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So far Ben Potter has created 33 blog entries.

Are you over-egging your pipeline?

Ben Potter2024-04-12T14:14:40+00:00

Are you over-egging your pipeline?

The most profound challenge in running an agency is to balance the work to be done with the resource to deliver it. To a high standard. On a consistent basis.

Most agencies either have too much work and not enough resource OR not enough work and too many bums on seats. Very rarely are the two perfectly in sync.

This of course impacts the business in all manner of ways, most notably recruitment.

A sales pipeline report is an essential tool for hiring decisions. For example, a strong pipeline may require the agency to recruit in anticipation of more work landing. A weak pipeline, on the other hand, might mean the agency needs to start planning for redundancies.

But, in my experience, most pipeline reports fail in this respect for two reasons:

1) There are too many dead ‘opportunities’ that should have been removed from the report a long time ago. They remain due to wishful thinking, rather than any realistic chance of closing.

2) A subjective weighting methodology that means the % chance of closing each opportunity is inaccurate.

The cumulative effect is an inflated pipeline value, making the report a potential hazard for anybody using it to make important decisions.

So, let’s address each of these points:

Let it go, let it goooo…

It’s a strange market at the moment, full of conflicting messages and narratives (are we in recession, not in recession, heading for one…who knows?).

The one constant I hear from agencies is that decisions are stalling; prospects are keen as mustard one minute, quiet as a mouse the next. If you’re also experiencing fewer leads entering the top of the funnel, there is a natural tendency to hold on to the opportunities you do have. Who wants to show up to the next board meeting with a near-empty pipeline, right?

However, as difficult as that meeting will be, you’re far better presenting a realistic picture of the current situation. To facilitate effective decision-making (and for your own sanity), you need to cut loose those opportunities that – in your heart of hearts – you know are not going to move forward any time soon.

If you’ve heard nothing from a prospect for a few weeks but still need a definitive ‘no’ before you can move on, at least put the opportunity ‘on hold’. By all means, find value-add ways to stay in touch.

But in the meantime, remove it from the pipeline report.

Subjectivity killed the cat

I tend to find most agencies align their weighting with a stage in their CRM. For example, ‘Stage 1 – Qualifying’ = 20%. As an opportunity moves through each stage, the % score increases.

Makes sense, right?

Maybe not.

Just because a prospect is at the proposal stage, for example, it doesn’t necessarily mean the opportunity has been properly qualified. When a proposal is flung together and fired out by email after a 20-minute phone call, qualification will be dubious at best.

But the CRM – arbitrarily – says it has a 70% chance of closing.

Realistically, it’s closer to 10%.

I’ve tested this hypothesis on dozens of clients over the years by objectively reviewing opportunities in their pipeline against a set of YES / NO questions, for example:

Have you agreed on a set of desired outcomes and therefore how success will be measured?
Has the prospect confirmed they are able to invest at a level relative to those desired outcomes? (As an aside, nothing should go into your pipeline report until you have a confirmed budget).
Do you know all the alternatives under consideration e.g., other agencies, including incumbents?
Have you got agreement on timescales for starting?
Have you got consensus amongst ALL stakeholders, responding directly to their questions, concerns or objections?

And so on…

A checklist or set of questions like this is an attempt to make the exercise of weighting opportunities as objective as possible. It ensures the same level of robustness is applied whatever the situation and irrespective of the sales stage.

This is not to say that stages don’t matter. They do. But the nature of selling is messy. We’d all love opportunities to move smoothly through each stage of our process. But rarely does this happen; they move at different speeds, stall, and some go backwards before moving forward again.

This is particularly true in the current climate.

And that means % weighting based solely on stages in a CRM is at greater risk of being inaccurate.

Back to that board meeting…

Have you ever noticed how everyone seems to have an opinion on sales? Even when they have no first-hand experience in selling.

Annoying, isn’t it?

If you look after business development in your agency, you’re going to be challenged to justify yourself time and time again. It’s the nature of the beast.

So any ambiguities, unknowns or question marks are going to be latched on to.

In my agency days, if I could explain to the board why an opportunity hadn’t moved forward – and that reason was outside of my control – it was accepted (despite the obvious frustration).

However, if I’d lost an opportunity due to something I should have foreseen or a question I should have asked, I was quite rightly called up on it.

This is where an objective approach to managing sales opportunities is your friend. It allows you to make the distinction between what is in your control vs what isn’t. The questions you ask, the information you gather and whether you decide to move forward or pause – these are all under your control.

A key contact leaving abruptly, a company going under or an FD slashing the marketing budget – these are outside of your control (although in some instances, such events might in themselves create new opportunities).

In the words of Viktor Frankl, “control the controllables”.

But you can only do this if you remove assumptions, guesswork or wishful thinking from your sales process.

Are you over-egging your pipeline?Ben Potter2024-04-12T14:14:40+00:00

8 tips to uncover a prospect’s budget during the sales process

Ben Potter2023-04-05T15:29:26+00:00

8 tips to uncover a prospect’s budget during the sales process

Do you struggle to talk about money during sales conversations?

If so, you’re not alone. Us Brits, especially, have an in-built, irrational fear when it comes to broaching the subject of dosh, dough, moola or swag (despite the fact we’re great at coming up with amusing slang alternatives).

From an agency’s perspective, the failure to talk about money early in the sales process increases the risk of wasting time on poor-fitting ‘opportunities’. Far too often proposals or pitch decks are put together in the hope the prospect is willing (and able) to invest at the appropriate level. Using a proposal in this way – to qualify budget – is fatally flawed. Written words are no substitute for open and honest conversation. I do, however, appreciate the budget conversation is not always an easy one. Not helped, of course, when a prospect chooses to withhold their budget. Or, they might say, ‘why don’t you tell me how much it’s going to cost?’

In other instances, a prospect may approach you without having a budget at all. I’ve no problem with their need to do some research to obtain a ballpark figure. But not if it means you throw a load of time into writing a proposal to provide the answer.

In each scenario, it’s your job to identify where the prospect is in their buying journey and, importantly, not to overcommit resources to those in research mode, for example. Remember, there is no cost to a prospect when they ask you to create a proposal. But there is a cost to you. Always seek to protect your time.

With this in mind, if you find money a difficult topic to address with a prospect, here are a few tips to help you along:

Firstly, talk about money early in the process

When I say early, I mean on the first call. To do this, you’ll need to tee up the meeting, explaining its purpose and goal. You might say something like:

“We tend to work best with clients who…(DESCRIBE IN A FEW WORDS YOUR TYPICAL CLIENT AND THEIR SITUATION).

The purpose of this first conversation is therefore to establish if we are likely to be a good fit for you and vice versa. I’ve got a few questions I’d like to throw your way and I’m sure you’ll have a few questions for me.

If we get to the end of the call and agree, in principle, that there’s a good fit here, I suggest we arrange a second meeting where we can explore your requirements in more detail and how we’d work together. We can also bring in some of the subject matter experts from our side and anybody from your end that needs to be involved.

How does that sound?”

Note: this assumes an inbound lead. A prospect you have reached out to who agrees to a meeting requires an altogether different approach.

Then explore where they are trying to get to

Uncover the results or outcomes the prospect is looking to achieve BEFORE broaching the topic of money. Once you understand their goals, say something like:

“What are your expectations in terms of investment to achieve those goals? Can you share with me how you arrived at that figure?”

This highlights to the prospect the direct relationship between the amount they need to invest and the outcomes they desire. It’s remarkable how naïve people are to this – I can’t tell you how many conversations I had in my agency days where a prospect aspired to X10 the size of their business before revealing a shoestring budget to do it.

Eliminate ‘cost’ from your vocabulary

Notice the use of the word ‘investment’ above, as opposed to budget or, worse, ‘cost’. The latter is a particular bugbear of mine when reviewing agency proposals – if something costs me time, money or effort, I don’t feel particularly enthused. It’s got negative connotations. ‘Investment’, on the other hand, tells me I will get something in return.

Politely push back with a question

If you are asked to provide an estimated figure before you feel ready to do so (because you haven’t yet gathered enough information), put the ball back in the court of the prospect. You might say something like:

“The amount our clients invest will vary depending on a number of factors, for example, X, Y and Z’. Do you have the time to explore these now or shall we arrange a call for another time?”

Refer to how much your other clients are investing

Without naming them, use your existing clients as a benchmark. You might say something like:

“We work with a number of clients facing a similar challenge. They are typically investing between £X and £Y to achieve results comparable to those you are looking for. How do you feel about that level of investment?”

State a minimum fee level

In line with your ‘ideal client profile’, try stating the minimum amount you get out of bed for. You might say something like:

“We occasionally make exceptions, but our minimum project fee is £X. This reflects the typical size of client we work best with and what they are looking to achieve. Does that align with your expectations?”

Share some options

Providing three options and asking the prospect to choose one is another technique to try. You might say something like:

“We offer a number of solutions and pricing options. For client A, we are typically doing X and they will be investing Y. For client B, we are typically doing X and they will be investing Y. And for client C, we are typically doing X and they will be investing Y. If you had to choose one of those options, where would you say you sit at this stage?”

Show them that you are prepared to walk away

Finally, if you still can’t get the prospect to open up, explain how you are unable to take things any further. You might say something like:

“Our agency has a policy of not writing a proposal until a budget has been agreed upon. I wouldn’t be able to progress things further without confirming the amount you are able to invest in this project. How do you think we should move forward from here?”

Using the word ‘policy’ is a tip I picked up from the brilliant 2Bobs podcast. It tells the prospect that you have documented your approach to the sales process and would be ‘breaking the rules’ if you were to progress without an agreed budget.

If, after trying these approaches, the prospect still won’t divulge their budget, then you might want to consider whether they’re the kind of client you really want. The sales process is a window into what it will be like to work with them. If they aren’t demonstrating a high degree of openness and collaboration now, don’t assume this will change later on.

If you’ve developed the courage to approach the money discussion head-on, you’ll also have the courage to walk away.

Give these tips a go and let me know how you get on.

8 tips to uncover a prospect’s budget during the sales processBen Potter2023-04-05T15:29:26+00:00

How to take control of the sales process from the first conversation

Ben Potter2023-04-05T15:30:43+00:00

How to take control of the sales process from the first conversation

How open are you with prospects about the steps in your sales process and, in particular, the purpose of each stage?

When you break it down, a sales process is simply a series of conversations. Your goal is to determine whether a prospect is a good fit for your agency. Likewise, the prospective client is seeking to understand if you are the right fit for them.

So why not both be honest about this from the outset?

An example…

You receive an enquiry via your website. You do a bit of research and decide to arrange a call. After the niceties, you might say something like…

“We tend to work best with clients who…(DESCRIBE IN A FEW WORDS YOUR TYPICAL CLIENT, THEIR SITUATION AND THE PROBLEMS YOU SOLVE).

How does that sound?

Great, before we get into it, tell me…what would you like to get out of this first call? Is there anything you’d like to know about us to determine if we’d be a good fit for you?”

Teeing up the conversation like this serves a number of purposes:

1) It shows you’re not desperate; you don’t just work with anyone. You know what the right client looks like for your agency, and you are confident enough to put it on the table early.

2) It provides a clear scope of what will be covered and, perhaps more importantly, what won’t be covered on this first call. For example, you’re unlikely to gather enough information to put forward a solution at this stage. However, you might want to provide an idea of what a typical client spends with you to test their ability (and willingness) to invest.

3) In line with the above, it lets the prospect know you aren’t going to be rushed into writing a proposal. There are a series of steps – and information that needs to be gathered – before you get to that point. Remember, your proposal should be confirmation of what you have already agreed verbally (which means you need to converse regularly during the process).

4) It highlights you have a tried and tested process, which is not only for your benefit but also theirs. It also subtly highlights to the prospect that you won’t just fall into line with their process (assuming they have one).

5) It outlines your role by highlighting you are not necessarily able to answer discipline-specific questions. This is particularly relevant if you are in a dedicated BD or sales role. You know enough to hold a conversation about SEO or PPC, for example, but the discipline team are the experts.

6) In line with point 5), you are protecting the time of your team by only bringing them into the process when necessary.

7) It lays the foundation for involving their other stakeholders in the process sooner rather than later. This is essential if you are going to build consensus amongst a group of buyers – all with their own interests, concerns and questions.

8) It means you only share information about the agency that the prospect is actually interested in based on their response to the question: ‘Is there anything you’d like to know about us…’. Or you could get your creds deck and regurgitate a whole load of meaningless guff that the prospect can read for themselves on your website.😉

If you’ve never been this upfront before, I can understand it might fill you with a sense of dread. It’s far easier to skirt around the edges, right? But I’m pretty confident your unwillingness to be open about your process and the purpose of each stage means you are wasting time (and money) on ‘opportunities’ you stand little chance of winning.

As a slightly cheeky aside, take a look at your website. I’m going to hazard a guess that somewhere it says how ‘honest’ and ‘transparent’ you are. If that’s the case, it might be time to think about how you apply those values to aspects of your sales process, starting with the very first conversation.

How to take control of the sales process from the first conversationBen Potter2023-04-05T15:30:43+00:00

30 easy wins to make the most of attending events

Ben Potter2023-04-05T15:08:22+00:00

30 easy wins to make the most of attending events

In-person events made a real comeback in 2022 after a tough couple of years (something to do with a global pandemic, apparently). I attended a few events last year and found there to be a real buzz in the air; people were clearly happy to be out of their bedrooms and home offices and meeting people in real life again, myself included.

One of my clients is attending their first in-person event for quite some time in February. We got talking about how they can make the most of their time at the event (and their investment…it isn’t cheap, let me tell you).

So I offered to put together a list of practical things they can do before, during and after the event to ensure they meet the right people, make a good impression and create opportunities. And because I’m such a generous chap, I’m sharing the list with you.

Now, the event in question is where meetings are prearranged in advance between agencies and clients. These are always the best kind of events in my opinion. As such, some of the advice below relates to how you’d prepare for these pre-arranged, quick-fire meetings. However, much of it can also be applied to any other type of event where you have the opportunity to meet clients, prospects and partners.

So, without further ado, here goes…

Before the event

1) Request an attendee list from the event organisers. They are unlikely to share names, but a list of organisations and job titles might allow you to do some detective work on LinkedIn to make an educated guess as to who will be in attendance. Also check out the event website where they will often publish exhibitors, for example. Where relevant, consider reaching out to people in advance. Even if it turns out they’re not attending the event, you’re still opening up a conversation. At the very least, you’ll make them aware of an industry event that might not have been on their radar.

2) It is likely the people you are scheduled to meet will take a look at your LinkedIn profile in advance of the event. So, make sure your profile page is up to date, reflecting your current role and agency messaging e.g.,

Make your headline outcome / value focused, rather than just your job title. For example, I describe myself as a ‘business development adviser’ but I also include ‘helping independent agencies win the right clients’ to highlight what people will experience by working with me.
Make your ‘about’ and ‘experience’ summaries distinctive. The ‘about’ section is probably the first thing someone will read about you. It should talk about your background and what has led to where you are today.
Inject some personality by giving some insight into your thinking, beliefs and interests (in a professional context). Put yourself in the spotlight, not just the agency you run or work for. Mention them, of course, but you can talk more about this in the ‘experience’ section.
Write a succinct overview of your agency and role in the ‘Experience’ section. Emphasise your expertise, problem-solving skills and the impact of your work as if you were speaking directly to a prospect (more ‘you’ and ‘your’, less ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’).

3) Review your LinkedIn Company page…

Include a high-quality logo and banner image that incorporates a succinct elevator pitch (a few words describing what you do and for who).
Build on the above with a compelling ‘About’ section. Focus first and foremost on the problems you solve, for who, how and why.
Include your website URL, location, industry, company size and number of employees.
Specify the services your agency provides in the ‘specialities’ section. But be mindful of damaging your credibility by creating an endless list.

4) Sticking with LinkedIn, find the Company pages of organisations you are due to meet (or would like to meet) at the event and follow them. Do the same on other social networks, where relevant.

5) Then find the people you are due to meet on LinkedIn. Make a note of any shared connections that you might mention when meeting. Assuming they are fairly active, send a personalised connection request e.g.,

Hi NAME,
I’m looking forward to meeting you at EVENT. In the meantime, it would be great to connect.
See you on DATE.
Ben

6) Carry out some light touch research on the companies you are meeting:

Take a look at their website
Search for the company on Google and check the ‘news’ section
Look at their LinkedIn company page and feed
Make a note of anything relevant that you might refer to in conversation e.g., financial performance, investment, product launches, legal / regulatory changes, new leadership, personnel changes, agencies they are already working with

7) If appropriate, ‘like’ or comment on any relevant posts or articles shared by the company or person you are meeting.

8) Based on the above, prepare notes for each of your pre-arranged meetings:

Relevant observations from your research
Top-line ideas or opportunities
Any specific questions relevant to the organisation or contact

9) Add all organisations, contact data and research findings to your CRM. Download the CRM app to your phone so you can access details and add notes whilst at the event.

10) Ensure you are clear in how you will describe the agency when asked ‘what do you do?’ Consider creating a ‘one-pager’ you can have in front of you covering your elevator pitch, the problems you typically help your clients address, clients and key questions.

11) Review other agencies and suppliers attending the event (either by looking at the event website and / or via the attendee list). Is there anybody you’d like to meet? Send them a message on LinkedIn to arrange a chat over a coffee.

12) Follow the event organiser’s social media feeds, company pages and event hashtags.

13) Set yourself some simple goals for the event e.g., strike up a conversation with 10 people during breaks and the evening drinks.

14) Write a post on LinkedIn about your attendance and what you are looking forward to. Tag the event organisers and include the event hashtags.

15) A day or two before the event, review accepted connection requests and profile views on LinkedIn.

At the event

16) Treat each pre-arranged meeting as a two-way conversation, not a pitch. For anybody you meet – whether pre-arranged or at random – you will probably have no longer than 10 or 15 minutes to make an impression. Nothing will turn a prospect off more than you spending that time only talking about your agency and shoving a business card or brochure down their throat. So, lead the conversation with questions, not statements. This is just a small selection of possible conversation starters and exploratory questions…

Where have you travelled from?
Have you attended this event before?
What are you looking to get out of the conference?
How have the last couple of years been for you and the company?
What are you responsible for?
What are your priorities for the year ahead?
We typically see our clients struggling with XYZ. How is your company fairing?
Can you tell me a little bit about how you are dealing with that problem right now?
Where does addressing this problem feature on your list of priorities?
What opportunities do you see for the business over the next 18 months?
How is your diary looking next Wednesday to talk about this further?
If this isn’t a priority, when would you suggest we talk again?

17) There is every chance you will be asked early in the conversation what you do. Politely decline to answer this question until you find out a bit more about them first. This will allow you to answer their question in the most relevant way. You might gently push back by saying: ‘There are a number of different ways in which we help companies like yours, depending on X, Y and Z. Would you mind if I asked you a few more questions first?’

18) If you found anything relevant in your research prior to the event, refer to it during the conversation and then follow up with a question e.g. ‘I can see that you recently launched a new product – how have the first few months been working out?’

19) There is only so much you can cover during a 15-minute intro meeting or chance conversation during the event. Your goal is therefore to arrange a follow-up meeting. Schedule it there and then by agreeing on a date and sending an invite. If you can’t do this, keep a list of actions for each meeting so you can follow up immediately after the event.

20) For people you meet ‘randomly’, use LinkedIn’s QR Code feature (in the app) to make it easy for people to connect with you on the spot. Use the ‘Scan’ feature to connect to those who share their QR code with you first. Alternatively, go old school and swap business cards.

21) Post updates and key insights to LinkedIn and / or Twitter during the event using relevant hashtags. For example, if there is a speaker you find really interesting, write a short post highlighting a key point from their talk. Tag them in the post.

22) Keep an ear out for any audience questions asked at the end of presentations or panels. Does it present an opportunity to follow up with an attendee during the event or afterwards by offering some further insights or advice?

After the event

23) For those with whom you have already arranged a follow-up meeting, is there anything you can share in advance e.g., an article relevant to a point raised during your first conversation?

24) For those where you haven’t booked a follow-up meeting (but would like to), send an email a day or two after the event e.g.,

Hi NAME,
It was lovely to meet you on Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the event.
You mentioned you were struggling with PROBLEM. Are you free for a short call on Thursday? I’d like to share a few thoughts and ideas based on our experience of working with organisations facing similar challenges.
How does that sound?

25) Or you could send the above as a LinkedIn voice message…

26) If you haven’t done so already, connect on LinkedIn with any other people you met at the event. Be sure to personalise your message, perhaps reminding them when you met or what you spoke about.

27) Ensure all new contacts are added to your CRM and schedule tasks for those you plan to follow up with later i.e. if somebody asked you to reach out in three months to discuss a project. Consider how you can stay in touch in the meantime by sharing something relevant to your conversation

28) Write an article or LinkedIn post reviewing the event; what did you learn, what did you enjoy and so on. Tag the event organisers and use the event hashtags (there is a good chance they will share it with their network).

29) Review your LinkedIn feed regularly to ‘like’, comment or share something of value with the new connections you made at the event (or attendees you didn’t get the chance to meet).

30) And finally, take some time to review the event. Did it meet your expectations? How many new contacts did you make? Have you increased your LinkedIn connections? Broadly, how many opportunities do you think it might create in the future? What did you learn? Would you go again? But manage your expectations – you are unlikely to win a new client a couple of weeks after the event so judge its success over the medium term.

Have I missed anything?

30 easy wins to make the most of attending eventsBen Potter2023-04-05T15:08:22+00:00

In defence of lead gen agencies

Ben Potter2023-03-14T18:14:40+00:00

In defence of lead gen agencies

Barely a day goes by without an agency owner or business developer telling me about their less-than-pleasing experience outsourcing lead generation. I’d say for every person I speak to with good things to say about lead gen agencies, another ten say the complete opposite.

So, what’s going on?

Firstly, people tend to share negative experiences more than they do positive ones.

Secondly, even if a lead gen agency is doing a great job, I could imagine a scenario where their client is reluctant to tell the world about it. Who wants to give away their secret sauce to the competition, right?

And finally, there is my own confirmation bias to consider. If I keep hearing people say lead gen agencies suck, I’ll subconsciously listen out for and recall conversations that support this view.

But let’s put all that aside to make one thing clear. I don’t think all lead gen agencies suck.

Far from it.

Of course, there are some sharks and charlatans about. I’ve had the (mis)pleasure of seeing under the bonnet of campaigns run by such lead gen agencies and, let me tell you, they weren’t pretty. Thousands upon thousands of generic emails fired out to anyone with a pulse. It would have been less damaging to both the client’s wallet and reputation to have done nothing at all.

But I’ve also heard disparaging comments about lead gen agencies I really rate.

So, what’s REALLY going on?

Any lead gen agencies reading this will be best placed to confirm (or challenge) my hypothesis, but I think there are a couple of key factors that determine success:

1) The client’s readiness to do outbound.

2) How the client approaches the meetings booked by their lead gen partner.

On the first point, Mark Duval wrote a great article last year exploring what makes a client (marketing agencies in this context) outbound-ready. They include narrow positioning, proven results in the sectors being targeted and the capacity to follow up opportunities effectively.

When a lead gen agency sends thousands of generic emails, it might be because they don’t know any better. But it could also be because their client just wasn’t ready to do outbound in a more targeted and refined manner.

(As an aside, I’d argue a lead gen agency ‘doing the right thing’ wouldn’t even consider drafting an outbound email until the issues Mark raises have been fixed. But, of course, that doesn’t always happen. Either because the lead gen doesn’t have the expertise to fix these issues or because they decide to take on the client regardless.)

‘They weren’t qualified’

But even those lead gen agencies approaching outbound with more sophistication – resulting in a steady stream of meetings – can still find their client unhappy.

The client might tell me:

‘Yeah, they got us meetings with some decent brands, but they weren’t qualified.’

This leads us on to the second of my success factors; how the client manages the meetings set up by the lead gen partner.

In my view, a lead gen agency is simply there to open the door on behalf of their client. I say ‘simply’ but actually that task is extremely challenging; client-side marketers might receive 20 or 30 approaches a day (A DAY!) so getting a response to an outbound email is a minor miracle in itself.

But here’s the real crux.

Just because a prospect says they are happy to talk, it doesn’t mean they are in the market RIGHT NOW.

Yes, their interest has been piqued, otherwise, why would they have responded? But the likelihood that your lead gen agency has hit them up just as they were thinking about a change of approach, strategy or agency is very low.

You might immediately think this is a bad thing. Not necessarily. In fact, a prospect who is not in the market right now can actually be a more fruitful opportunity in the long run. But it requires an entirely different mindset and approach to the meeting your lovely lead gen partner has just booked for you.

From salesperson to changemaker

If you first accept that, in all likelihood, prospects targeted by your lead gen agency aren’t ready to buy right now, you will also accept the need to tackle the meeting differently.

Rather than whipping out the creds and talking about your agency for an hour – an approach that creates no value whatsoever for the prospect – you instead focus on building a case for change (remembering that change can be hard, scary and uncomfortable. It is much easier to do nothing, hence in sales your biggest competitor is the status quo).

That’s why a creds-style conversation so often ends with things going no further. Think about it. Why would a prospect consider changing based on a one-way conversation where you attempt to persuade them that your agency is ‘better’? Trust me, they’ve heard it all before.

This is where a lot of agencies need to up their sales game. People like to consider themselves ‘consultative’ salespeople but, in reality, I’m not so sure they are.
Consultative selling involves playing the role of trusted adviser; challenging assumptions, sharing insight, offering advice, and, ultimately, helping the prospect navigate change.

It relies on you already having a good idea of the problems faced by your prospect – and more importantly, the root causes of those problems – because you have seen them many times before (in The Challenger Sale, they call this hypothesis-based selling).

Consultative selling means you know as much – if not more – about your prospect’s world as they do. This means they learn something new about themselves, their business or their market during the sales process, thus beginning to build the case for change.

If they’re not learning, then they have no reason to continue talking to you. So they go dark. You chase them up for months on end. Then after a few attempts, you give up.

And who gets the blame for this? The lead gen agency of course. Because the prospect ‘wasn’t qualified’.

All paths lead back to positioning

If you haven’t guessed by now, consultative selling is most effective with narrow positioning; where working with similar clients, facing similar problems, leads to deep expertise.

Not only does this make the sales process easier – especially your ability to act as a trusted adviser in meetings – but your lead gen agency will also stand a far better chance of getting those meetings in the first place.

With generalist positioning, the opposite is often true. Your lead gen agency is forced to ‘bend the narrative’ to get you in front of prospects. Today, you are experts in banking, tomorrow e-commerce. It can be done. But it’s a tough gig for the lead gen agency.

And even if they get you a meeting, you probably lack the deep expertise to drive change.

Making the whole exercise a waste of everyone’s time.

All of which leads to my parting thought.

If the results you’re getting from your lead gen agency aren’t meeting expectations, it’s easy to pass the blame and push them to up their game.

But maybe they need you to up yours first.

In defence of lead gen agenciesBen Potter2023-03-14T18:14:40+00:00

Launching the Agency Business Development Scorecard

Ben Potter2022-05-11T16:11:24+00:00

Launching the Agency Business Development Scorecard

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to assess your agency’s business development capabilities?

Look no further, my friend.

I’m delighted to finally launch the ‘Agency Business Development Scorecard’ (I say ‘finally’ because it’s only been five years in the making!).

Anyway, what’s it all about?

Well, business development is consistently cited as one of the most pressing challenges for agency owners. Day to day, this reveals itself in a number of ways; inconsistency in lead quality / quantity, lack of control over the sales process, and revenue up and down like a yoyo (to name just three).

So whilst agency owners are only too aware of the symptoms, experience has taught me they don’t always understand WHY their business development function isn’t quite working.

That’s where the scorecard comes in. It’s a simple diagnostic tool to…

> Highlight what a high performing business development function looks like

> Uncover if (and why) your new business function is falling short

> Shine a light on gaps in your approach

It takes around 10 minutes to mark yourself against 45 statements, divided into three sections: positioning, opportunity creation, and your sales process.

At the end, you’ll receive a personalised report with a score for each section and a total score to indicate the ‘maturity’ of your business development function (along with an explanation of each score).

You can take the scorecard as often as you like. Have different stakeholders complete it to get a range of views on what’s working, what’s not, and where attention is needed. Or do it every six months or so to see how you are progressing.

A lot of work has gone into this (did I mention it’s been five years in the making?). But I didn’t do it alone. A number of agency owners and business developers were kind enough to review the scorecard as I was building it so I’d like to thank them all (too many to list) for their help.

Have a go and let me know what you think.

Launching the Agency Business Development ScorecardBen Potter2022-05-11T16:11:24+00:00

The untapped opportunity of the ‘talent crisis’ on new business

Ben Potter2022-05-11T15:36:21+00:00

The untapped opportunity of the ‘talent crisis’ on new business

There are around 30K agencies in the UK. They all seem to be recruiting right now. And they all seem to be struggling. This is not an article exploring the causes and solutions to this so-called ‘talent-crisis’ (for some of that, go here, here, and here).

Instead, I want to look at the potential impact on your business development efforts. And why your difficulties in recruiting ‘delivery’ people might actually present an opportunity.

This was born out of a recent conversation with an agency owner experiencing their own mini-talent crisis. Their delivery team is already stretched, barely able to manage the workload from current clients. So adding to this with a shiny new client or two is almost unthinkable at the moment.

‘So, we’re going to put business development activity on hold for a while’, he said.

‘You’re going to do what?’ I replied.

By the tone of my voice, he knew immediately that I thought this was a terrible idea.

You might well be in the same boat. You’re busy with existing client work and unable to service new clients. So, why would you continue building your pipeline? Surely pausing business development activity for a few months, and then picking it back up when your resourcing issues are fixed, is the obvious solution, right?

Wrong.

Here are some reasons why…

1) You’ve built momentum with your business development and marketing plan. This wasn’t easy. It took time to put the plan together. It took even longer to build the necessary processes and habits to execute it consistently. It was a hard-won battle. Putting a pause on activity and then starting back up again later in the year sounds easy. But it’s not; once the momentum of a project is lost, it’s really difficult to regain it. And what’s your marketing executive going to do during that period. Find another job, I imagine.

2) If you put a hold on business development and marketing activity now, you might not experience any negative effects immediately. BUT it will absolutely come back to bite you in the behind 6 – 12 months from now. The activity you invest in today creates opportunities for the future. Think ahead six months from now and visualise an empty-looking pipeline – that should be the only motivation you need to keep the business development tap on.

3) The typical sales cycle – from initial interest to starting work – is about three months (longer for some). So even if you get lucky and contact a prospect tomorrow who is ‘in the market’, you may well find your resourcing issues are fixed, at least in part, by the time they are a paying client.

4) You never know when a current client will decide to leave you. A strong pipeline – plentiful with qualified, on-profile opportunities – is an insurance policy against the unexpected.

5) A strong pipeline provides you with the luxury of choice; the choice to discard prospects that don’t fit and progress the opportunities that do. When your pipeline is sparse, that choice is removed. So, you end up taking on a project that isn’t quite aligned with your core expertise. Or you say ‘yes’ to the client you know is going to be a pain in the &*@#.

To repeat, a strong pipeline = choice.

6) If you need to, you can put prospective clients in a holding pattern. In talking this through with a client recently, he used the analogy of airplanes stacked up ready for landing. If somebody really wants to work with you – because they value your expertise and experience over that of others – they’ll be happy to wait in a holding pattern for a month or two. But with one caveat – you must be upfront about this by managing their expectations early in the sales process and by keeping them regularly informed whilst they are in the ‘stack’.

Could you lose opportunities adopting this approach? Probably. But that’s better than rushing to onboard a new client where your limited capacity means you deliver a poor client experience and sub-standard work, not to mention the damage to your team’s morale and wellbeing.

Your current resourcing issues are a problem, no doubt about it. But, from a new business perspective, can they be reframed as an opportunity?

An opportunity to be laser-focused on the work you should be going for.

An opportunity to finesse your skills (and confidence) in saying ‘no’.

And an opportunity to replace bad-fitting clients with better ones (however you choose to define ‘better’).

But you can only take advantage of these opportunities if you reject – what might look like – the obvious answer to a squeeze on resource: turning the tap off for a while.

Because when you do that, you start placing limits on your ability to choose who you work with. Maybe not today but almost certainly in the future.

And that’s the crux. When evaluating how things are going on the new business front, the question is not ‘how are things looking now?‘ but ‘how are things likely to look in 6 – 12 months?‘

With this in mind, I can’t think of many scenarios where you would make the conscious decision to put business development activity on hold, your current talent shortage / crisis included.

Sometimes of course it is forced upon you. Your marketing manager leaves abruptly, for example. Inevitably, that will result in a slowdown in activity. But, ideally, not a complete stop.

This is where a ‘new business is everyone’s business’ approach pays dividends. With responsibility for business development and marketing shared across the agency, you reduce the risk that activity will ever come to a standstill.

Because where new business is concerned, it should always be business as usual.

The untapped opportunity of the ‘talent crisis’ on new businessBen Potter2022-05-11T15:36:21+00:00

25 anecdotes from 5 years of advising agencies

Ben Potter2022-01-07T12:42:12+00:00

25 anecdotes from 5 years of advising agencies on business development

2016. What a year eh? The UK voted to leave the EU. England crashed out of the Euros to Iceland. And Trump became president. And in news that seemed to escape media attention – not so much as a mention in the Brighton Argus – I also moved on from the agency where I’d spent thirteen years as a Business Development Manager, Commercial Director and Board Member.

During that time, I learned a thing or two about business development. I enjoyed memorable successes. I made some monumental mistakes. And I faced many challenges. But ironically, I’ve learnt as much (maybe more) about the craft of business development during the last five years. I guess working across multiple agencies, reading (a lot) and avoiding the 101 other things you have to deal with as an agency Director, have played a part in that.

So, to the point of this article…a round-up of those learnings; themes and patterns observed during my work with around fifty agencies and in the conversations I’ve had with many more.

1. Business development is more difficult for most than I anticipated

Back in 2016, I suspected others faced similar challenges to those I’d wrestled with during my agency days. However, I wasn’t expecting so many to cite business development as their number one challenge.

2. All paths lead back to positioning

There are a number of reasons why business development is hard. But the most significant root cause is positioning.

Agencies with weak positioning – inward-facing (‘look at us, we’re brilliant), broad-brush (‘hey, we work with anyone’) and cliché-ridden (‘we’re a passionate, award-winning, full-service agency. Honest’) – tend to find business development more difficult.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course. I know agencies with laughably weak positioning doing very well for themselves. But for every high-flying generalist, there are fifty others finding business development a slog.

3. The symptoms of weak positioning have become normalised

Arms-length RFP processes. Prospects demanding a proposal by Friday (on Thursday afternoon!). Agencies giving away their ideas for free. Fees slashed to get the business over the line.

So much of this stuff is considered normal. It needn’t be. And fortunately, more agencies are seeing the light, challenging processes and behaviours that too often work against their interests.

4. The number one reason agency owners don’t narrow their focus…

…a fear of missing out; there is a natural tendency to think only about what they might lose, as opposed to what they will gain by specialising or niching.

5. The importance of purpose is over-inflated…I think (I’m still wrestling with it)

For most agencies, trouble winning new clients on a consistent basis is not because they lack a compelling ‘why’ (Simon Sinek style). It’s because they’ve failed to 1) define what the right client looks like; 2) build a proposition around this audience, and; 3) consistently execute a lead generation plan.

For some, purpose can be galvanising. For others, the relentless search for their ‘why’ can be an exhausting distraction.

6. Business development touches every other part of the agency

A conversation that starts with a lead generation issue quickly turns to one about positioning, culture, people and finance. Business development impacts, and is impacted by, all other functions of the agency, something that isn’t always understood or acknowledged.

As such, agencies under-invest in business development. It’s quite rare to find an agency that approaches it with the same level of intent as service delivery or account management, for example.

7. Peaks and troughs are born out of inconsistency

Many agencies are on a perpetual cycle of feast and famine. Busy one minute, panicking about how they’re going to fill the beer fridge the next.

Ups and downs are inevitable. But their size will hinge on an agency’s ability to execute the right lead generation tactics, consistently well. Always.

Sounds simple I know. But the reality is few agencies master this. The ones that do spend more time feasting and less time worrying about where the next meal is going to come from.

8. It all boils down to action

Sales, business development, new business, partnership marketing? Whatever you call it, the aim is the same: to continuously grow and nurture a network of on-profile prospects. That’s it.

In doing this, the only thing you can truly control is the actions you take – day in, day out, week in, week out. So, break tasks down into actions. Review and plan your actions weekly. Measure the % of actions you complete. Don’t drop below 85%. Do this on repeat and the big (sometimes scary) sales target will look after itself.

9. Impatience kills the right tactics before they have a chance to yield results

“What do you mean that webinar didn’t bring us any leads? Right, we’re not doing that again, what a waste of money.”

Sound familiar?

You run an event, for example, not because it will provide you with a bunch of ‘hot’ leads right now but because it puts you on the radar of people who might have a need in the future. Yet too many tactics like this are binned because of misplaced expectations and the wrong metrics.

I’ll leave it James Clear to sum up 8 and 9: ‘Be impatient with your actions. Be patient with your results.’

10. Referrals: more by accident than design

Referrals are the number one source of leads for most agencies. No news there. But it’s crazy how few agencies are proactively increasing the quantity and quality of referrals.

More worryingly, referrals are cited as justification not to invest in other activities. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. Worse, when you are, in effect, outsourcing lead generation – by hoping people will refer you – the basket isn’t even yours.

11. Outbound: simple in principle but rarely done well

I’ve spoken to hundreds of agencies. I can count on one hand the number that are proactively building relationships with prospects by phone, email and using LinkedIn, for example. And doing it well.

When it does happen, it tends to be a panicked reaction to an empty-looking pipeline. And therefore done badly.

12. For every agency that has good things to say about outsourcing lead gen…

…another ten say they got nothing from it.

But this is not to tarnish all lead generation agencies with the same brush. There are great ones out there. But there are also some who are happy to take the money and run.

If a lead generation agency doesn’t challenge you on your positioning, target audience, point of view, and content assets (amongst other things), you should be doing the running.

13. A career in business development is rarely planned

Not one person I’ve mentored set out to work as a business developer. But none of them regrets where they accidentally ended up, me included.

Thankfully, understanding and appreciation of business development is growing, helped by the likes of the BD100. But it still feels like we’ve got a way to go before it’s considered a career option by sixth formers and graduates…

14. …which is a problem because good business developers are in short supply

If you’ve got a good one, do your absolute utmost to keep them. Finding another won’t be easy.

15. Agencies (and clients) remain addicted to proposals and presentations

But they can’t do the selling for you.

So apply the following rule: a proposal or presentation should be confirmation of what you have already agreed verbally.

I haven’t pulled any stats together (note to self) but I know the agencies employing this approach – spending more time talking with prospects as part of a collaborative, exploratory process – have significantly increased their conversion rate.

16. When qualifying, most look for reasons why they SHOULD move forward…

But it’s better to identify all the reasons why you SHOULDN’T. It is a subtle but powerful shift in mindset. And it might just mean you waste less time on opportunities you stand little chance of winning.

17. People don’t like talking about money…

…especially early in the qualifying process. But this is exactly when you should be uncovering how much a prospect is willing and able to invest. If you don’t ask the awkward questions early, you’re setting yourself up to face objections later.

18. Average conversion rates hover around 30 – 40%…

…from proposal / pitch meeting to win.

Agency owners are often surprised when I tell them they should be aiming for a +70%. ‘Why so high?’ they ask? Because when an agency has a clear view of what the right client looks like (and therefore a framework to qualify against), they more easily separate those who fit from those who don’t. And spot the serious prospects amongst the timewasters.

And they work this out early, way before putting pen to paper on a proposal. As such, they pitch less to win more.

19. An agency owner cannot own business development AND be an effective leader

I’m yet to come across an agency that has broken a million with only the MD on business development and marketing. I’m sure they exist but suspect they are the exception, not the rule.

20. New business as everyone’s business? Easier said than done

The skills required to deliver a successful business development and marketing strategy are wide-ranging. So much so, one person cannot excel at them all. I’ve always believed business development should be a team effort; everyone in the agency can (and should) bring something to the party.

But creating this new business culture – where new business REALLY is everyone’s business – well, that’s tough. A misunderstanding (and therefore, fear) of ‘sales’, poor communication and the pressure of client work, are just three of the things holding agencies back in this respect.

21. Culture is created through shared values. Values are visible in behaviours

Sticking ‘innovate’ on the office wall won’t make a person more innovative.

For values to be effective, they need to be communicated as verbs (actions and behaviours). Whatever you say about Simon Sinek, I have him to thank for this one. It works.

22. The best time to work on the strategic stuff is…

…when things are going well (or at least OK). That might sound counterintuitive but when the opposite is true – when the pipeline is looking sparse, for example – agency leaders lack the clarity to make the best, long-term decisions. The focus is inevitably on the next couple of months and making sure there’s enough cash to cover payroll.

This is exactly the wrong time to bring in advisers like me.

23. Change takes time despite the ambition to move fast

Take repositioning, for example. When an agency chooses to transition from generalist to specialist, it takes at least a couple of years before they build a network, reputation and client base that justifies the decision.

Repositioning is a journey. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

24. Business development is messy

Much of my work with agencies is about systems, processes and frameworks. But for all the effort to make business development organised and consistent, it is, by its very nature, a bit chaotic.

If you’re a highly organised individual, you’ll bring a lot to the table. But you’ll also need to accept the untidiness of it all.

25. Agencies are brilliantly resilient

There were inevitably agencies that didn’t survive the pandemic. But the vast majority did. Some even thrived. And, if there is one good thing to come out of it, the feeling of camaraderie amongst agencies feels stronger than ever. I’ll drink to that.

I could go on but it’s going to mess with the double-5 in the title so let’s leave it there.

Before I go, a caveat to all this; I speak to and work with agencies who have an issue with business development. I, therefore, tend to see only the stuff that needs fixing.

But, of course, a lot of agencies are smashing it. And if you are, well done. Seriously, if most of what you’ve just read doesn’t apply, I take my hat off to you. Because, if I were to summarise in a few words what the last five years have taught me, you are the exception, not the rule, my friend.

Finally, I’d like to say a massive thank you to all those that have been a part of the journey so far: clients, partners, peers, friends, and family.

Here’s to the next five years of striving to make business development just a little bit easier.

25 anecdotes from 5 years of advising agenciesBen Potter2022-01-07T12:42:12+00:00

What is an ‘ideal client profile’ (and why have one)?

Ben Potter2021-02-22T13:17:38+00:00

What is an ‘ideal client profile’ (and why have one)?

Ideal client profile. I use this term a lot. So, I thought it about time I explained what it is, what it looks like and why it’s important.

For context, a quick recap on positioning. Whilst there are many definitions, I describe it as what you do, why you do it and, most importantly, for who. It combines your expertise, beliefs and values to (ideally) create a point of difference in the mind of a buyer…

“Ahh yes, they’re the agency that specialise in helping start-ups make their first million…”

That kind of thing.

An ideal client profile – let’s call it an ICP for ease – is a product of good positioning. It’s a visual representation of your agency’s ‘who’; the sectors, businesses and people where your expertise is best applied.

What does it look like?

Short and simple. Here’s a semi-fictitious example…

Let’s break it down.

This agency specialises in ecommerce, working with online retailers at a particular stage of growth: scaling-up.

Drilling down into the detail…

Sectors
In this example, the agency narrows their audience further by specifying four sub-sectors where they are most experienced (with case studies, awards and so on to back it up).

It doesn’t mean they refuse companies outside of these sub-sectors. But their ideal client – those that they actively target – will be in homeware, health and beauty, etc.

Traits
Whilst an ecommerce brand might tick the sub-sector and scale-up boxes, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the right fit. Other factors come into play, such as where they are located, the markets they serve, turnover, in-house resource and budget, for example.

Situation
Furthermore, their ideal client will have certain goals and challenges, which dictate what they need from an agency partner. For example, most prospects’ have ‘outgrown a smaller agency or freelancer’, and will therefore need a larger, specialist agency to take them to the next level.

Culture
A few adjectives to describe the ethos and values the agency look for. They know from experience that the closer a client’s culture aligns to their own, the more fruitful the relationship will be for both parties.

Roles
The client-side stakeholders likely have a say in selecting and working alongside the agency.

Of course, you can take this a step further by creating personas that drill down into the specific goals, issues, needs, motivations and desired outcomes of individual buyers. Personas can be particularly useful for subtle tweaks to your proposition when prospecting, for example. But be mindful of adding too much detail, especially when it comes to the personal stuff. I’ll leave it to David C Baker to explain.

Mindset
When thinking about stakeholders, you might include some detail on attitude and outlook. In this example, a prospect who fails to demonstrate a collaborative spirit, or a willingness to have their perspective challenged during the qualifying process, is likely to spell trouble later.

Why is having an ICP important?

Business development is never easy. But it can be made easier.

An ICP achieves this by…

Tightening your ‘go to market’ messaging…
The tighter your audience, the easier it is to create a short and compelling proposition i.e.

We work with…(markets / audiences)

…helping them to…(problems / opportunities)

…that…(benefits / outcomes)

Conversely, if you offer a glut of services to a multitude of different looking clients, boiling your proposition down to a simple one-liner (that is easily grasped internally and externally) is tough. And more likely to have you default to look-a-like territory.

Shaping your business development and marketing activity
With an almost endless array of channels and tactics to choose from, agencies often fall into the trap of doing a lot of things badly, as opposed to a few things well.

A narrower ICP helps solve this problem. Building lists, determining the size of your addressable market and researching prospects are all directed by the ICP.

In turn, this informs how you should spend your time (and money) to target those prospects based on where they hang out, how they buy, who influences their decisions and so on. Clarity comes with focus.

The opposite is true when an agency claims to work with ‘businesses of all shapes and sizes, across a wide range of sectors’. Where do you begin in coming up with a business development and marketing plan that is, in effect, trying to target everyone?

Providing your qualifying framework
An ICP is the basis by which you decide which opportunities to say ‘yes’ and, perhaps more importantly, those where you say ‘no’.

It shapes the due diligence you do when a lead comes in (before you commit to a call), the questions you ask and the means by which you justify moving forward. Or not. Without an ICP, the chances are you won’t be saying ‘no’ nearly as often as you should.

It’s worth saying there will be instances when it makes sense to work with clients that don’t quite fit (the clue is in the name: ‘ideal’). But this should be the exception, rather than the norm.

Final thoughts

Once you define your audience, the impact on business development can be transformational. Again, clarity comes with focus.

A tight ICP is one of the outputs of the work and sacrifice of good positioning.

Sacrifice being the acceptance that if you want to be good at something (and known for it), you can’t be good at doing everything, for everybody.

Do you have an ideal client profile? What do you include in yours?

What is an ‘ideal client profile’ (and why have one)?Ben Potter2021-02-22T13:17:38+00:00