Agency Business Development : How to Prospect & Pitch to Win
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Advertising Agencies PITCH TO WIN Tips for effective sales process Agency Growth Services Workbook
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Transcript of Agency Business Development : How to Prospect & Pitch to Win
Advertising Agencies
PITCH TO WINTips for effective sales process
Agency Growth Services Workbook
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Use of document
This document is meant to share the information and resources that have been helpful to me and could be instructive to you. For that reason, the content here is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. That means you can use it as it is so long as you attribute the work back to me. The easiest way to do that is to include a link to the website www.sundaydinner.com.
Attribution You are free to use this material & adapt however you would like for non-commercial purposes so long as my work is properly attributed.
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The agency sales process
Every agency is on the hunt for direct client relationships-- often times with major brands-- but few are genuinely set up to understand how these relationships come together and what a sales process typically entails.
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We’re busy… but we need more clients
With teams busy running day-to-day projects, the art of business development and sales often falls to the wayside.
Every day we experience agencies of all sizes asking for tips & pointers on how to target the right clients, what to say to them, how to present, and how much to price.
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Things we often hear from agency friends
“We know we need to invest in business development, but can’t afford, nor do we need a business development person that costs over six figures.”
“We think we know what we need to do - it’s just hard to understand where to invest time. We wish there was a quick way we could learn & get up to speed without making a huge hire.”
“Procurement? What’s that and why should we care?” Fee vs Production Budgets? FTE ? huh ?
“What are the right questions to ask and when? How do we know if there is a real project or budget?”
“What are all the differences in the documents, the approach and the detail throughout the stages?”
“We had a great meeting. Now how do we create an opportunity or proposal?”
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This document
At Sunday Dinner we lead an agency growth process that guides agencies through the development of articulating their product, positioning, and sales process.
Although a positioning exercise is very personal, the sales process is quite similar for most agencies.
This document shares tips along that process. It’s meant to be read as a presentation for quick tips and things to discuss or dwell on as a team.
If you have any questions along the read, please feel free to reach out.
Lindsey [email protected]
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Typical Sales Cycle
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SALES DEVELOPMENT SALES MANAGEMENT
SalesProspecting Lead
Generation LeadQualification Sales
Meeting ProposalFollow Up
$ Sale $
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#1 Thing to keep in mind
With each lead - You have limited time and resources to work for free.
#1 Focus : Will the relationship pay off this year?
Think about this one. It holds a lot with that one little question.
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Sales for creative services = art +science
Assign the right people to the right tasks along the way.
Don’t put a creative into financial conversations. Don’t ask your process driven people to try to explain a creative idea or kick off a relationship.
Use common sense to align your team capabilities in the right ways to capitalize on your teams balance of skills.
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Make it yours. There is no exact template
Unfortunately there is no golden switch to make this happen overnight. It needs time and attention. But you are in luck - there are things to learn and philosophies to adapt. Best practices to guide you.
But each client has different needs & each salesperson a style of their own.
There are some things we can agree upon for any approach :
• Using a CRM system ( ex. Prosperworks & Salesforce)
• Asking the right questions at the right moments to qualify
• Selling an agency is not all about solving
• Designing a pitch process and approach saves us money
• Having templates at the ready enables a faster response which means a faster close
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Building a visual flowchart
Fancy sales flowcharts for process do come in handy. We have not included one. We believe that you have to actively make these as a team vs print out a pre-made process.
TIP
Once you go through this deck and think about what works for you, design a simple chart with flow, roles and action items.
Print out to have as quick reference.
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It’s essential to have a CRM tool
Use one! There is no reason to not have one or be trying to remember key contacts or opportunities in your head.
Core purpose of your CRM
• Selling an agency is not all about solving
• Store all contacts & email communication threads
• Use it for reminder Tasks
• Move opportunities through it
• Use reporting to surface the core contacts you haven’t spoken with in a certain time period and circle back with them.
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Tip : We love Prosperworks as an agency CRM.
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Hold weekly sales meetings
Monday or Friday sales meetings. Set these up. 30 min
Go through all the opportunities as a team. Not active projects.
Adjust and update. Give insight into them as a team.
Clean up your CRM dashboards. These are not places to let opportunities sit for months at a time. Move work through the process.
See who you are following up with next week.
Team updates.
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Plan. Prospect. Screen
Purpose :
Optimize your effectiveness to build solid leads and create a process that helps keep the process moving.
Things you want to build out.
• Who should we approach?
• How?
• Where to we begin?
• Who runs this ?
• What are the ways to qualify a lead?
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Create a plan
What are you doing so far?
Definition
• Category Segment
• Size and Growth Stage : Power Brands vs Challengers
• Location
• Personality / Value / Culture
• Conflicts ?
• Type of work they buy
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Specifics
• Category Segment
• How many per week
• When to follow up
• How to follow up
• Do you send anything in the mail?
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Where & How
There are many creative ways to determine where & how you want to prospect.
Sit with your team to strategize once a quarter.
• Conferences
• Online Reading
• Networking events
• Your own events
• Role of PR / Articles / Thought leadership
• Other unique ways to gain client attention
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A prospecting template
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Category Type Account Name
First Name
Last Name
Title Email Notes
Retail Brand Nine West
John Doe VP, Marketing
New stores opening
Auto Brand Ford Jane Smith CMO [email protected]
Promoted from SVP,
Marketing in May 2015.
Finance Brand Citi Lauren Jones Creative Director
[email protected] Focus on millennials
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Populating a prospecting list
Step One : Review existing relationships
• Current CRM
• Social Sites
• Conferences / Events you’ve been to
• Business cards on your desk
• Past contacts… and the list goes on.
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Populating a prospecting list
Step Two: Start mining for new leads There are tons of ways to do this and its a bit of an art. Be sure to pick the core criteria you want and then start to work relationships and industry insights to discover leads.
Five ways
1. Find a competitive client contact and reach out.
2. Find someone spending in your category.
3. Look for a new project or trend in your target vertical.
4. Find a contact attending a conference you will be at. Check out the Sunday Dinner conference List here.
5. Read. Voraciously.
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Sending cold emails? Follow a formula
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HOOK
I see we're both connected to XX XX on LinkedIn...
XX XXX gave me your details...
I've seen some work BRAND recently did at an event or publication
I read about the recent work BRAND has been doing with YYYYY...
PAYOFF We are a (your location)-based agency that offers _______ for what & who.
A few examples of our work in which you may be familiar.
Description / Agency / Link
ASK Would jump at the chance to have a discussion about your upcoming initiatives and if XXX makes sense to help design ways to bring them to life.
Let me know if you have time in the coming weeks for a coffee or brief call
We will be AT XXX in March, would be great to arrange an in person to share more.
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No response?
Did they open it ---> Check Tracking (if you have a tracking tool)
When to follow up
5 Business Days : Trying you again about the note below. Let’s connect when you have a moment.
No response again?
You can email again in 5 days. Do try to see if there is a news item, a conference or a traveling moment that could help trigger an open or engagement point.
No response again?
Add to your marketing list and follow up in 3 months with Task in CRM or report.
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Response!
Respond within 30 minutes.
Always try to get an in-person meeting.
Breakfast is a great ice breaking time of day.
Studio visits are best toward end of day.
Have a list of your top places to meet at on hand. - Need a template for NYC - We have one. Just ask!
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Note : Don’t forget in your invite
Include a link to your work or a pre-read if necessary.
Always use a conference line. Put this in the description and the location. Make sure people can click on the phone number 123-333-4444 not 123 333 4444
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Do homework! A background brief
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Screening Asking the right questions
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The first contact is about
A relationship!
It’s not about solving, it’s selling.
Are you someone they want to work with personally? Can you be a social human vs a sales machine. The best sales people connect.
Unless they gave you an RFP, it’s not a budget or project conversation.
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Core Categories for screening questions
• Strategy
• Project background
• How does your team like to work
• Appetite for risk
• The budget
• Competition
• Timeline
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Strategy
• What are the objectives for the work ( new audience, trial, engagement, etc )?
• Do you have your problem defined?
• Is there something you could share?
• What does success look like on this project?
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The project background
Is this part of an existing campaign?
Really helpful for us to get our heads around your process for moving this project ahead.
Love to get an idea of :
• Who the stakeholders are . Who is involved
• What is your process
• Roughly the timing of this
• We’re a new partner - is there anything we should be doing now to get into the procurement pipeline
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How does your team like to work
How wide of a net are you casting : This is a great project and I’m sure a lot of people would like to work on it - can you give me a sense of how many people you’re speaking with, do you have a short list?
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Appetite for risk
What’s the appetite for risk at the brand, push the envelope or not ?
If you are on the phone with procurement - you want to open up a more direct discussion around timing , costs
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The budget
• Is there a budget allocated or approved for this work?
• Are you looking for cost recommendations?
• Is there a working budget that you can share?
• If you are on the phone with procurement - you want to open up a more direct discussion around timing and costs.
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The call flow
TIPS
Know your audience. Tailor chat to them. Review the background on them and open a lead screening doc before your call to follow along with.
ON THE CALL
Imagine that you have FIVE Minutes : What are the 3 things to convey ?
• Your elevator : What are you all about ?
• Why are you unique ?
• What is the best way to engage you ?
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Next, get the client to talk
Next on to them.
Start to ask what they may be interested in doing. Prioritize Relationship & Strategy.
Tips
Transition: I see you have done ______ or love the project you did with _________
• Tell me more. Are you looking to build on that, what types of things do you generally have coming up?
• Could you tell me a bit about how your internal team works with partners?
Senior Person: You want to know the biggest challenge they are facing that they can’t seem to get addressed - this generally leads to the whole working with smaller companies for value, collaboration and key talent
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What to prioritize
Relationship
Find out about them!
So interested to find out a little bit about you and your role. Connect then maybe back to their background - so interesting, how did you come into this role / company ?
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What to prioritize
Appetite for new types of (innovation, projects)_____ in your space
Are they doing other interesting things in the ( experiential, VR, digital, content) space?
What else have they seen, tried, tested?
You may know some of this from the brief - use that in the conversation.
Keep your eye on the goal. This first meeting is for you to assess if this is a valid decision maker or company suited for you and if should invest your time and money in pursuit.
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Next, get the client to talk ( continued)
Dead moment - What to do?
If its been a long time, you can wrap - meet extended team for a more full blow discussion, send you some examples, or have you come in.
If they are interested in what you are doing…
Speak from a position of strength - why don’t we come in and have an informal discussion or send you some examples of cases that sound relevant.
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Close with momentum
Ask for a way to come in and meet teams to have a deeper informal discussion.
Reference that you could send cases that seem relevant.
Follow up via e-mail. If an evening call, the next morning. If morning call, by EOD.
Do NOT overwhelm with this email. You want to have simple links for them to explain your offering to their colleagues. They now have to sell you :)
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When to follow up again
Variable based on how you read them.
Set a task in CRM to follow up in about 2 weeks if they don't immediately respond to your email follow up on the scheduled day.
If they are not interested or you don't think a valid client, mark them as such in the CRM and you can either set a task for 3 months or surface this through sorting contact lists each week. It will surface anyone you have not emailed in a time frame you set.
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When to follow up again
In that 2 week email: The ask is for another meeting / connection. Maybe add something in the news you loved ( sharing links of inspiration is great for the category ) . Use same thread.
In the 3 month email: You need something fresh from your team to share - and that could be a project, a link to something in the news you loved. Don’t use the same email thread - write a new one.
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Meeting #2
Let’s get deeper with our potential client.
What to prioritize here : Find out IF there is an opportunity or a project that could surface.
Strategy Thought Starters
• What are objectives for your space ( new audience, engagement, sales ) ?
• Do they have a problem defined you could think about for them?
• How does their team work with partners?
• This helps you get to other teams / stakeholders if you realize you don't have the right person.
• Do you use agencies to support these types of initiatives or is the work done direct with your brand team?
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A project has been discussed
If they talk about a project? —-> Time to get details! Is this part of an existing campaign / initiative? Really helpful for us to get our heads around your process for moving this project ahead. Love to get an idea of :
• Who the stakeholders are? Who is involved?
• What is your process?
• Roughly the timing of this
• We’re a new partner - is there anything we should be doing now to get into the procurement pipeline?
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A project has been discussed
How wide of a net are you casting : This is a great opportunity to solve and I’m sure a lot of people would like to support - can you give me a sense of how many people / technologies you are speaking with, do you have a short list?The budget question.
Is there a working budget that you can share ?
Or are you looking for cost recommendations ?
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Office / studio musts
• Have a clean meeting space.
• Have an easy clear greeting and place to wait.
• Allow for a place to put jackets and bags in conference room.
• Be prepared. Welcome them with presentation set up already and perhaps first slide showing their brand name.
• Have bottled water on the table and small snacks ( usually individual bags are great - granola bar or pretzel bags ) If breakfast, have juice, coffee + danish / pastries. Always have coffee ready!
• Have the wifi code visible on the table or wall.
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Procurement?
The team at a brand that helps to onboard vendors, determine pricing and set up all supplier relationships.
They maintain the database, legal and "permission" for you to work with a brand.
Unfortunately, they are often at odds with marketing and can be thought of as a “necessary evil.”
At the same time, they are the department that gets you working on a project and can be your “in” with a brand.
Shape your conversation with them appropriately.
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“Procurement is often looking for new suppliers to introduce to their internal client (the marketing team). Don’t be afraid to get to know them and develop a relationship. They're not the enemy.” - David Wilson, President of Stirling Consulting“In the marketing space, we're not the decision maker. We facilitate the process and want to ensure that our colleagues working in that space can talk the language and have some level of subject-matter expertise.”- Lisa Martin, chief procurement officer at Pfizer“Purchasing departments don’t respect agencies as businesses that should be allowed to make money. Very often they become more fair if they know you understand the word ‘no.’”- Digiday agency guide to fighting procurement and living to tell the tale“If both marketing and procurement are talking to each other more regularly, they will better understand how they can help each other achieve their goals.”- Matt Jauchius, executive vice president and CMO at Nationwide Insurance
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SECTION : Getting your ideas together
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Proposal and pitch development :Telling your story
Purpose:
Efficiently generate the most effective response to qualified opportunities.
What this section answers :
• Where to start
• Optimizing client time and access - continuing to build the relationship and asking smart questions
• “Solving” the brief vs Selling the Solution
• Proposal & pitch deck development and refinement - proposal and pitch also (usually) two different things
• What you need to answer to win
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Documents involved in the process
• Request for Info (RFI) : A written long deliverable generally for procurement and may be a part of a proposal. Always have a plan to have these ready to go at any time
• Proposal vs Pitch Doc : Different deliverables . A proposal is a written document a pitch document is a presentation format, generally for in-person. The process of delivery is “the pitch.” The proposal HOLDS the pitch elements but can be spoken to.
• SOW : Where detail happens. Always consider selling discovery phase first to properly craft a SOW.
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A proposal + in-person pitch How will the process run?
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You want to always have the opportunity to deliver your proposal as in in-person pitch.
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Getting your team organized
Whats’ the best plan for THIS opportunity?
What resources you need right off the bat?
Who is on first ? - does someone have expertise, who’s excited about this, when should you call in a pitch consultant
Who will pull competitive & inspiration?
Design a timeline for the proposal & pitch so you get it done.
Consider casting to the client - what do you know about your client?
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Selling is problem solving But how much do you need to solve
now?
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Solving vs Selling Approach
The Process
Receive brief/RFP
PITCH DAY
Assign team / research / answer question / compile preso deck / ‘who says what?’
TEAM ROLES PITCH BIBLE WOOING
Answer question (2 meetings?)/5-step logic/ compile deck, proposal
CURRENT BEHAVIOR
FINALIZE STORY WHO SAYS WHAT REHEARSE-REFINE-REHEARSE HYPOTHESIS TESTING
Team chemistry comes together. Ideas strengthen, tighten. Magic happens.
NEW WAY
Your Idea: Only needs 2 Internal Meetings
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1. BRIEF CRACKING 2 Hours Min Who : Internal with Pitch Team & Bright Spark Ideators
•Define the real assignment
• Brainstorm for solutions
• Capture Ideas
• Come up with a few directions to stew on
GOAL : Be at a 70% solution to the brief.
2. SELECT THE IDEA 2 Hours Min Who : Internal with Pitch Team & Bright Spark Ideators
• Select ideas to move forward with
•Determine why they work for the brand
•Write up with broad strokes and visuals ( less detail the better)
GOAL : Determine what you need to present to client to win the work & satisfy their ask
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Tipping the field in your favor : Continuing to sell
During this process, be sure to be personable and communicative to client.
Feel free to ask questions and more importantly ask the right questions! - how to find out who you’re up against and the right things for how you can win
Show energy and creative excitement.
Schedule check in calls
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Writing your presentation The pitch deck
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Guiding Principles
Here are some simple ways to think about the format
• Tell a story
• Show - don't say
• Keywords only
• Always be selling
• Don't teach, they are already in the room
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The Rule of 3’s
Stick to the rule of three for presentations.
Almost every Jobs presentation was divided into three parts. You might have twenty points to make, but your audience is only capable of retaining three or four points in short-term memory.Give them too many points and they’ll forget everything you’ve said.
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Tips for your presented pitch doc
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RECOMMUNICATE CREDS
Determine in upfront calls what is needed for this. If any, keep it simple and streamlined.
Think : Impress, Show Proof Points, communicate our POV/Brand Most likely lead with the benefits ( prez ) vs capabilities
STRUCTURE Use pen and paper to plan
SLIDESThink single sentence on each - possible? Yes. Your audience can only retain 3-4 points in this setting.
VISUALS Visual slides or bullets if necessary. Think Steve Jobs presentations.
LANGUAGE Plain english. Don’t use “best of breed” or proprietary process. Don’t use slang. LEAVE BEHIND Give them the prez on a file there or immediately after the presentation.
$$Don’t be afraid to bring up a money slide.
FONT No less than 30.
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Pitch Time
Purpose :
Ensuring your team performs at its peak on the Big Day.
What this section answers :
• Understanding selection criteria
• Pitch-to-win strategy
• Rehearse. Again and again.
• Control the environment - address questions during pitch
• Follow up
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Who is in the room?
Knowing exactly who you are pitching to.
How are they rewarded ?
What do they need to take you as a recommend to another stakeholder?
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How will they make a selection?
Think of one and pitch to it.
•Capability
•Chemistry
• Pricing
• Presentation
• Ease of the sale
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If they have a consultant… understand their process.
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Don’t be boring
You are selling inspiring work - don't have a boring deck or pitch. How can you make this more sensorial?
Your presentation deck - Create transitions, builds and video integration to bring to life capabilities or pitch presentations.
If you can’t make your deck in-house, outsource. No harm there!
Lots of people can take your template and make it something quite nicer to add in builds and pitch theatre that helps your team stand out. Look at Fiverr or freelancer.com for options.
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The environment
Sit, Stand. Size. Formality.
What does the room look like?
Are people calling in?
Are you standing?
Do you have screens? - Have your pitch kit with all your needs for plugging in.
PS - ask these things before you build your presentation
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Be prepared for questions
• Q&A during or after : When will you accept? What style works?
• Your creative approach : Which idea do you like best?
• The piecemeal : Can Idea A and Idea B be combined?
• The cost : Does this fit our budget?
• Relevance : What’s a similar client you have done this for before?
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Be prepared for questions
• The reach : Who do you work with globally? Do you integrate with agencies?
• Payment : How do you like to be paid - fee, project, combination?
• Us : Why are you interested in our business or this project?
• The team : Who will be on our team? Who is our senior contact?
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Next Deck : Getting it sold. Pricing & Relationship Modeling
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About Sunday Dinner
Sunday Dinner is designed to help brand marketers & independent agencies uncover new ways to work together for today’s modern business. This is done through a process of orchestration and active briefing.
For brands, engagements often come together in the form of an agency tour, workshop, or project assignment. For agencies, Sunday Dinner runs an agency growth bootcamp that gets creative teams in gear to be their most successful self.
Link out to read more about Sunday Dinner.
Contact : Lindsey [email protected]
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A growth bootcamp process
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W E E K 1
I M M E R S I O N
O F F S I T E
O N B O A R D I N G
&
A U D I T
G A T H E R A L L
C U R R E N T
T O O L S &
I N T E R V I E W S
P O S I T I O N I N G
F O C U S
D A T A B A S E &
T O O L
D E F I N I T I O N
P I P E L I N E
F O C U S
C O N T A C T
A S S E S S M E N T
F O R L E A D
M I N I N G
P I T C H
F O C U S
I M P L E M E N T
T O O L S
&
T E M P L A T E S
W E E K 2
D E F I N I T I O N
W E E K 3
O U T R E A C H
W E E K 4
R E S P O N S E
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The offer
We can help you be more effective in growing top line revenue by working with your team on various facets of business development, including: agency positioning, revenue planning and strategy, proactive outreach, inbound opportunity response, tools, tactics, and pitch team preparedness.
Core areas of focus:
1. Positioning
2. Pipeline: Planning, Prospecting and Screening
3. Proposal and Pitch Development
4. Pitch Preparedness
5. Procurement, Negotiation & Pricing
and of course... setting up systems to keep it all together
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L I N D S E Y @ S U N D A Y D I N N E R . C O M
We’d love to invite you to dinner. (This is our view!)
