Lest you think you’re the only one peddling faster, you’re not.
Ask a random assortment of folks in the marketing world and they’ll likely tell you they feel the same thing. It’s simply becoming harder to win new business.
[source: Forbes] This is not just the case for what’s referred to as “traditional” agencies, but for all types of communication firms, from digital and social media firms to public relations firms. As for why this is true, I decided to get some perspective from a pro on the topic. Joanne Davis, founder of the consulting firm that bears her name, has been guiding clients through the agency search and compensation process for over fifteen years, following her own successful career in agency management. She felt that there were three key contributing factors to this challenging situation. And, good news, three things smart agencies are doing to overcome the challenges.
To begin with, Joanne explained, there’s the speed with which we do business today. Everyone has their mobile device with them 24/7. The world expects answers immediately. Clients are moving faster to stay competitive. As a result, service providers are moving as fast—if not faster—to exceed, let alone meet, their expectations. It’s like the old FedEx tagline: It absolutely, positively has to be there, now. With less time to consider a situation, decisions get made differently. And, when pressed for time, it’s not as easy to perform your best.
The second reason winning new business has become harder, Joanne explained, is that the competitive set has changed. “Every service provider is like the old Staples promise that ‘Yeah, we can do that.’ Everybody does everything. No, make that everyone says they can do everything. You don’t know who you’re pitching against. Everyone is in the hunt.” In other words, a CMO with a branding-related problem might contemplate whether to call a branding firm, or a general agency which asserts it does branding, or a consulting firm. It used to be that the differences between direct advertising and public relations, between media buying and general advertising, were established and well understood. The discipline specialists were more clearly defined. Today, however, the barriers are down and everyone’s swimming over into each other’s lanes. That this is creating confusion for CMOs seeking the optimum solutions to their specific market challenges is understandable.
“We read all the time abut a media agency that’s hired a creative director, or a PR agency that does full-service work, or a media company that has become a seller of its own programmable units because there’s not enough margin just doing media,” Joanne said during our conversation. “And, therein is the third reason winning business has gotten tougher. Agencies have had to get leaner and meaner.” Inherent in this leaner and meaner scenario is the fact that often there are fewer dedicated business development people at agencies. It’s become a luxury to have a seasoned pro devoted to new business. And, this point makes for a great segue to what Joanne and I viewed as three solutions to the challenges just outlined.
- Make critical-thinking time a priority. Agencies that win business take the time; they make the time, to think about a client problem in depth and from different perspectives. When you sit down with a prospect, you must be able to present ideas beyond the obvious, beyond the transparent. In today’s world anyone can Google anything. Just playing back information about a client’s current situation won’t cut it. You need people who are curious, who are able to look beyond the data for meaningful insights.
- Be smart about where you can play to win. Going back to everyone being an expert at everything, not to mention an agency’s own ROI, there has to be a clear-eyed objective relative to which pitches to take part in. Everyone knows opportunities don’t come along exactly when and where you want them, but just because there’s a pitch doesn’t mean you should swing. To illustrate this point Joanne had an interesting anecdote. “I had an agency call me before Christmas and tell me what a great year it was. They were in 12 really elite client pitches. “How many did you win,” I asked. “None,” they replied.” In other words, if you can’t hit it, don’t swing at it.
- Demonstrate agility. Winning new business has always been both art and science. Winning new business today also means being able to show a potential client that your firm is as agile as it is thoughtful. Sure, you need to show evidence of getting the basics right, but clients want to see how nimble you are, how quickly you can pull together resources, get the right people focused on exactly the right issues, and get initiatives into the market with the right combination of speed and certainty. A client wants to know that the agency can help them meet their business goals, and they want to see agility in execution.
This said, good luck out there. And, keep in mind, it’s not just peddling faster, but peddling your wares smarter.