Following on from Amanda Francis’ comment on the importance of soundbites to engage a prospect on the phone, I have been thinking about how we put these together for our creative communications clients based on their offer. I cannot stress how important the first 20 seconds on the phone are to a New Business Manager at Alchemis. We have just a few sentences to convey to a prospect what sets you apart from every other digital/design/research/communications agency out there. So how do we do this?

David Newman our Sales Director likes to encourage the ‘so what?’ factor when we develop our pitch. The rule of thumb is this – if you can remark on any one-liner with the response of ‘so what?’ then the pitch has fallen flat and you will lose the prospect’s interest at a horrifying speed. Another thing we periodically look at is ‘sexing it up’, which focuses on making an introduction sound interesting enough for the prospect to want to know more and be open to telling you more about their business. Putting these two key elements into practice I personally look to position my clients in the following three ways, below are examples of the good and the plain ugly:

1/ What is my client’s speciality?

- ‘We develop brand vision’ – this is sharp and interesting and explains that we are creative and work with brands from a conceptual and development standpoint.

- ‘We design brochures’ is not interesting, this may be exactly what you do but it’s all in the phrasing and this screams ‘so what?’

2/ How does my client go about doing what you have just stated?

- ‘We create sensory customer experiences through branded environments and communications’. This is the crucial part of introducing a client to a prospect, so here we indicate our core skills and subtly show we are interested in adding value to their business by placing emphasis on the word customer i.e sales/money

- ‘We design things which look good’ a prospect doesn’t want to necessarily know about the design being great, pretty pictures are not solely responsible for attracting customers, communicating a message or encouraging sales.

3/ Who do they work with of relevance? In this instance it’s all about tailoring; if I’m speaking to Tesco and my client specialises in high-end design for the luxury sector I’m potentially barking up the wrong tree if I tell Mr Tesco we work with Burberry and Dior. Again, it comes back to relating to the prospect in those first few moments and tailoring every introduction to each individual company.

Of course then comes the questioning part of the conversation where we gain understanding of things like budget, scope of projects/retainers, who they currently work with, why, do they review, why not, when, how- you get the gist, but that is another blog for another time.

All in all, when you have a New Business Manager from Alchemis working on your campaign, you can rest assured that they bring an insight into specific linguistics to ensure they speak to as many people as possible about your company and leave a lasting impression.

I always read any article by Bob Willott with interest as he brings a financial understanding to the commercial dealings within the marketing services sector. He also has a somewhat cynically amusing style of writing, which in my opinion is often bang on the money.

One such article that caught my eye recently was on the Brand Republic site where he writes about recent acquisitions, how they are reported and how considered press statements are far more effective than the hyperbole used by some.

I won’t directly comment on his article but I will add my own take on this with reference to how we sell our clients over the phone.

 Although passion is an important element in selling effectively (particularly when you have a limited time to make an impact on the phone), hyperbole can have the opposite effect of putting prospects off, particularly if these outlandish statements cannot be backed up by results driven case studies.

 A considered phrase which has resonance with the prospect will be far more compelling and we spend a lot of time at Alchemis developing these soundbites which we know from our 23 years experience will have a maximum impact within minimum timescales.

My next blog will have a few examples of these, so keep reading…

Alchemis is in the business of New Business and for that you need fresh, vibrant minds that have the eagerness and tenacity to represent your company.

Why?

Because they will mould themselves to become an organic extension of your existing team thus being able to sell your offer and put you in front of the right people, generating high quality opportunities for you to secure new business in 2011.

I joined the Alchemis family in June of 2010 with a limited amount of sales experience from a property management company. Daunting? Yes!

I plunged in at the deep end and made the decision to be open minded to whatever came my way. Well, my first months were a complete blur of intense training sessions, learning the marketing lingo, campaign plans and role plays. The buzz on the sales floor from some 12 New Business Managers was enough to make me want to get my first meeting up on the board and until I did, I felt out of my depth and full of doubt in my ability.

Well, that first meeting came and I have not looked back. With the help of Dave our Sales Director, who has been very patient with my incessant questions, I came to realise that the art of ‘selling’ is really rooted in psychology and once I began to understand this suddenly something clicked!

8 months into the job and I have four clients of my own.

It is a testament to the quality of training and the encouragement of my colleagues that I have started to understand how to wear hats for a variety of marketing clients. My numerous hats have included creative clients, a PR agency, a market research agency, a customer management outfit as well as design and digital clients. By gaining solid insight to how these companies operate, their heritage, ethos and ambitions for their business, I am able to put together a campaign strategy to represent them in the most honest and appealing way to potential prospects.

In my experience, I believe that the blueprint for a successful New Business Manager would be one that found the right balance between flair and fluency on the telephone, up-to-date knowledge of the market and sectors they are working within, strong communication with their clients and good time management skills. I can say with confidence that these are attributes found amongst the team at Alchemis and qualities I strive to emulate. So if you want to join a team that encourages you to be the best you can be and rewards you for it, a team that supports, stimulates you and teaches you to think on your feet in any situation then this is the right experience for you and your career. It is certainly a group of people I am happy to continue learning from, socialising with and bouncing ideas off for some time to come!