1. New business is not getting any easier. Clients are Positives in recession
besieged by agencies so how can you get more cut Clients are going through tough times. Any viewpoint
through? What’s really working at the moment? that sees a silver lining, spots an opportunity or turns
a negative into a positive is a certain meeting getter.
Here are a few handy tips:
A lot of this is about thinking more closely about
how customers are thinking, acting, reacting and
Be first
There is a huge benefit in being the first to make buying during this recession. Is the client responding
contact. The next time you have a really good trade accordingly? Are they missing a trick?
press lead, don’t delay. A very effective ploy is to bike
something over to the potential client on the morning of Every meeting is a pitch
publication. It creates impact, shows you’re serious and, It’s easy to view a new business meeting as another
above all, it means you’ll be first. credentials presentation. This is a big mistake. A new
business meeting is precious. Make it count. Treat every
Personalisation
new business meeting as a pitch. In what areas does
Everything should feel like a crafted letter from you
the client need your help? What is your point of view?
to the prospect, never just a mailer. Try hand writing
How are you going to argue your case? Think ‘argument’
‘Dear....Yours sincerely...’ It just feels more personal.
Don’t get used to simply inserting the same stock not ‘presentation’. Admittedly, your information can be
paragraphs about the agency’s approach. Slightly re- limited at this stage but dig deeper, think harder. This
craft them every time with the particular prospect in meeting may be the only chance you will get.
mind. Personalised documents are proving particularly
effective where the front cover mentions the individual Focus groups
and client - ‘Presentation prepared for...’ It also doesn’t Very few agencies use focus groups for new business.
take too much time and effort to include the particular
However, running a couple of focus groups and then
client’s name at various points in the document, even
approaching a prospect with your findings can be a great
when the document may apply equally to ten other
way of entering a market where you haven’t got much
companies.
credentials support. The trick is to find an issue that
Who is your most famous client? the client hasn’t already researched to death. Any visual
Most agencies will have plenty of good client stories but output from the groups is effective at whetting the
only one or truly famous ones. Good agencies milk their client’s appetite to win a meeting.
most famous clients for all they are worth because they
know that potential clients tend to graduate towards the Single message
big names. Choose your most famous client story and Single messages tend to work best in new business.
extract maximum mileage. Don’t just tell the same story
Resist the temptation to chuck in more case studies,
every time. What are the three big insights that you
more examples. It doesn’t strengthen your case. It
can transfer to other brands? What challenges does the
client face that would concern other markets? How can dilutes it. Be ruthless and stick to one point of view,
you reinvent ways of talking about this client? one case study, one clear reason to meet. Ultimately,
multiple messages usually confuse in a scan reading, new
Personalised URLs business situation. They are more easily binned.
This is where you contact a prospect with the offer of
an online insight piece. The website address contains Finally, don’t forget that the most effective meeting
the individual’s name. The prospect visits the site and getter is the same now as it’s always been - a letter
receives a personalised welcome page. It is relatively easy
(not a mailer) from you to the potential client with a
to do this across several hundred prospects and then
thoughtful and constructive view about their brand and
track who hits the site. Very, very few agencies are doing
this but it is an extremely effective tactic. Response rates how your agency, specifically, can help. It is brave and
are significantly higher than normal mailers and e-mails, memorable in its argument, not sitting on the fence. It
and you get to know who’s interested by looking at lists is three quarters about them and one quarter about the
of who has hit the site. agency. It is brand specific, not just market specific.