Don’t Stunt Growth by Focusing on Brand New Business!!

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by jim-piper

New business is tough. It’s a journey, a process and not always immediate unless a significant dollop of luck is involved. Growth, however, can still be achieved in a faster timeframe and it is not all about new logos and a drive for solely brand-new clients. If the future vision for your agency is purely to have new clients on board, this may not necessarily be a strategy for long-term, manageable growth.

Sustainable growth depends on relationship-building, retention, and the compounding effect of reputation — all of which can suffer when the focus is solely on cold prospects.

A healthy growth plan will look at:

• Existing clients – for renewals, upsells, and advocacy
• Lapsed clients – for reactivation with new offers or services
• Referrals and inbound interest – leveraging credibility
• Qualified new leads – for diversification and growth
• Screening of inbound leads – qualification to ensure each is right for your agency

All of this is incredibly time-consuming, so in reality, how much of this truly happens?

A strategy solely focused on new clients, whilst assuming existing clients keep spending, and referrals continue to roll in could be considered arrogant at best and dangerous at worst.

• Existing clients and often lapsed clients already trust you, so lead times on new work tend to be shorter
• Existing clients will almost certainly be more profitable

Brand new outbound clients can easily cost 5-10 times more to win and onboard than expanding within current clients or picking up projects from previous contacts and relationships.

• Pressure to “fill the funnel” with new prospects at any cost tends to lead to a lower quality pipeline
• Agencies feel constantly under pressure to produce top of funnel content and materials
• Pressure exists in your new business resource to deliver clients, often at the expense of quality and agency “fit”

Aside of this, motivating and managing your Business Development resource is key and they are likely to deliver better results from a multi-faceted approach. Whatever the lead source, it is still sales at the end of the day, and they are the experts. Critically, they have the time and focus to ensure each strand of potential growth is pursued effectively.

For brand new business, generating a pipeline of well-qualified leads and investing in building those relationships with targeted content, support and outreach will create a network of advocates. They may not bring you business immediately, but they will given time. Plus, you will be building a referral pipeline as a by-product.

Whether you have internal or external Business Development resources, ensure they have a blend of targeting strands to deliver real growth. Your Account and delivery teams will do just that and produce great work, but they are often not the best at asking for the next brief or certainly getting in touch with ex-clients or past contacts who have moved on.

In reality, Alchemis is often used for brand new prospecting only, as other areas are well covered at the client’s end. However, for some, we run much more holistic campaigns where clients recognise their lack of time might mean opportunities with current contacts are missed. Most clients will manage any direct recommendations and referrals, but we often support clients with:

• Chasing lapsed clients
• Reconnecting with prospects following lost pitches
• Following up LinkedIn or other known contacts
• Monitoring past clients who have moved to new roles
• Qualifying inbound leads as right for the business

Whether your new business resource is internal or external, utilise all these channels for growth. Perception is always that anyone with New Business in their job title needs to focus on just that. Of course, new logos are important, but a blended approach will provide a much more robust platform to supercharge your agency.