There are a lot of agencies out there. A LOT. For prospective clients, it’s difficult to tell one from another.
The same (often) unsubstantiated claims, words and phrases are regurgitated and recycled; ‘results-focused’, ‘passionate’ and ‘award-winning’, to name just three. All this does is add to the noise, bringing thousands of agencies into competition, driving down rates and making business development a slog.
Let’s fix that by:
> Aligning your senior stakeholders on the strategic direction of the agency
> Uniting your team behind a vision, mission and values
> Making your agency more appealing to a discrete audience
> Living and breathing your new positioning internally and externally
> Providing clarity on how to build your pipeline and laying the foundations to sell differently
How does it work?
Working through the stages below, expect unbiased advice and perspective as we define why you exist, what you do and, most importantly, for whom – all of which will be captured in your ‘Positioning Playbook’.
Leadership team workshops
Conversations to explore positioning options:
> Your story, interests and aspirations
> Your clients, the problems you solve and the work you enjoy
> What you stand for, your values and point of view
Research and proposition development
Validating the way forward and client input:
> Data and trends lending weight to your new positioning
> Identifying competing agencies and how they present themselves
> Interviewing clients on goals, challenges and desired outcomes (to feed into messaging)
Creating your positioning playbook
Bringing it all together and rolling it out:
> Writing your vision, mission and values
> Creating your ‘ideal client profile’, value proposition and elevator pitch
> Advice on turning your strategy into action, including culture, website and case studies
Are you ready for this?
You’ve been trading for a few years, working with clients of different shapes and sizes. This has served you pretty well. Until now.
Because despite your best efforts not to look and sound like every other agency, this is exactly where you’re at. Your transparency, focus on results and passion – whilst admirable – just aren’t cutting it.
You want to be a ‘go-to’ agency but realise this isn’t going to happen if you continue trying to be everything for everybody. It’s time to stand out from the crowd by narrowing your focus. Your leadership team are aligned on this. But you’re all a bit stuck on what direction to take; you need some external perspective.
You also understand this is a journey. Experiencing the benefits of tighter positioning will take time and perseverance. It might be a year or two before you meet your dream client, quietly confident that you properly know your stuff. And you’ve got the content, case studies, recognition and team to back it up.
I don’t say this to put you off, just to manage your expectations.
“Ben knows agency BD inside out, wasn’t afraid to ask difficult questions and challenged and pushed us to get to the crux of the matter. He’s also incredibly personable and proactively keeps in touch to see how we’re progressing.”
Helen Walters | Distinction
Fancy some of that? Hand over your details and I’ll get right back to you.
Thoughts
Ideas, advice and opinion to help make business development just a little bit easier.