By Category: New Business Tips


Monday, July 12, 2010

» $75M in New Business Awarded to Ad Agency Members

How your competitors won new business last month that you didn't know about

by David Currie

Members of the Marketing Mine community were awarded more than $75M in new business last month that didn't hit the trades, and in most cases you didn't know about.

A few important things you should know. In the past month, more than 570 new corporate marketers and procurement professionals joined the Marketing Mine community.

More importantly for a new business executive or agency owner, in the past 30 days the $75M+ of new business that ran through …

» Read on...

Thursday, March 25, 2010

» Your guide for marketing to marketers

Not all CMOs are created equal as targets for ad agency new business

by David Currie

Robyn Freye Geary InteractiveAt Catapult New Busness we're always interested perspectives from agencies. The following post is by Robyn Freye of Geary Interactive and provides some solid insight above and beyond Sales 101 to consider when formulating your new business outreach program.

As marketing strategies and tactics have evolved and budgets have diminished, chief marketing officers have grown increasingly accountable for their digital budgets. There aren't any …

» Read on...

Friday, January 22, 2010

» Direct Mail Back for Ad Agency Lead Generation?

New Business Intel Blog Raises Interesting Question

by David Currie

Direct Mail ad agency new businessReading New Business Intel this week, Todd Knutson raised an interesting point about the role of direct mail in this digital age for new business. I'm sharing his post below, and I'd have to agree that given the right circumstances, a highly targeted and relevant message, traditional direct mail can be highly effective as a part of a larger communications / …

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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

» Got a new business dog that can bark?

Taking the torch from the introvert and handing it to a rainmaker.

by David Currie

Chain Link New BusinessI’ve posted plenty of thoughts around the ongoing new business challenges that agencies face, but there is none more frustrating to hear each day than the one that is so simple to identify and ultimately to solve – ‘right fitting’ people for positions.

Agencies spend tens of thousands of dollars with recruiters and placement services to find new creative directors, copy writers and account directors. They spend hours upon hours scrutinizing …

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Friday, November 20, 2009

» New business feast (or famine)?

5 Tips to get a full serving of new business this holiday period.

by David Currie

New business feastI just got off my third call of the day where an agency principle stated that they’ve stopped all of their new business prospecting for the year because of the holidays. I beg your pardon?

Catapult’s clients and account teams know firsthand that this is one of the best periods of the year to be prospecting –

“What’s that? Oh you need to spend the remainder of …

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

» Cabbie, Take Me to the Digital Age

Jim Smith of Ground Zero takes us for a ride

by David Currie

CabbieJim Smith, Chairman/Chief Cook & Bottlewasher of Ground Zero Advertising wrote a great Adweek article about navigating and advertising in this brave new digital age. He brings up some valid points that you can apply to both your clients, and future new business pitches. Enjoy.
 
Landing at JFK this week, I hopped into a spanking clean taxi, courtesy of that nice Mr. …

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Monday, November 16, 2009

» The Perils of Outsourcing New Business

Six points to consider when outsourcing ad agency new business

by David Currie

OutsourcingIt's sometimes hard enough to lead new business directors who work a few feet away, let alone outsourced contractors with a different end game and who are in many cases hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. Such is the experience of a distraught agency owner who contacted me last week.

This agency owner had just terminated a contract with another outsourced new business agency after just six weeks and needed our help.

Why?

 “They …

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Thursday, November 05, 2009

» Ad Agency New Business Metrics Funnel Drives Growth

How to apply a metrics based methodology to your proactive new business process

by David Currie

Proactive New Business FunnelCan analyzing the numbers really help with proactive ad agency new business?  You bet.

At the Mirren New Business Conference this year I spoke on the topic “How to get prospects on the phone when no one is answering”, which essentially outlined the seven steps for agencies to build a proactive, metrics based new business strategy, rather than the ad-hoc cold-call based approach many continue to employ.

At the core of this …

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

» Social Media Planning Needs Agency Buy-In

Insights into key principles in getting support for your social media stratgey

by David Currie

Fear of changeResistance to change is nothing new. Resistance to an investment in social media by agencies for new business therefore shouldn't be a surprise when we think back to the challenges of simply getting over the hurdle of the introduction of computers, the adoption of the web and even email.

Stephanie Holland, President - Holland + Holland Advertising presented "Getting Ad Agency Buy-In for Social Media Success" at the social media » Read on...

Monday, November 02, 2009

» Setting Ad Agencies Up For Failure

5 Reasons why tasking account people with new business leads to disaster

by David Currie

JackarooYou wouldn’t ask a Jackaroo* to provide legal advice, so why do agencies continue to force fit account managers into new business roles rather than hire trained professionals?

It’s no secret that most people fear that black box on their desk when it comes to using it as a new business tool, especially ad agency account people who’ve been tasked with the role of new business due to their recent decline in …

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Friday, October 30, 2009

» Starting an Agency New Business Prospecting Database

Finding the right data resource

by David Currie

Typically the first step for any new business person looking to embark on a new target category begins with the development of a prospect list or group of companies and brands.

The accuracy of this data may be the make or break of your efforts, so do the research and test the data from any supplier or source before incorporating into your new business CRM application.

There are a variety of great information resources, both free and subscriptions based that can help you build-out a …

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Thursday, October 08, 2009

» 7 Ps of Social Media Relations for Ad Agency New Business

Should we add planning and perseverance?

by David Currie

7 ps social mediaWe’ve all heard of the “4 Ps of Marketing:” Product, Price, Placement and Promotion (and I would also add Positioning to this mix). Barry Lawence of BrandCottage would like to suggest that there are “7 Ps of Social Media Relations.” I think that these can be applied to ad agency new business, so I’ve edited them to be a little more relevant.

7 P’s of Social …

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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

» Making the short list for ad agency new business

Corporate Marketers Use Online Tools to Search for New Partners

by David Currie

Getting ListedWe all look to the web to accomplish daily tasks, in fact there are several websites I visit each day in the order of getting things done for business.

From a corporate marketers perspective it’s no different, and one trend we’re watching closely at Catapult is the tendency for corporate marketers to search for new agency and marketing partners online.

There are a …

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Tuesday, October 06, 2009

» Two of the Most Powerful Words for Ad Agency New Business

Learn these to close more new business

by David Currie

Two WordsI came across an article by Lee Salz today at Sales HQ that spoke directly to a core challenge that many ad agency new business people face daily, the close.

He suggests that there are two words that you can use that will ‘skyrocket’ your new business process, revenue and commissions. These are two words that you can learn, and even train your team around to include in their selling …

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Monday, October 05, 2009

» So what’s in review this week?

A look at high-profile new business account shifts

by David Currie

There are a few resources that I like to keep tabs on at Catapult, one of which is the weekly issue of 'Accounts on the Move', issued by MediaPost. The newswire notes the week's high-profile account and agency activity. I've included an outline of this week's report below.

In ReviewIn Review this week:
* Complete Directory of Accounts coming into review available by contacting » Read on...