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So far Ben Potter has created 33 blog entries.

What’s in your business development playbook?

Ben Potter2021-01-27T17:56:33+00:00

What’s in your business development playbook?

Quite rightly, agencies invest a lot of time thinking about (and documenting) how their services are delivered, how to communicate with clients and the means by which they report results. Operationally, there are policies, processes and templates aplenty.

However, with new business, it’s a different story. Business development is rarely designed or documented with the same rigour. Execution is therefore patchy and inconsistent at best. And that leads to the big peaks and troughs in revenue (many consider these normal when they needn’t be).

If you want to flatten these out, there is only one way; give business development the same attention as any other function of the agency (if not, more). And document everything.

In my agency days, we had a playbook; our new business bible, if you like. It could be handed over to a new recruit and after a large brew, they’d know all about our approach to new business – from positioning to pitching and everything in between. (Training was more hands-on than that. But you get my drift).

The idea of a playbook remains something I recommend (and work towards) with my clients. Some will have the beginnings of one when we start out. Others will have little. Either way, the goal is to fill in the gaps.

So, what does the playbook include? Here’s my suggested contents page, with some brief notes to tell you what each section / sub-section is all about:

Positioning

What you do, who for, how and why – the foundations of your business development strategy.

Your story
How did the agency get started? How has it evolved over time? Where are you now?

Your vision, mission and values
Building on the above, why do you exist, what is your cause and how do you like to do business?

Target audience
Who are you trying to speak to? What does your ideal client look like? For most smaller agencies, the narrower the audience, the better.

Value proposition, elevator pitch and one-liner
Your ‘go to market’ messaging, focused on the problems you help address for your target audience (and / or the opportunities you help them exploit).

Overview of services and pricing
A summary of what you do. Features, benefits and pricing for each of your services. You might also include a brief overview of any methodologies or frameworks used in delivering your services (especially if they are proprietary and add weight to your proposition).

Business development and marketing activity

With a clearly defined target audience, this section explains how you build awareness and create opportunity.

Objectives
Your SMART, new business objective and how this breaks down into tactical targets, such as the required number of wins, proposals / pitches, qualifying calls and so on.

Also, include a summary of your methodology in working out the above. Or stick it in the Appendix.

Strategy overview
A brief explanation of how you are going to meet those objectives and targets (‘how’ being the keyword here), including an overview of barriers to overcome and strengths to exploit.

Team
In delivering the strategy, a summary of roles, responsibilities and reporting lines, including any external partners.

Thought leadership
Your point of view, manifesto or core belief; the central pillar that guides your content strategy, public speaking gigs, events and so on.

Collateral
The key assets that demonstrate your expertise, perspective and impact; the kind of stuff used to open doors and nurture relationships e.g. whitepapers, reports, case studies, testimonials, award wins and so on (and where these assets can be accessed).

Technology and tools
Outlining the technology used by the agency to support activity, such as your CRM, automation platforms and intelligence tools.

Execution
A summary of channels and tactics. Whilst the playbook doesn’t include detailed goals, plans and actions, it should direct people to where these can be found and any guidance on how such templates are used.

Qualifying and discovery

Covering everything the agency does in separating the prospects who fit from those who don’t and spotting the serious opportunities amongst the tire-kickers.

Qualifying and discovery process
The steps taken from pre-qualifying all the way through to on-boarding (and the goals / actions associated with each of those stages).

Questioning frameworks
Guidelines on the questions asked at each stage of the process, including examples and links to relevant templates.

Internal briefing guidelines
A summary of the information to be gathered from a prospect before briefing the internal team e.g. background, objectives, challenges, success criteria and so on.

Lead scoring and forecasting methodology
The criteria used to pre-qualify, fully qualify and weight opportunities in your pipeline.

Proposals and pitching

Outlining everything the agency does to prepare, create, send / present and follow up proposals.

Proposal and presentation guidelines
Direction on proposal / presentation structure, style and format, including links to templates and recent examples.

Pitch meeting guidelines
A checklist of things that should happen before, during and after a pitch meeting. Who is involved, when and how? This section should now include notes on delivering pitches virtually – they are here to stay, even when things get back to some kind of normal.

Pitch review process
Win or lose, the questions you ask prospects and how feedback is shared across the agency (and acted upon).

On-boarding process
Covering everything that needs to happen for a smooth handover to the delivery team.

Reporting and review

The means by which you know if things are going well. Or not.

Lead and lag key performance indicators
An overview of business development and marketing KPIs, how they’re tracked and by who.

Weekly and monthly meeting agendas
What is discussed in progress meetings, who needs to attend, how often they take place and so on.

Reward / compensation plan
An overview of any commission structures and company bonus schemes that are related to new business performance.

Appendix

Stick everything in here that is too long to go in the main document e.g. detailed methodologies, frameworks, templates and processes

This is not a static document. Some sections will be reviewed, refined and added to on a fairly regular basis. Others not so much.

This leads to the question; should you have a playbook in place before recruiting a business developer or build it out once they are on-board? There’s an argument to say a good business developer will have a lot to contribute to its creation. And you’d be absolutely right. In fact, I’d encourage it.

HOWEVER, the reason why so many business developers are out on their ear after three-months is because a lot of this isn’t already in place. I’m particularly referring to the big stuff like positioning.

The poor business developer is therefore working with a blank canvas. As well as being expected to bring in the bacon, he or she is also tasked with effectively building the new business function from scratch (which the playbook is designed to document).

That’s fine. But only if you give them the time and space to do so.

Otherwise, I’d recommend getting a large chunk of the playbook in place first. Design the function and then recruit into it accordingly. Not only will you have a much better idea of the person / people you need (experience, skills, strength / relevance of their network, etc) but you’ll also give them more of a fighting chance when they join.

That’s my playbook. What does yours look like? Have I missed anything?

Photo by Susan Yin on Unsplash

What’s in your business development playbook?Ben Potter2021-01-27T17:56:33+00:00

10 easy-wins to make new business, everyone’s business

Ben Potter2020-12-10T10:48:56+00:00

10 easy-wins to make new business, everyone’s business

First, a confession. I stole the title for this article. Well, the second half anyway.

Recently, I attended Winning Together, a virtual event for the cream of the business development community (and me) to share experiences, insights and tips.

The first panel discussion – where said title came from – had Camilla Harrison, Jason Foo and Sherilyn Shackell discussing the importance of instilling a new business culture across an agency (there’s more in this write up from Jody Osman).

I found myself nodding along. A lot. The skills required to deliver a successful new business and marketing strategy are wide-ranging. So much so, one person cannot possibly excel at them all. I’ve therefore always believed that new business should be a team effort.

That’s all very well. But it’s easier said than done. So, what are the practical things a business developer (BD) can do to create an ‘in it together’ mentality across the agency: where new business rests not on the shoulders of one, but the shoulders of many?

Building on the excellent insight shared by Camilla, Jason and Sherilyn, here are some (relatively) easy wins to do just that:

1) Position the role of BD in the right way

As BD, you are not THE solution to winning new business. You are part of the solution (albeit an especially important one). Ensure the team understand that whilst you play the lead role, without a supporting cast your efforts will be hampered.

From day one, new business should be positioned as a collaborative effort where everybody plays their part (see point 6).

2) Physically sit business development at the heart of the agency

This is one for next year. When returning to the office, take a look at where you are physically sat.

I’ve walked into agencies where the BD might as well have had leprosy; sat in a corner, on their own, far enough away not to infect others with their salesy curse.

The BD should be at the centre of things. Where you can hear the conversations between the team and with clients. Importantly, the team should be able to listen in on some of the conversations you are having with prospects.

If you want to educate them on what business development is all about, let them hear and feel it.

3) Communicate objectives and plans. And keep the team updated on progress

When it’s ready, present your new business and marketing plan to the team. Better still, involve them in creating it. I find it particularly useful to get their take on the agency’s strengths (and their individual capabilities), how much resource is available and any barriers they anticipate the agency facing in executing the plan.

And then once things are underway, keep the team updated. New business should be on the agenda of every company meeting, whether that’s the Monday morning huddle or the end of month review.

For example, Monday morning is a great opportunity to communicate where you need support in the week ahead. Nobody will appreciate being asked for ‘a few slides’ the night before a pitch. They will thank you for giving them four days’ notice.

4) Ask the team who they would love to work with

A well-positioned agency will know exactly who they are best placed to help. They’ll have an ‘ideal client profile’ that acts as the basis for building a prospect list and the framework by which opportunities are qualified.

Share this with the team. Ask them if they know of any brands they’d love to work with (fitting the profile, of course). They’ll get a kick out of knowing you are actively pursuing brands they have an affinity to.

And, you never know, someone might pipe up with a cheeky…’oh, my friend works there…’

Talking of which…

5) Encourage everyone to tap into their network

Business development is about relationships. But even a seasoned BD can only ever have so many.

If you’ve got a list of people you’d love to speak to, but you’ve got no relationship, maybe someone in the team has. By asking five, ten or twenty other people in the agency to look at your prospects on LinkedIn, the chances of finding a shared connection are multiplied.

You can’t put a value on an ‘in’ like this. It’s so much better than approaching a prospect cold. So, you might want to reward your helpful colleague. Nothing major; a bottle of something nice will show your appreciation.

6) Play to the team’s strengths and interests

Twenty years ago, sales involved a telephone and a Rolodex (thankfully, things have moved on).

Today, the number of tactics is endless. As are the skills required to execute those tactics. This means everyone in the agency can (and should) bring something to the party.

Whether it’s researching, planning, writing, speaking, organising, designing, networking, tweeting (and many other words ending with ‘ing’), explore how they’d like to contribute. Play to people’s strengths and interests. Put tactical goals in place. Focus on action. And make sure people have the time (around client work) to give it their undivided attention.

7) Even the simple act of reading can be invaluable

Every member of your team reads stuff. Or they should be. This is a great way for everyone to contribute to your prospecting efforts.

Using a tool, such as Pocket or Diigo, the team can tag and save the (relevant) content they are digesting into a central repository. Over time, you’ll build a bank of curated content that can be searched by subject, sector or discipline. The kind of value-add stuff you can be sharing with your prospects.

8) Educate and coach those around you

Do your team associate business development with a more traditional view of sales and selling, wincing at the very thought of it?

If so, educate them. Share insight, tips and resources on business development. Especially support those on the front line; account managers who have a responsibility for identifying up-sell / cross-sell opportunities.

The more people get new business, the better they’ll get at it.

9) Involve the team early(ish) and often in the pitch process

The pitch process should be a collaborative one between agency and prospect. But it should also be a collaborative process internally. Involve the team to interrogate, shape and respond to a brief. Don’t just wheel them in for the pitch. As much as anything else, this will help them understand how you decide which opportunities to pursue and which to pass up.

But protect people’s time. Qualify the prospect before you get the team involved. The more you waste peoples’ time on ‘opportunities’ you don’t end up winning, the more reluctant they will be to get involved again in the future.

10) Share feedback; good, bad and indifferent

Successes should be celebrated for what they are – a team effort – and losses commiserated likewise.

Win or lose, gather feedback and take time out to talk it through with the team. Acknowledge the effort and contribution made by everyone involved. Learn from every experience.

And when you don’t win (even though you are crying inside), stay positive. Drive the team forward. Today you may have lost. But tomorrow you go again.

Look, none of these things will change the game on their own. I’ve barely touched on the importance (and meatier topics) of positioning, values and incentives in building a new business culture.

But remember; business development is all about those marginal gains. Many small changes can combine to big effect.

Have I missed anything? What do you do to make new business, everyone’s business?

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash

10 easy-wins to make new business, everyone’s businessBen Potter2020-12-10T10:48:56+00:00

How much does purpose really matter?

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:13:05+00:00

This article was originally published on Econsultancy, where I am a guest writer.

How much does purpose really matter for agencies?

Well, it’s been quite the year so far hasn’t it? From the many conversations I’ve had with agency owners in recent months, it’s been a mixed bag at best.

A few have thrived, many have dived. For some, the pandemic has created more of an existential crisis. And what follows an existential crisis? Existential questions. What are we doing? Are we happy doing it? Why do we exist? What is our agency’s purpose? These big and hairy questions are always there, niggling away. But during ‘normal’ times they often get brushed aside because, hey, we’ve got another proposal to get out the door by Friday so it’s all good.

I actually wrote the bulk of this article at the turn of the year. But as things really kicked off it didn’t feel appropriate. Agency owners had more pressing issues than getting the senior team together for a deep and meaningful. But let’s hope (and pray) we are through the worst of it.

If you’ve made it this far, you might just be turning your attention to fixing stuff that has been on the ‘to-do’ list for too long. And they don’t come much bigger than positioning – what you do, how you do it, why and most importantly, for who.

In my experience, the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘who’ are normally pretty straightforward to nail down (as long as the agency is willing to make a few sacrifices along the way). It’s the ‘why’ bit that I know agency owners wrestle with.

Me too. Ever since a guy called Simon Sinek came into my life.

The paradox of ‘why’

If you haven’t read Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ (or watched the TED talk), Simon makes the very compelling argument that ‘people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it’. ‘Why’ is defined as a purpose, cause or belief; the reason a company exists.

Sinek goes on to say that when a company doesn’t have a clear sense of ‘why’, they are only able to communicate what they do to the outside world. Agency land is a shining example of this with the ‘what’ (services) normally put front and centre of the proposition. You know how it goes:

“We’re an award-winning digital marketing agency delivering SEO, PPC, blah, blah…”

Seeing this as a major failing, and with Simon whispering sweet nothings in my ear, I made it my mission to help agencies find their ‘why’. And to shape a more compelling proposition as a result.

However, it didn’t always go quite as Simon had me believe. I often came away disappointed at the end of a positioning workshop, experiencing a mini existential crisis of my own. Where was the profound sense of ‘why’ that I’d expected to uncover? Was it me? Had I asked the right questions? Had I dug deep enough?

Or, was it them? Can it really be that his main motivation for running an agency is to provide for his family? Is a ‘desire to navigate her own path’ her actual ‘why’? Did this guy really start his business just because he despised the agency that sucked the life out of him during a five-year stint doing the ‘London thing’?

More worryingly, how am I going to build a proposition out of this stuff?

Now, before I go on, let me firstly acknowledge that anyone setting up an own agency does so for a damn good reason. It’s certainly not something you do for the hell of it.

But whilst the reasons I uncovered were all very honourable, I couldn’t help but think, ‘is that it?’ Surely Simon was referring to something much deeper and more worthy?

Wasn’t he? Simon…?

Not every agency will be saving the world

And then it started to dawn on me.

Whilst all agency owners have a sense of purpose, a reason why they do what they do, it’s not always that laudable or exciting. Often the ‘why’ is bloody mundane, to be honest.

And, that’s absolutely fine.

The question, therefore, is not whether purpose exists. It does. Instead, the question is how much it really matters to a client? And therefore, when it comes to shaping an agency’s proposition, how much of a light do you shine on it?

To give an example. An agency only works with businesses who champion ethical and environmental causes. Now, you might see this as a cynical attempt to cash in on the most profound challenge in human history. But I doubt many people set up or reposition an agency to take advantage in that way.

Instead, the people running this agency would quite like to see polar bears survive the end of the century. In fact, when I chat to them about how and why the agency started, their mission was very clear from day one. It’s something they live and breathe, professionally and personally.

This is likely to attract the kind of people and organisations that share the same view. So, when it comes to their proposition, the ‘why’ is dialled up.

However, not all agencies exist for reasons that are quite so worthy (and frankly, most aren’t looking to). It’s admirable to start an agency because you found the dishonest behaviour of your last employer appalling. Approaching business with more sincere intentions is not to be sniffed at.

However, when this ‘why’ leads to a proposition built around ‘more honesty’ and ‘greater transparency’, it puts an agency firmly into hygiene factor territory. Because pretty much every other agency says the same. It’s also the absolute minimum a client expects. No client sets out to work with liars and charlatans, right?

So, in this instance, the ‘why’ might well shape how the agency goes about its business. It might inform values and desired behaviours in staff. But in terms of the proposition, it should be dialled down.

Think of it as a ‘spectrum of why’

At one end, you have agencies where it makes sense to sing it loud and proud. In itself, the why is powerful and relevant enough to act like a filter, attracting like-minded clients and employees. It also detracts from those whose thinking and values don’t align. In this sense, I think Mr Sinek had it right.

At the other end of the scale, purpose still exists. But it isn’t strong enough to be front and centre of your proposition. Claiming to be ‘more honest’, whilst commendable, doesn’t make your agency different.

This is where I’m not so convinced Simon’s right. In my experience, clients will be more attracted by an agency who understands their market and can demonstrate they have the expertise to fix a problem. Their ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ will trump a weaker ‘why’ every time.

An alternative to purpose: don’t be afraid to play it unsafe

So, what do you do if your ‘why’ isn’t all that meaningful or relevant to clients? If it isn’t something that you should shine a light on, how do you find a way to stand out and attract the like-minded?

Firstly, be explicit in defining your audience. By doing so, you can build a proposition around the problems they face and the outcomes they care most about. Seek to avoid the boastful claims and inward-looking language of ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’.

From there, establish a point of view, angle or opinion (relevant to that audience). If it’s a touch controversial or even polarising, all the better. There is too big a middle ground to play it safe so don’t be afraid to piss a few people off. After all, if they don’t agree with your thinking, they are probably the clients you want to avoid anyway.

Make your peace with ‘why’

For most agencies, trouble standing out and winning the right clients is not a failure of ‘why’. It is a failure to define what the right client looks. It is a failure to build a relevant, compelling proposition around this audience. And it’s a failure in having an interesting point of view.

I’ve made my peace with Simon, concluding that for some agencies their ‘why’ will form the bedrock of their proposition. For most others, it won’t.

So, if the events of this year mean you’re asking a few existential questions of your own but the ‘why’ bit falls some way short of saving the planet, don’t fret. The vast majority of clients probably don’t care, much preferring to hear how you’re going to make their life easier.

In fact, I don’t remember sitting in a single meeting where a prospect asked me ‘why does your agency exist’ or ‘why do you do what you do’? And quite frankly, I’m glad they didn’t.

I’m not sure my response of “I kind of fell into this and I’ve got a massive student loan to pay back” would have been all that inspiring.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash.

How much does purpose really matter?Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:13:05+00:00

8 principles to qualify prospects properly

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:18:39+00:00

Eight principles to help you better qualify new business opportunities

When it comes to how agencies and clients approach working together, I believe there are too many ingrained behaviours, processes and dated methods that ultimately benefit neither party.

None more so than the pitch process. Too often, it is heavily weighted in favour of the client. They can fire out an RFP to twenty agencies. Some will decline to take part. But most will exhaust every ounce of energy to share their strategic nous or creative brilliance (for free). Only to see the prospect do nothing. Or worse, stick with their incumbent.

This is, of course, an extreme example. But I hear variations of this story every day. Poor positioning, a fear of saying ‘no’ and the pressure to keep feeding the machine, all play their part. Not to mention clients who gladly take advantage of this, intentional or otherwise.

It means far too many hours are wasted writing proposals and pitch decks for ‘opportunities’ that agencies stand little, or no, chance of winning.

Now for the bit you don’t want to hear

It’s easy to blame the prospect in this scenario. But the lion’s share of that blame sits with the agency. I know that’s difficult to accept. But it’s true. Because in most cases, it’s a failure of process.

In their book, ‘Let’s get real or let’s not play’, Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig estimate that 80% of lost sales opportunities are the result of an inadequate or non-existing qualifying process.

Anecdotally, that feels about right.

So, to help you spend less time on opportunities you stand little chance of winning (and more time on those that you do), here are some key principles to apply to your qualifying process:

1. Qualifying isn’t a one-off affair

We’ve all received one of those calls (at 5pm on a Wednesday) where a prospect needs a proposal on their desk by Friday. After dropping everything, we get the proposal in before the weekend. And then chase for weeks, giving up only when it becomes clear we’ve been ghosted.

Trust me, you’ll only make this mistake once. Won’t you…?

For whatever reason, agencies and clients are far too eager to get to the money shot (or proposal, as it is otherwise known). Qualifying is treated as something that is done early and done once. Wrong. Qualifying is not a one-off event. It isn’t something you tick off the list after the first call.

Instead, as one of my mentors taught me, qualifying is about gaining lots of small ‘yeses’ from the prospect. Which, hopefully, combine into one big ‘YES’ at the end.

Gaining these ‘yeses’ means asking A LOT of questions that simply can’t be covered off in one introductory call or chemistry meeting.

A decent qualifying process, whilst never perfectly linear, will encourage you to take stock at different stages. It will encourage you to seek the opinion of others, speak to the prospect more regularly (therefore building rapport) and gain those all-important ‘yeses’ along the way. All of which allows you can put together your proposal or pitch deck with greater confidence. More on that later.

2. If you are going to say ‘no’, do it early

When a lead comes in, give yourself some wiggle room to do a bit of due diligence first. Whilst it’s tempting to jump straight on a call, make of an assessment of how closely they fit your ideal client profile.

Clearly, there are certain things that are difficult to judge without a conversation. But there is a lot that can be gleaned from your desk. If they’re not right, be brave and say ‘no’. Go on, I dare you.

And if they do pass the first fitness test, your homework will stand you in good stead for the next step.

3. Always set a meeting agenda

Assuming you decide to progress, an introductory call or meeting will be the next step.

Always send an agenda and invite the recipient to add to it. Make sure you are both clear on exactly where you want to be by the end of the meeting. That way, the prospect can be prepared with the information you need. And you can be prepared with what they want to hear.

Don’t leave it to chance. I once went to a meeting that I thought was an initial meet and greet. Turned out it was a pitch. I didn’t win the business. And I didn’t make the same mistake again.

4. Put your creds away

As eager as you might be to talk through your creds at the start of the meeting (and even if the prospect asks you to), don’t. I repeat, don’t.

Instead, the spotlight should be on the prospect sat in front of you right now, not your past glories.

So, start the meeting with questions. Talking of which…

5. Go big, broad and bold with your questions

One of the great advantages an agency can create during the pitch process is in the questions they ask. If you’ve ever had a prospect say something like ‘that’s a really interesting question’, then well done. Because your question just provoked a new thought, idea, or possibility in the mind of the prospect. And that’s a good thing.

Questions also put a prospect at ease because they won’t feel like they’re being spoken at or sold to. Someone once said to me I was ‘the most un-salesy salesperson they’d ever met’. I took this as a great compliment. Because they didn’t realise I WAS selling. But I was doing it through the questions I was asking, not by making grand statements about my untold brilliance (if you’ve ever met me, you’ll know this is not my style anyway, I’m pretty self-deprecating). They went on to become a client by the way.

There are literally hundreds of questions you might ask during the qualifying process. I divide them into three categories:

1) Big, hairy questions that uncover where the prospect is trying to get to, the issues they are facing and what success looks like, as well as the needs, desires, motivations and concerns of the people involved.

2) Questions specific to the product or service under discussion, uncovering more granular pain points.

3) Questions that determine how likely things will move forward on terms both parties are happy with. Think budget, timescales, stakeholder opinion, other options, and the decision-making process.

As a rule of thumb, start with the big, hairy questions.

The broader you go in your questioning, the more you will learn. And the more you learn, the better you are placed to challenge the prospect, reveal new opportunities, and offer the right advice. All of which builds trust and elevates you above the competition.

6. Involve the team early and often

The pitch process should be a collaborative one between agency and client. But it should also be a collaborative process internally.

The stories of maverick business developers promising the earth to a prospect, chucking the bomb over the fence and wishing the team luck, are plenty. Avoid the ensuing shitshow this creates by involving those who will be delivering the work at the earliest opportunity.

They will inevitably have different questions, perspectives and ideas. Don’t just wheel them in for the pitch meeting. Make them an integral part of the process to interrogate, shape and respond to the brief.

7. Only put into writing what you have agreed verbally

A proposal or presentation should not be a BIG REVEAL, Don Draper style. There should be no major surprises. Instead, it should be confirmation of what you have broadly, already agreed with the prospect.

Before you put pen to paper, give the prospect a call. Talk through your top-line strategy, idea, or approach to get their buy-in well before the pitch. One of two things will happen. Either they are happy with the direction you’re headed meaning you can write your proposal / pitch deck without any grey areas, guesses or assumptions.

Or they’re not quite sure. In which case you can talk through their concerns and make revisions now, rather than batting away their objections later.

8. Even at the pitch meeting, you are still qualifying

Qualifying continues right the way through the process, meaning there will be questions you pose even at the pitch meeting. For example:

What do you see of particular value in our proposal?

Does our recommended approach still meet your brief?

Is there anything you are uncertain about in our approach?

Is there anything you have seen from another agency that we didn’t cover?

Is there anything else you need to see from us to get this signed off?

ABQ…

Until next time.

Always Be Qualifying.

8 principles to qualify prospects properlyBen Potter2020-11-20T14:18:39+00:00

Increase referrals by building your partner network

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:22:44+00:00

How to increase referrals by building your partner network

A network of like-minded, complementary partners should be an integral part of your business development activity. I recently looked at how to increase the frequency and quality of client referrals with a more systematic approach. The same is true of your partner network. It’s no good waiting (and hoping) to be referred. You’ve got to take control and make things happen.

Here are some pointers to help you do just that.

First, build a prospect list

Let’s say as part of your business development plan you set a target to establish five, new strategic partnerships this year. To get to your favoured five, you might need to approach, speak to or test the water with ten or fifteen.

So, you need a partner prospect list. Just as you have one for prospective clients. (You do, right?).

Start by identifying the products or services (outside of your own) that your clients spend money on. Shortlist those that are a natural fit to your offering. For example, if you do digital marketing, a development agency partner would make sense.

Next, ask your clients about other agencies they work with and where they could facilitate an introduction (assuming they think they’re good).

Add to this list with some research. Look through directories and buyers guides, for example, The Drum Recommends, Campaign and regional resources, such as Prolific North. There’s also Google, of course. But be specific in what you’re looking for e.g. “web development retail London”.

As you scan the websites, content and social feeds of prospective partners look for…

Focus / specialisms – are they targeting the same industries / sectors / types of client?

Services – is there any crossover and therefore a potential conflict of interest?

Clients – are they working with brands on your target list?

Values – is there evidence that they share your outlook, thinking or way of doing business?

Size – are they independent or part of a network?

People – who is most likely to be responsible for partnerships? Do you have any shared connections on LinkedIn you can reference when getting in touch?

Marketing / PR – for example, are there any upcoming (virtual) events they are hosting or sponsoring? This might be a good chance to see what they’re all about.

For those that make the cut, follow the agency and key individuals on Twitter, LinkedIn and any other relevant networks. You could also sign up to their newsletter.

Make your approach

Like any relationship, there must be a mutual benefit. The prospective partner should feel from the outset that there is something in it for them. If your approach is focused only on what you want, you’re less likely to get a positive response.

If you were to send an email or LinkedIn message, it might read something like this:

Hi NAME,

From time to time our clients ask us if we know anyone good at SERVICE. In doing some research on their behalf, I came across your agency.

From your website, it looks like we are focused on working with similar clients. I also really like your ethos around SHARED THINKING / VALUE.

Let me know if you’re up for a chat to explore things further.

Cheers,

Ben

As always, keep your message short and sweet.

Or you could bypass email altogether and, dare I say, pick up the phone.

Qualify they’re a good fit

Just like a prospective client, you want to avoid jumping into bed with the wrong partner. Set up a call or meeting (remember those?) where you explore stuff like…

How did the agency get started? How have they grown and evolved since then?

How long have they focused or specialised in the audience / sectors / services detailed on their website?

What is their take on current trends and developments in these sectors / services?

Who are they working with right now? What are the key challenges these clients are facing? Which of these are they typically able to help with? Are there other challenges that come up in discussion that they are unable to address themselves?

Do they partner with any other agencies similar to yours?

How would they describe their culture?

What challenges do they face in terms of sales, marketing and PR? What have they got planned?

The expectation, of course, is that they will ask similar questions of you. If they don’t, it’s probably a red flag.

Nurture the relationship

Even if those early discussions go well, it is unlikely the new partner will simply start throwing leads your way. You’ll need to invest time in the relationship before you can expect to get anything back.

To get you started, here are thirteen ideas for staying front of mind…

1) Suggest that you present your background, service offering, approach and success stories to their wider team, especially those regularly speaking to clients, such as Account Managers.

2) Use this as a catalyst to set up regular knowledge-sharing sessions.

3) Ensure they are clear in who you are targeting. Share your ‘ideal client profile’.

4) Give them the confidence to talk about your agency and the value you bring by providing a messaging template (value proposition, elevator pitch, etc).

5) Share new case studies to bring your elevator pitch to life.

6) Keep them updated on your client wins, especially where there might be an opportunity to introduce them in the future.

7) Regularly share content reflecting your thinking / outlook / approach. Make it easy for the partner to share this content with their clients. For example, provide an email template overviewing the content (and why their clients should read it).

8) Invite them to an event or webinar you are attending / hosting.

9) Bring your teams together to explore joint marketing initiatives, such as research, content or events.

10) Help them look good. Share ideas and opportunities specific to one of their clients that they can incorporate into an upcoming review.

11) Make an introduction to another partner or someone that can help with their business, such as an advisor or consultant.

12) Congratulate them on their news, such as their latest award win.

13) And if you’re confident enough to do so, refer them to one of your clients. It’s the best way to get one back (so says the rule of reciprocity).

A bit of admin

Make sure there is a clear process in place for how introductions are made. For example, agree on the information that will be gathered by the other party. Will introductions be made over email? How quickly will you respond to that email?

You may also decide to formalise the agreement with some basic terms, including a kickback on any business you win as a direct result of the introduction (5-10% seems to be the norm). Alternatively, keep things fairly informal for the first few months to see how the relationship evolves. This has always been my preference.

At the very least, recognise, thank and reward those that refer you. If this doesn’t take the form of cold, hard cash, then send them a gift, take them out for (a socially distanced) lunch or buy them a ticket for an event. That sort of thing.

And just as you use your CRM to keep a track of your relationships with prospects and clients, do the same for partners. Create a category, label or tag for ‘partners’ so they can be easily filtered. Include background information. Keep contact details up to date. Set yourself a task or action to keep in touch at regular intervals.

And add a ‘partners’ option under ‘sources’ so you can track how many leads come from your partner network. By following the steps above you should soon start to see them increasing.

Now go.

Go on.

Make it happen.

Increase referrals by building your partner networkBen Potter2020-11-20T14:22:44+00:00

Get proactive with client referrals

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:25:43+00:00

Get proactive with client referrals

Like most agencies, I bet you already get your fair share of referrals; clients and partners recommending your agency to prospects who might benefit from your expertise.

Referrals are great. They’re a sign you’re doing a good job. And the sales cycle is often shorter, and the close rate higher, compared to leads from other sources.

But referrals are also a problem if your agency is too reliant on them. And without a systematic approach to increase the frequency and quality of those referrals, the problem is compounded. It means growth (or survival) is contingent on something you have virtually no control over. Instead, you are reliant on whatever happens to come through the front door.

For a lot of agencies, pipelines have been decimated in recent months. Projects have been put on hold or cancelled indefinitely. So now, more than ever, you’ve got to make things happen.

Start by taking a more proactive approach to client referrals. It looks something like this:

Start by setting yourself a target

Let’s say you have a new business objective of £500K for the year. From a standing start, it can feel pretty daunting.

To make that big number less frightening break it down into smaller targets and ultimately, actions. For example, to hit your big number, you estimate you’ll need 30 on-profile leads. From there, set targets by channel, say 15 leads from inbound, 5 from outbound and 10 via referrals.

You can then set yourself a goal of, say, 20 referral requests over the year (with a view that 50% will convert to an on-profile lead). That’s less than two requests a month.

See, feels better already, right?

Lay the foundations early to ask later

A lot of people I speak to say they feel uncomfortable asking a client for a referral.

A great tip I picked up from Anthony Iannarino is to lay the foundations to ask by introducing the idea of referrals early in the relationship. Not long after the client has signed on the dotted line, explain that referrals are your most successful form of lead generation. Talk about how much you are looking forward to workinhttps://thesalesblog.com/g together and your confidence in exceeding their expectations. And that when this happens, you hope they won’t mind you asking for a referral or two.

This works particularly well if the new client was referred to you of course.

Use feedback as a catalyst to ask

Focus your referral requests on those clients you know are in a good place. You might know this anecdotally. If not, consider a more formal method for gaining feedback. I know NPS (Net Promoter Score) gets mixed reviews. That’s a debate for another day. But as a means of facilitating a referral, I think it works particularly well.

If you are not familiar with NPS, it involves just two questions, along the lines of the following:

On a scale of 1 – 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our agency to your colleagues or peers?

Please can you provide a brief explanation of your score?

Those clients scoring you 6 or below are ‘Detractors’, 7 or 8 are ‘Passives’ and 9 or 10 are ‘Promoters’.

NPS tees up your ask perfectly (for those scoring you highly) because it directs attention towards referring you, something they may not have thought about without being prompted.

As an aside, I’d recommend speaking to all clients after receiving back your score. Whether it’s good bad or indifferent, it’s a great starting point to an open conversation on what is working / not working and how you can improve. From experience, this is far more effective than a multiple-choice, Survey Monkey questionnaire, for example.

Ask in the right way

So, your client gives you a 9. They explain their reasoning. They’re happy. You’re happy. Now it’s time to ask them for a referral (maybe even two. Hell, you only live once).

Firstly, explain why referrals are valuable. You might say something like:

“We are looking to grow by working with more great clients like you. Referrals have always been an effective way of doing this. I was wondering if you might be able to help.”

Notice the complement in there. It never hurts.

Next, be specific. It’s no good asking ‘do you know anyone that might be interested in what we do?’. That puts all the onus on your client to come up with a list of names. Which is no good anyway.

Instead, do your homework. Use LinkedIn to identify relevant prospects they are connected to. Seek to understand the nature of their relationship. Just like you, they’ll be connected with people they don’t know well or have never met so it’s mindful to check before you get too excited.

If you can’t be as specific as this, use your ‘ideal client profile’ to make it clear about the types of businesses and people you’re looking to work with.

Make a good first impression

After the introduction, don’t (I repeat DON’T!) send a long-winded email all about your agency and how brilliant you are.

Instead, do some research. Share something relevant and useful.

Explain that the first step is an exploratory chat.

Nothing will turn a prospect off more than being pitched to. And your client won’t appreciate it either. They’ve referred you in good faith. Don’t make them look bad.

Follow up with your client

After you’ve been introduced, and especially if you’ve had a conversation with the prospect, let your client know. And for goodness sake, say thank you. Knowing how much you appreciate their help will go a long way. And might mean they don’t need to be prompted to recommend you again in the future.

A final word on incentives

I’m often asked whether a client needs to be, in effect, paid to help. Whether that’s a kickback, a reduction in fees and so on.

No.

If you’re doing a good job, if the relationship is strong and if you ask in the right way, there should be no need. The client should want to help. If they don’t then it might suggest an underlying issue (meaning you’ve probably got a more pressing problem to fix).

By all means, buy them a bottle of their favourite tipple to say thank you but anything more than that shouldn’t be necessary.

Photo by Christian Stahl on Unsplash.

Get proactive with client referralsBen Potter2020-11-20T14:25:43+00:00

Do your case studies get people hot under the collar?

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:28:24+00:00

Do your case studies get people hot under the collar?

A while back I explored the role of the agency creds deck, arguing that the classic ‘show and tell’ does neither the agency nor the client any favours.

I’d go so far to say they should be scrapped altogether. But that’s never going to happen. Creds are a deeply ingrained feature in how agencies and clients seek to work together. So, if an outright ban is out of the question, how can we make them better?

I’d like to take a look at perhaps the most important aspect of the creds; case studies. This is of course where the agency has the opportunity to bring to life the primary (perhaps the only) reason why they exist in the first place; to deliver impactful work that addresses a client need or problem.

As an aside, someone once said to me that “prospects don’t care about the work you have done for others. They only care about what you can do for them”. I agree with this…to an extent. But I also wonder if agencies have conditioned some buyers to think this way because the case studies presented are too often completely irrelevant. And even when they are, the actual content itself is yawn-inducing.

You’ve got their attention. Don’t waste the opportunity

Taking that first point, if you’re presenting a case study that has little or no contextual relevance to the prospect, then I’d question why you’re in the room in the first place. But let’s forget that and assume you should be in the room. Goddam, you’ve fought tooth and nail to be in that room. But then you go and spoil it all by following an all too familiar structure when you get to the ‘our work’ bit. It might go something like this:

Background…some mundane stuff about the client that you probably sourced from Wikipedia.

What we did…a richly detailed description of your approach, methodology or processes. Yawn.

Results…an underwhelming stat about how you increased traffic, conversion rate or something equally noncommercial.

Client testimonial…a quote that you (probably) wrote on behalf of the client because they couldn’t be bothered or didn’t actually think the work was all that good.

I’d like to say my efforts at sarcasm are an exaggeration, but I’ve literally seen hundreds of case studies like this. Hold fire, come to think of it I’ve probably written a few in my time. Arse.

Prospects want stories, not just stats

Irrespective of the detail, there’s one thing that case studies tend to lack. And that’s a story. A proper start, middle and end. Or maybe not an end, more of a look to the future. Because let’s be honest, client / agency relationships are rarely smooth sailing. There are always bumps in the road, right? Why are we so wary to talk about these, to tell the real story?

Don’t worry. I’m not talking about the time when the account manager had one too many shandies and told the client where to go. That’s too much detail.

But what a case study should do is to describe the problem you were hired to solve, the challenges faced by the client and the obstacles you overcame together. The aim is to create a bit of drama, which in turn should stir the emotions. Yes, you heard me right. We want prospects to get emotional with our case studies. Remember, that’s how people buy. Initially, decisions are based on emotion. Rationality only enters the picture later on when we seek to justify a decision with facts.

A few questions to get you started

So how do you go about making your case studies more compelling, more emotional? Try these questions for starters. If you can’t answer them, go and speak to the client. If they can’t answer them, worry.

How did the client find you? Why did they choose you and who was involved?

What were they trying to achieve and why?

What did it mean to them? What might have happened if they hadn’t addressed the problem?

What had they tried previously? If they failed at past attempts, why?

What were the challenges you and the client faced along the way? How did you work together to overcome them?

What have you helped them achieve? How have you directly or indirectly affected revenue, profit or productivity, for example?

What about your impact across other areas of the business? What opportunities have they been able to exploit?

How have you made things easier for the people who work with?

What lessons did you learn along the way?

What does the future hold? What’s next for you and the client?

Much is said about the need for agencies to be more authentic, dare I say ‘honest’. What better place to showcase this than your case studies. You know, the actual work you do, the reason why you’ve been hired first place.

So, next time you’re writing a case study, ask yourself; is this telling the real story? Is this in any way exciting? Because if your case studies don’t get you hot under the collar, then it’s doubtful they’ll be doing anything for your prospects. When you only present a dry description of the work you did, you’re more likely boring them to a slow death.

Do your case studies get people hot under the collar?Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:28:24+00:00

Give your agency value proposition some fizz

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:31:33+00:00

How to give your agency value proposition some fizz

Recently, I’ve been sharing how I help agencies make the move from generalist (‘we do everything for anyone’) to specialist (‘we do this thing, for this type of client’).

We’ve looked at defining a narrower audience for your offering and how to create a more relevant proposition as a result. Now it’s time to bring that proposition to life; to make it sing and entice your target audience to act.

The template I shared last time is useful in bringing together the component parts of your proposition. However, it’s formulaic. And, if you’re like most agencies, you’ll probably fall into the trap of using familiar and tired language.

Take my advice on board with a small pinch of salt

Now, before I go on, a caveat. I am NOT a qualified copywriter. I write. I have a certain style. I read books and articles on how to get better. Every so often, I’ll come up with a great turn of phrase or sentence (or so I’m told). But copywriting doesn’t always come naturally or easily.

However, if you’ve read anything I’ve written on agency positioning, you’ll know I have a strong point of view on language. Agency land is plagued with jargon; words and phrases that are overused, obvious or irrelevant: ‘full-service’, ‘award-winning’, ‘data-driven’, ‘honest’, ‘innovative’, ‘integrated’, ‘results-focused’ and ‘passionate’, to name but a few.

Fortunately, people way more qualified than me agree:

“Jargon is the hallmark of a pretentious ass”

…said a certain Mr David Ogilvy way back in 1982. Almost 40 years later, the amount of waffle and guff is worse than ever.

It’s not easy to cut out the jargon completely. But if you don’t give it a go, you might spend a load of time on your value proposition only to end up where you started; sounding like everyone else.

That’s why your choice of language is key. So, here are a few things to consider when trying to inject your value proposition with a bit of fizz:

Write in the way you speak

I guess we lean on jargon because of its familiarity. It’s easy (and therefore comforting) to use the same language as everyone else on our websites and in our proposals. There are also certain technical terms that are unavoidable.

But listen (I mean really listen) to the conversations amongst your team and especially with your clients. Is jargon that prevalent in everyday conversation? I’m guessing not.

So why not write in the same way as you speak. Use colloquial, conversational language.

Find a non-obvious way of saying the obvious

It isn’t just the language of agencies that is overused and tired. In my opinion, it’s also the language of business: ‘sales’, ‘revenue’, ‘growth’, ‘market share’. Yawn. Maybe I just spend too much time looking at agency websites, but those words just don’t compute with me anymore.

Can they be avoided? In certain instances, I think so. For example, when working with a performance agency on their positioning, we realised that the majority of their clients are second or third in their markets. They are challengers to the main player.

It would have been easy to go with the obvious and stick ‘sales’ and ‘market share’ in their proposition. But then I remembered something one of their clients said to me; “we’re looking to close the gap on Brand X. We know we will never overtake them, but we want to make their life difficult.”

‘Close the gap’…what a wonderful way of succinctly expressing what any challenger brand is trying to do. So, their one-liner ended up as…

‘We help challenger brands close the gap on the leading players in their markets’

It’s much more emotive than sales, revenue and market share, wouldn’t you agree?

This shows how important it is to speak to your clients during the process of repositioning. They are the ones (hopefully) experiencing the benefits and impact of your work. Take note of the language they use and reflect it back in your proposition where it makes sense.

Inject some personality

When you read aloud the copy on an agency’s website, it creates an immediate impression. An agency might come across as formal, light-hearted, upbeat, confident, sincere, adventurous, easy-going, positive, humble, principled or cheerful.

Consider how you want your agency to be perceived by the outside world and especially by your target audience. For example, I tend to be quite self-deprecating. I can also be a touch sarcastic. These elements of my personality come out in my proposition and writing. It makes it authentic.

Spend some time coming up with four or five adjectives to describe the personality of your agency and reflect these in your language and tone.

Go all George Orwell on your copy

In his essay, Politics and the English Language (1946), George Orwell criticised the ‘ugly and inaccurate’ written English of his time. He went on to outline six rules to remedy the situation:

1) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Besides our shared distaste for jargon, I particularly like points 2) and 3). They encourage you to create a succinct value proposition that gets to the point and is easily understood.

What next?

In its purest form, your value proposition is an internal statement. It provides clarity on why you exist and what you intend to make happen for your target audience.

Externally, it forms the basis for your website copy, presentations, social media profiles, directory listings, press releases, email footers and so on. Therefore, I find the most useful next step is to use the value proposition statement to create a messaging template containing an elevator pitch, one-liner and (possibly) a tag line.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these:

The elevator pitch

If you had 30 seconds in a lift (sorry, I’m English) with your dream client, what would you say about your agency to pique their interest? That’s the principle of an elevator pitch.

I prefer the idea that you have just 10 seconds because it forces you to cut out the waffle. Anyone listening to a 30-second elevator pitch would die of boredom before they reached the top floor.

If we go back to our value proposition template, trim it down to include just the following:

We work with…(markets / audiences)

…helping them to…(problems / opportunities)

…that…(benefits / outcomes)

Deliberately avoid talking about your services. Why? Firstly, because a good elevator pitch should create a sense of intrigue. It doesn’t give everything away. It should lead to a question; “that sounds interesting, how do you do that then?”

Secondly, if you mention your services too soon, you’ll be too quickly pigeon-holed (“oh god, not another bloody SEO agency”).

And thirdly, because your services matter much less than you might think.

One-liner

Your one-liner is a slimmed-down version of the elevator pitch, the sort of thing that might be used as the headline copy on your website or in your email footer. For example, mine is:

Helping digital agencies craft a winning approach to business development.

Tag line or slogan

Shorter again, this is a few words to express your agency’s philosophy; the sort of thing that would sit underneath your logo. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is McCann’s ‘Truth well told’.

Be really careful with this. The world is littered with crappy tag lines. I came across this useful article that that lists the tagline of 700 global agencies. You can make your own mind up as to which are good, bad or indifferent.

Lastly, play a game of buzzword bingo

Before you sign it all off, have another look over your statements. How many times do any of the words and phrases in this article pop up? Down a drink for every one you find.

In all seriousness, it’s hard to avoid the language of agencies and business entirely. But, if you follow the advice above, you’ll get pretty close. And come the end, your agency will stand out simply by avoiding the same industry lingo that thousands of others have fallen prey to.

You’ll also find language that is authentic to your agency’s culture. And by listening to your clients, more relevant to their aspirations.

And if you still can’t get rid of the jargon and want someone to cast a (very) critical eye over it all, give me a shout.

Give your agency value proposition some fizzBen Potter2020-11-20T14:31:33+00:00

How to craft your agency proposition

Ben Potter2020-11-20T14:34:30+00:00

How to craft your agency proposition

I’ve talked a lot this year about the importance of agency positioning. Or, more specifically, how agency land is plagued with inward-looking, broad-brush and cliché-ridden positioning.

But rather than continue my assault on your ‘passionate, full-service and award-winning agency’, I thought it high time I provide some actual advice on how to fix the problem. It’s the least I could do, right?

I started by exploring the difference between positioning and your proposition. I argued that for your proposition to be relevant and enticing, you firstly need to define a narrower audience for your agency offering. I then explored some creative ways you can go about doing this.

So, with your target audience nailed, and a better understanding of where your expertise is best applied, you’re ready to start work on your proposition.

But before you put pen to paper, you’ve got some more thinking to do.

Dialling down the ‘we’

Far too many agency websites come across as narcissistic and boastful. It’s all ‘we, ‘our’ and ‘us’.

A good proposition is the opposite. It dials down the ‘we’, whilst dialling up what really matters to your target audience. It demonstrates your understanding of the problems they face or the opportunities they are looking to exploit. It succinctly talks about your expertise and offering only in this context. And it is outcome orientated, highlighting the positive impact you have on the people, companies and markets you serve.

This means looking at things from the perspective of your target audience. To get you started, here are a few questions to ponder:

What is your target audience trying to do? What does success look like?

What is standing in their way? What problems are they facing?

What is happening in their market? Are there opportunities they are looking to exploit?

How would you describe the mindset or attitude of the people you work with?

What will the client have after working with you? What is the tangible impact of your work?

How do you want people to feel when they work with you?

Of course, there is no better way to understand the aspirations, needs and concerns of your target audience than actually talking to them. I’m going to assume you have some clients on the books that fit your newly defined audience, so ask them…

What made you decide to work with us? What was the specific problem you wanted to fix at the time?

How would you describe the experience of working with us?

How does this compare with other agencies you’ve worked with?

In your role, what are you trying to do? How have we helped you to meet those goals?

What problems have we been able to help you address?

What are the most important benefits you’ve experienced as a result of working with us?

Have you experienced any unexpected advantages as a result of our work together?

From experience, you will probably find this to be more fruitful when you use an independent third party to ask the questions. A client is likely to be more open and honest, especially if the responses are also anonymised.

Bringing it all together

As you combine your thinking with input from clients you should start to see some patterns – recurring themes, words and phrases.

And with that, you are (finally) ready to start writing your first draft proposition. It might be useful to use a template like the one below. At this stage, don’t worry about it being somewhat formulaic. This is simply a way of bringing together the component parts. It’s unlikely it will ever be used in quite such a robotic way.

Instead, as it evolves in style, tone and language, it will act as the basis for all manner of outward-facing communication; from your website to proposals and everything in between.

AGENCY is…(type of agency)

Working with…(markets / audiences)

Helping them to…(problems / opportunities)

By delivering…(products / services)

…that…(benefits / outcomes)

….because…(purpose / belief / perspective)

Let’s take a slightly closer look at each of these:

Type of agency

Personally, I don’t think it matters too much whether you describe your agency as marketing, digital, creative, media or otherwise (as long as it’s not ‘full-service’). However, buyers tend to pigeon-hole agencies by discipline so it’s worth thinking about. But don’t obsess over it, especially as the lines between disciplines have become somewhat blurry in recent years.

Markets / audiences

Fairly obvious but critically important. Be as specific as you can. ‘Brands’ is too broad. Use adjectives to narrow the type of brands you work with.

Problems / opportunities

This is ultimately what a client is buying from you; your expertise and how it is applied to solve a problem or exploit an opportunity. Your services are just the vehicle to get them from where they are now to where they want to be. Hence, this part of the proposition takes precedence over any mention of your services.

Products / services

Now you can talk about what you actually do. This shouldn’t be a long list of services. For some, this would create a proposition of biblical proportions. Instead, it is a brief summary, ideally demonstrating how your thinking or approach to delivering those services is particularly relevant to your audience.

Benefits / outcomes

Again, the more specific the better. If your clients see average growth of 50% inside 12 months, include this. But also consider the individual here if you can – how do you make people feel?

It’s likely there is a multitude of benefits a client will experience by working with you. For the purposes of your proposition, I’d consolidate these to three; those that are going to appeal to a number of different stakeholders.

Purpose / belief / perspective

This is a big topic in its own right.

Whilst I believe every agency has a ‘why’ (a purpose or reason for existing), I’m not always convinced it will resonate with the buyer. For example, it is admirable that you started your agency having become disillusioned with a previous employer. But is this relevant to your target audience? How much will they really care?

An alternative to purpose is to state a belief or offer a perspective related to the target audience. For example, when it comes to how agencies and clients seek to worth together, I believe there are too many ingrained behaviours, processes and dated methods that ultimately benefit neither party. I, therefore, encourage agencies to challenge the conventional way of doing things. This is not necessarily my purpose or ‘why’. However, if an agency owner agrees with my thinking, they are more likely to want to find out how I can help them.

Just to complicate the issue

While your proposition sets the tone for how you communicate with your target audience, it doesn’t mean you should stick to it rigidly. In all likelihood, you will need to engage and influence a number of different people in any one organisation. This means you will need to tweak your proposition accordingly. For example, the benefits or outcomes a Managing Director will care about will be different from those of an eCommerce Manager.

I, therefore, like to think of a proposition as having layers. Your overall proposition (what you say on your homepage, for example), needs to broadly appeal to all stakeholders. But as you reach out and converse with different stakeholders, elements of the proposition will need to be made more specific according to the goals, desires, problems, concerns and motivations of individual buyers. This is where creating some simple personas can really help.

How to craft your agency propositionBen Potter2020-11-20T14:34:30+00:00