentioned, if things aren’t going as well as they might, one thing you can be assured of is that we will die trying to change that. Work collaboratively with us and we will both reap the rewards.

10. Enjoy it:

We create a fun and rewarding environment at Alchemis and a big part of that is the quality of the clients we work with. We enjoy working with a diverse range of interesting clients and we want you to enjoy working with us. If together we ensure all points above are covered, I assure you that will be the case.

Get the best from your new business agency relationship is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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In my view it’s more than a wise step to get out there, even if a Twitter account doesn’t result in immediate new business, your brand and company name is out there in the “Twittersphere” for all to see, which can only be a good thing.

The common perception with social media sites is that people go there to socialise and not to buy. True, but brand visibility is the key, and with Twitter having over 18 million users, and Facebook a staggering 400 million active users, it’s hard to see why some companies still stick to their guns and use more traditional methods of marketing.

On the same note, with the introduction of more and more mobile devices, surely the place to be is in the mobile web? Well you would be shocked at the lack of brands I speak to on a daily basis that are yet to fully appreciate the benefit of mobile marketing.

That’s why when one of my clients that I call on invited me to a seminar based on their predictions for paid search in 2010, it was refreshing to listen to someone promoting the idea of harnessing the mammoth power of social media, and the importance of the growing number of consumers available to be targeted through mobile devices today.

Now I am not about to give away my client’s top tips for mobile or social media search (sorry), but what I will say is that the seminar really drove home the constant developments in social media and mobile technologies that companies just aren’t making full use of.

I read an obvious but probably not widely registered fact in an article some time ago that text messages are usually read by a user within 20 seconds, which means brands can start seeing results almost instantaneously, versus hours or days for a similar email marketing campaign. Now if brands can harness this to generate new business and get results that fast, then they should be getting onto it before these spaces are flooded, and their brand becomes a needle in a haystack.

The moral of the story is if you’re not using the power of social media, do it. And if you’re not mobile marketing, do it.

I can’t recall the last time I had a clever, well-targeted marketing text message sent to me, in fact I’m not even sure I’ve even had one! Aside from my mate John texting “Dan, get down to the Royal George, they are giving out free Tequilas!” Now that was well targeted.

The importance of social media and mobile marketing is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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You have met a prospect, established a strong rapport, and they have promised you a crack of the whip at the next appropriate brief/project/pitch.

You have followed up on that meeting with an email or left a voicemail, but………………..silence. Delves Broughton poses the point and the question that “the unanswered message is a curse. What are you meant to do?”

The truth is that there is no right answer to this. There are a number of differing articles relating to this subject and average “touch points” between initial contact and securing business vary from 5-15. It is dependent on so many variables such as company size, industry, offer, right down to the personality and working practices and preferences of the individual prospect.

Some would prefer an email and some a call. Some won’t mind multiple calls and some will. However, that follow up strategy is one of the mystical keys to winning new business and is dependent on a number of factors. What was the opportunity time frame? What was the type of opportunity (brief/roster review/formal pitch)? However, most importantly, what was agreed with the prospect at the meeting?

This last point is paramount and if there is a “golden rule” of a cold approach new business program, this is it. The follow up process must be driven by the prospect. Whether your lead pipeline is generated in-house, outsourced to an agency or the prospect has contacted you directly, never leave a meeting without agreeing the next steps. Once this is agreed, a bespoke strategy for each prospect can be formed.

The article suggests a follow up email and phone call soon after the meeting. I don’t disagree with this, but it then goes on to suggest that once this is done, the ball is in the prospect’s court and if they do not respond, it is because they are busy or have no interest. This, I strongly disagree with.

Prospects are busy, but you have to break through that barrier. If they are not interested, we want to know and rule them out. If they are too busy, fine, but we want to agree a new appropriate time with them. Of course, there is a balancing act between a professional approach and being a nuisance. However, it is a competitive world and you will not be the only potential supplier vying for attention. However, you must make sure that your message is the one that stands out. You can only do this by communicating with them. Newsletters, relevant emails and new case studies are all soft methods our clients use, but there is no substitute for speaking to these potential clients.

Once you have agreed when to get back in touch, make sure you diarise that communication. We know, that for the owner of a busy, time poor marketing agency, that is easier said than done. This is where a professional new business agency can help. Generating fresh appointments is only part of any effective campaign. It is clearly in our interest to see those meetings through to the most positive conclusion as our real margins come in retaining clients and that can only be done through generating ROI. That is why it is in our interest to drive the follow up process. We know you are busy and we know that it could take multiple calls to contact that prospect. We have the systems, processes, skills, and above all, time to make sure that happens, so utilise your agency. It will pay dividends.

As a sign off to all of this, don’t take things personally. In the 11 years I have been in business development, the world is becoming a tougher, busier, noisier and dare I say it ruder place. People forget about emails and voicemails almost as soon as they are picked up. It is nothing against you personally, but don’t assume someone is not interested from his or her silence. Take the time or use the resources available to you to be “politely persistent”.

How soon is too soon and how often too often? is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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If you have an in-house new businessperson who came from a business development agency background then they will know the process and metrics required to deliver success. And they won’t mind putting in the hard work. Often though marketing agencies employ sales people from a variety of backgrounds and are disappointed with the results. This may be less about the quality of person hired and more about the change in sales environment an experienced sales person is likely to experience when they enter the average marketing agency.

Most telephone sales people prefer working in a sales team, with a positive buzz where everyone can feed off one another’s energy and the success of teammates. And lets be honest, most sales people like to be able to moan to a colleague that’s “been there” about how tough it is when things aren’t going so well. The average sales person is not going to be at their best when they’re the only person pitching in a room full of “creatives” hunched over their Macs.

This has created a niche for new business agencies to service the appointment generation needs of marketing agencies. The best new business agencies will be doing the following:

• Have a reasonable sized team; fewer than 8 sales people and its hard to create and sustain the right atmosphere.
• Have clearly defined KPIs; like the pennies and pounds, if you make the calls in new business then the results will come….so long as you do the following
• Provide thorough and ongoing coaching; a new business manager will be expected to call on a variety of different clients and disciplines over their career so the learning process never really stops. A graphic example of this is the fact that probably a third of our clients make a living doing things that were not technologically possible a few years ago
• Reallocate (quickly and painlessly) the business development manager if it’s not working. This is a massive advantage a new business agency has over an in-house approach
• Provide a supportive environment. It’s one thing to have incentives and awards for the best performers but at any point in time it’s likely someone will be struggling with a new client or in a tough industry sector. Coaching will help but confidence is important as well, so helping people through a tough patch is important. A sales person at a new business agency is lucky as they can switch to calling on a client they are confident on, achieve some quick results and then crack on with their tough client with their “mojo” renewed and intact

Some large marketing agencies will be able to offer this themselves but for most small to medium marketing agencies the economies of scale just don’t work. They can’t justify a full-time sales team and probably don’t need a full-time caller at all, which may mean they have the one person making the calls and going on initial meetings with prospects. This will work for some marketing agencies and when it does it’s probably the best single solution to new business. This is how many agencies got started in the first place, the passion of the agency owner determined to build their business from scratch. But for many agencies the person hired for making the initial calls isn’t the best person for attending face-to-face meetings. Hiring a new business agency to make the first contact on the phone setting meets for a board level person to attend seems to work best.

If you are a marketing agency and you’re determined to explore the in-house sales person route then I recommend the following:

• Look for a proven business development background either at a marketing agency or in a new business agency. These people will know what they’re getting into and ought to be able to provide quantifiable evidence of previous success
• Have clear and reasonable expectations of what this person should be able to achieve with timelines
• Set short term and achievable targets to begin with in terms of calling activity and appointment generation, which can be increased over time. If these are not being met then you may have a problem but if they are, you should be patient and supportive if the big wins don’t come straight away
• Have a clear idea of the role and how it may develop. A business development person who thinks they will get out on face-to-face meetings will quickly become disillusioned if they find themselves chained to their phone. Similarly, someone hired to make phone calls may find themselves out of their depth if they find themselves pitched into meetings
• Ensure they have leads and software to work with, often this is a challenge for marketing agencies

In conclusion, having a dedicated new business all-rounder under your roof is probably the perfect solution but finding such a person can be a needle in a haystack even if you can afford it. You then need to make sure that you have leads / data and software for them to manage a lead generation campaign effectively. Even if going in-house was your first thought it would be well worthwhile bringing a few of the better established new business agencies in for a conversation as we do possess some genuine advantages.

Considering hiring an in-house business development professional? is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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The AAR publishes its annual summary of pitch opportunities in 2009 and predictions for 2010. Key statements include:

• Number of new business pitches down by 21%
• Advertising reviews down by 20%
• Digital pitches suffered a 33% decline
• 24% less DM reviews
• Full service media pitches down by 24%

It could be argued that this is tantamount to scaremongering. I’m sure this is not the case, but on face value these are concerning figures and offer little optimism for recovery in 2010. However, if a step back is taken, previous figures are considered and everything is overlaid with common sense, there are certainly reasons to be optimistic for the right kind of agencies with the right kind of business development outlook and strategy.

To a degree, the figures should be taken with a pinch of salt. In January 2008, the AAR reflected on the figures from 2007, stating that direct marketing pitches were down by 47% from 2006. However, the likelihood is that, at the time of the digital boom, pitches were labelled as “digital” despite containing a heavy element of traditional direct mail. It transpired that direct marketing pitches increased by 10.4% in 2008. What does an “integrated” pitch get labelled as in the AAR statistics, as the make up of that pitch would differ each time? What is clear is that the pitch discipline waters are too muddied to develop any real insight or identify any true trends.

That said, the figures are interesting, but more in part, due to the fact that the pressures of 2009 forced marketing decision makers to review their actual pitch process rather than the agencies they used.

The pitch process is a long and laborious one and with increased pressure on time and resource, one that marketing departments could well do without. On top of that, in times of economic downturn, the client is king. Incumbent agencies will bend over backwards to retain an account and inevitably clients are able to drive down fees and demand more for their dollar.

However, if that were true across the board, there would be no new business opportunities and we know from our work and from our clients that this is not the case. There is no doubt that there has been a rise in the stock of small to medium sized agencies able to offer that “big agency” experience, but with the flexibility, cost-effectiveness and high service levels only a smaller agency can provide. Pitches involving this profile of agency may well fall outside of the AAR’s remit.

The AAR summary also rightly identifies that clients are moving agencies without pitching. For new business agencies and their clients, this signifies the Holy Grail. A core aim of any new business program is not predominantly to get agencies onto pitch lists (indeed, in some campaigns it is a key objective to avoid them). It is to get you and your agency in front of the right kind of prospective clients with the right kind of work and the right kind of budgets. If we can get you in early enough and we can work together to build that relationship, possibly undertaking smaller “test” projects on the way, the need for pitching is often negated. That is the beauty of a well handled, proactive cold calling approach. Often smaller agencies are involved in a pitch to “make up the numbers”, so why not push to develop that relationship and prove yourself before that review/pitch takes place.

A “back door” approach will ensure you are front of mind when reviews are happening and a good new business program will help you achieve this.

The benefit of the back door is a post from the Alchemis New Business Blog

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