If you’re a regular reader of my blogs, you will know that I meet hundreds of agency owners every year as I am responsible for winning new clients for Alchemis (along with a multitude of other responsibilities that are attached to running a business, albeit with 3 business partners)

In my experience, the five most commonly asked questions are (in no particular order):

1. What’s the best time to start a new business campaign? (see my blog on business development seasonality)

2. How do you manage conflict and confidentiality?

3. How can you guarantee me results?

4. Can I pass over leads and contacts for you to follow up on my behalf?

5. How will you get to understand not only my agency’s offer but the personality of my agency?

I’ll be writing blogs about questions 2-5 over the forthcoming weeks; in the meantime, do read my response to question number 1.

Do you have any other questions you’d like to ask me……?

I’m always being asked these questions by the hundreds of agency owners I meet every year -

Is there a best time of year for doing new business activity?

Is there a best time of year to start a business development campaign?

My answers tend to be the ‘slightly frustrating to hear but nonetheless true’ yes and no and are based on our 23 years experience in this market and our ability to analyse the enormous amount of data we are constantly capturing when calling on behalf of our clients.

Yes, there are definite times during the year when more pitches and agency reviews are up for grabs; these tend to be during Spring and Autumn.

And no, there are no ‘best’ times to start a new business campaign; the most effective campaigns are those that run all year and indeed, for years, ensuring we are following up warm prospects that we’ve been cultivating either pre or post meeting.

To further confuse, there are some real anomalies in the equation; for example, although July/August and November/December are generally viewed to be ‘dead’ months, they are anything but for us. These are the months that we set a lot of meetings for our clients to attend in September and January, which are both excellent months for potentially starting relationships with the right prospect in the right company with the right budgets.

We will, however, continue to track and monitor our clients’ successes and look for patterns in business development so we can benefit all of you, but in the meantime, if you have discovered any trends in seasonality, do respond to this blog…….

There are various statistics around new business development depending on who you are and your target audience, but some ring true in most cases and certainly in the marketing services universe. The key one being:

· 25% of leads are short term and 75% long term

It was recently reported by the BPI Network that within the professional services arena, “80% of generated leads are never followed up on, dropped or mishandled”. Whilst our clients live within the marketing world, for clients entering into a relationship with Alchemis, I would say that this figure is pretty accurate and is a key reason that a dedicated new business resource is essential to manage any lead pipeline and indeed why clients engage in a campaign with us.

Failure to nurture leads is a cardinal sin of new business and the frustrating element is that everyone we speak to knows it. Time is the biggest barrier and it seems this will only grow as agencies tighten their belts and streamline their operations. This is why at Alchemis, we insist on driving the follow up/nurturing process and it is why we have continued to help our clients convert business in what has been another tough year. Many of our 2010 client wins have been from initial appointments generated in 2009.

This is not just a case of nurturing leads over the long term, but following up shortly after a meeting to accurately gauge interest and genuine opportunity. Just yesterday morning I sat in a meeting with a client, who dismissed a meeting as “unlikely to lead to anything in the short-term”. After agreeing a quick call would be appropriate that afternoon, a brief has now been received.

Of course this is an exception, but it is by no means an isolated incident. 80% of people have been keen to see what your agency can offer. Don’t let them go cold if there is no immediate brief.