The word “holistic” gets tossed around a lot these days. It is one of those jargon words that marketing people throw into a new business pitch or presentation in an effort to sound smart. But do you really know what it means?
Webster’s defines holistic as “emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.” The word, in fact, describes very closely how today’s ad agencies and marketing firms ought to operate.
Holistic also describes how your agency new business effort ought to function. Everyone in your agency should be integrated into the new business effort, in what we refer to as “total immersion.”
New Business is Everyone’s Job
Fewer than one-quarter of you (18 percent according to Second Wind’s 2023 Annual Agency Survey Report) have a dedicated new business developer. In most agencies, an account management person or the agency principal leads the new business effort. But very few agencies encourage full employee participation in gaining new business. This is one reason why new business is too often relegated to the back burner—only worked on when you lose an account, or get a referral for a new account.
To be truly successful, agency new business cannot consist of a folder of prospect files that you click through twice a year. Instead, new business should be incorporated into your agency’s daily workflow. There should always be a new business project or two moving through the system. You should have a new business team, or a couple of teams if your agency has the people, who can work together to build a pitch or formulate a proposal. You should regularly produce new promotions targeted to your list of prospects.
Working collectively as if there is a new account to be won every week helps your entire staff develop a positive mindset toward new business, and that positive energy drives successful pitches.
Referrals Come from Everyone
Absolutely everyone in the agency should have one ear to the ground, listening for the rumbles of approaching new business leads. In an agency-wide strategy session, identify the kinds of clients you are looking for (size, niche or category, project potential, etc.). Set parameters for qualifying leads. Detail these parameters at your regular planning meeting, so all employees know the kinds of clients you want to pursue.
To encourage lead generation, set up an incentive program. Offer gift cards or other small rewards for qualified referrals, with perhaps the promise of a special bonus if the lead becomes a client. The deeper you draw your employees into the new business “hunt,” the more vested they become in ultimately winning the account. And vested employees greatly improve your new business pitch success ratio.
The Principal Leads the Way
In addition to fostering an “all new business all the time” environment, strive to lead the agency in keeping new business a priority. As agency principal, you must sit in on new business team meetings; help prepare winning proposals; and go to the pitches. If you have a dedicated new business developer, you should meet with this person regularly (weekly is preferable), to review calls, qualify new prospects, discuss strategies and keep the process moving forward with a full A-list.
Be your agency’s best brand advocate. Espouse your brand loudly and often to your own employees; their buy-in is critical to supporting the brand. That means putting your agency brand strategy front and center in all promotional messages, as well as in your recruiting program, your publicity materials and even in how you answer your phone.
Train your staff to deliver the agency brand promise at all client, vendor and prospect touch points. Create a brand training program for new hires.
Further, position your brand strategy to take advantage of your agency’s strengths—and your competition’s weaknesses. You can carve a niche for your firm by identifying a need and taking ownership of the corresponding service.
Then build your new business effort through agency self-promotion. You want your brand to be the first that prospects think of when they decide to seek a marketing partner.
If you can turn your agency attitude from “new business when we can squeeze it in” to “new business every day,” your ability to reach new prospects quickly and effectively will improve dramatically. And this daily, collective enthusiasm for new business will translate into account wins for your agency and a more profitable future. Start working toward new business total immersion today.
