Public relations agencies face more competition and longer odds in winning clients.
Different types of agencies are invading PR turf, including SEO firms, digital agencies and social media firms.
[source: Cyber Alert] The key to winning a client is to position the agency, whether it’s an ad agency or PR agency, as the best fit for the client rather than touting it as the best agency, argues Jim Nichols, vice president of marketing at Apsalar.
There is no “best” agency, he writes in an article for iMedia Connection. Showing how you match well with the prospective client, that you bring something critical to them, something that they don’t get from other agencies, is more likely to win clients.
Other tips he offers include:
Show how you are unique. Most agencies provide essentially the same information to prospective clients. Set yourself apart from other agencies. Claims that you are “really good at everything” lack credibility. Instead, highlighting specific strengths is a more successful strategy.
Explain “your reason for being.” Why you do something is more important than how you do it. Why did you create your agency? Why did you join?
Start a conversation. You can bore potential clients with endless praise about your agency. The best pitches evolve into conversations about the client’s business issues. Although some clients are reluctant to reveal information about their businesses during a pitch, successful agencies can make reasonable deductions.
Seize every opportunity. Turn every communication into an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and dedication. That entails meeting deadlines, responding promptly to every request, and showing up early for meetings.
Build rapport. Establishing a personal connection with the prospective client’s decision-makers is frequently instrumental in winning business. Surprisingly, agency representatives often spend more time proving their superiority. Researching prospective clients by viewing their LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts can uncover common interests to break the ice and begin a personable conversation.
Other Tips for Winning Clients
Research them. In advance of your pitch, learn all you can about the prospective client. Read every page of their Website. For public companies, read their SEC filings. Employ listening tools. News monitoring and social media monitoring can reveal information about the prospect’s issues and needs – and their position in their industry.
Sell results, not services. Clients don’t buy services; they invest in results. Show prospects how your services have enhanced the businesses of other clients. PR measurement is the best strategy for demonstrating your agency’s impact on business outcomes.
Don’t focus on price. Even if your price is competitive, it shouldn’t be your main selling point. Make your case based on benefits, value and other qualities that differentiate your services, and especially on how your services will benefit the prospect’s business.
Find the client’s preferred “pitch” method. Some companies prefer a formal competitive process; others prefer to build a personal relationship before making an assignment; still others favor a series of informal exploration meetings. Whatever way the client company wants to conduct the selection process is the way it must be done. The most successful sales people become skilled at all the different business development approaches.
Tell customer stories. The most convincing sales pitches focus on customer success stories, says Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners, a landing page optimization firm. The strategy entails relaying how clients have benefited from your services and how your work positively affected their businesses in terms of increased sales, better reputation, higher profit or other positive outcome.
Bottom Line: Obtaining new business is more challenging than ever for PR agencies. Identifying the prospective client’s needs through careful research and news and social media monitoring and using PR measurement to demonstrate how your firm achieved clients’ goals prove your agency’s value.