Today is officially the last day of summer, though one could be forgiven for thinking it ended 4 weeks ago based on the weather we’ve been having. Next year, even if UK PLC is in the grip of a double-dip recession, British Airways cabin crew have elected Bob Crow as union Chief and Iceland looks like it’s about to explode I suspect this August’s record of abysmal weather should hopefully mean the phrase “staycation” has had it’s day. I’m undecided as to whether this has been a price worth paying.

The Sales Team had much to live up to in July following a record June for quality new business meetings set. In the end we fell just short of June’s peak with a highly creditable performance that delivered the 2nd best set of results for the year so far. August has been storming though; we’ve bettered June to establish the best set of results for over 4 years.

I know that clients often ask whether August is a good month for new business prospecting and we’ve occasionally had a job convincing them that it is. Most people acknowledge that September-November is a great time for seeing prospects and picking up briefs and will see the benefit of laying the groundwork in August but I often hear “surely so many key decision makers are on holiday, getting through to people must be impossible?”.

This sounds logical but actually we enjoy a higher than average access rate (ratio of attempted calls to actual decision maker conversations) in August. For every Marketing Manager regretting their staycation (hoping this will be the last ever recorded usage of the term) on the soggy south coast there are half a dozen sat in an office but unable to progress full pelt because at least one cog in their wheel is being washed out on an English beach somewhere. Consequently they have the time to reflect on the year to date and what’s required as they approach the final quarter. Crucially, they also have time to take calls and talk to new agencies.

We find Marketing Decision Makers to be particularly frank around this time of year. Regardless of when their company’s financial year runs August seems to be a natural time to take stock of things, which is why so many agency reviews take place in the Autumn.

Prospects rarely criticise their incumbent overtly when they’re on the phone to us but we’re more likely to hear rumblings this time of year, which makes our job MUCH easier.

The irony is that many marketing agencies consider August to be a lost month and chose to take their holidays. The guys in the office holding the fort will be servicing clients and won’t have time to prospect for new business, which means many marketing agencies are missing out on a very fertile period for making new connections. This is where a New Business Agency that is working day-in, day-out on your behalf can be such an asset.

While many agencies have put their new business efforts on ice over the summer we have been very busy indeed. A quick analysis of meetings we have set show that 12% of the FTSE100 and 21 from Top 100 UK advertising spenders will be meeting clients of ours as a result of work over July & August. Not bad considering most of the companies we target would fall just outside of these league tables.

July was also the month for momentous sporting events of course. The Alchemis Rounders Match on 9 July saw the company split into two teams, each under the captaincy of a Director. Three innings and much arguing later and my team emerged victorious. Some special mentions for:

John for volunteering to referee. To describe this role as a poisoned chalice would be a gross understatement. He was still taking stick for decisions made in the 2009 match so that took some courage.

Pete, Dan and Algie for the most outrageous act of cheating; over the course of one innings the distance between bases grew from 20 metres to 40 as they shuffled them further and further apart.

George for almost decapitating two of his colleagues with a wildly struck ball and Amanda and Claudia for bravely taking said baseball in the face in relatively good spirit.

The other sports event of note in July was the world cup. Much has been written about the mockery that unravelled in South Africa so I won’t comment further here but two guys who took more from the tournament than most are George and Richard who each earned a big night out with optional hotel for winning World Cup based team incentives.

So a great few months for Alchemis and our clients. Brilliant though August has been for the sales team I don’t expect the record to last until the end of the year. September to November is usually our strongest period so the challenge is to meet or beat August’ performance every month until December.

By the way, December can be a good month for similar reasons to August but there just aren’t enough working days to be breaking records for absolute performance numbers. Needless to say we we’ll be looking at setting a new high for productivity instead.

Being a life-long West Ham fan, I read with a huge amount of resentment and bitterness about Tottenham’s latest cunning plan to make more money last week. Not content with having one sponsor, they’ve only gone and got themselves a second one – just for cup and European games.

Why didn’t West Ham think of that? Aside from the fact that we’re not in Europe, will no doubt get knocked out of the Carling Cup by Oxford United tonight and possibly of the FA Cup by, hmmm… let’s say Bolton in the fourth round, it seems to be a pretty good idea to generate more revenue for clubs in these tough times for the beautiful game.

Realistically, this brainwave will mainly suit the bigger, more successful clubs as the additional sponsors would have to feel they were getting enough exposure for their money and therefore a decent run in these competitions. But why not extend the idea even further to have a separate sponsor for home and away kits?

Logic would dictate that this will result in one of the following outcomes:

either the floodgates will open for the marketing departments of companies not currently represented to get their brand names splashed across the kits of other top-flight clubs in some way, shape or form;

or existing sponsors will up their money to retain exclusivity across all competitions.

The other scenario is that brands won’t play ball at all – but I suspect the lure of all that publicity will be too great and there will always be someone who will jump in to fill their shoes.

And let’s not forget the replica kit sales – 4p to make, £40 to buy and now you not only need home and away, but also the limited edition Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup version. All revenue for these cash-strapped clubs!

Come to think of it, why stop at football – there are plenty of other televised sports to target too.

I suspect there will be a window of opportunity opening for affiliate marketers and sponsors following Tottenham’s tactics and my advice to agencies is to hit those phones now – or better still get the longest established (and best) new business agency to do it on your behalf!

PS – for any Spurs fans reading this, check out http://www.dearmrlevy.com – it’s a cracking site.

Another solid performance from the sales team in February. We had several new clients start this month and even the most veteran business development professional gets a buzz from setting that first great meeting for their new client.

Having so many new clients come on board can make life complicated so I’m glad to report the sales team have risen admirably to the challenge.

The other challenge we faced in February was a five-a-side football match against another new business agency. As the pre match hype reached fever pitch the significance of this game grew to unbelievable proportions so it was with considerable apprehension that we learned the other team was comprised of one business development guy and 4 ringers. Worse still, this five-some was actually a regular five-a-side team that play in a league every week.

I knew my guys talked a good game. As a company we punch well above our weight when it comes to knowing football trivia and I’d been treated to several beer fuelled accounts of people’s glory days on the pitch when they were younger but I was convinced a team used to playing together would soundly thrash us.

This didn’t stop us buying football kit for everyone in the company and a very gaudy trophy to be presented to the winning team.

As kick-off approached the mood among our fans was, I felt, unreasonably hopeful. This possibly owed much to the fact that the ban on drinking spirits common in the professional leagues was not being observed. Among the players on the pitch the sense of impending humiliation was palpable. But then something strange happened. As we kicked the ball around during the warm-up it became clear that there was some real talent in the team, but would we have the stamina or organisation to win a competitive match?

Actually we won convincingly. As one of the star players, the leading goal scorer, main creative force and the defensive rock from which our victory was chiselled it’s probably fairer I let someone else write the match report. What I will say is that the way we gelled together so quickly and went about our task of dismantling the opposition was phenomenal.

I’m also happy to report that the crowd were impeccably behaved despite the presence of known troublemakers. And that this Corinthian spirit continued in the pub afterwards where both teams gathered. We became more gracious in victory the more we drank….A rematch has been demanded by the opposition and we shall oblige but first we have the Alchemis Sponsored Run for Sport Relief in March.

Having been bowled over by our performance in the football match I’ll not be surprised now if this motley crew don’t churn out 4-minute miles one after the other.