The Art & Science of Advertising Agency Sales Prospecting – A Smart ‘KISS’ Approach
You know what advertising agency sales prospecting is. Yup. But… let’s start with a couple of definitions to get us on the same page.
From Shopify: Prospecting is the first step in the sales process, which consists of identifying potential customers, aka prospects. The goal of prospecting is to develop a database of likely customers and then systematically communicate with them in the hopes of converting them from potential customer to current customer.
From Peter Levitan: Sales prospecting is efficiently going after and getting the new clients for your advertising agency that y’all deserve.
A ramble: All advertising agencies, digital marketing expert agencies, PR, well you get the idea, need to grow. If you have been reading me for a long time, I’ve told you that you start to lose that new client the minute they become a client. So, knowing that your clients will eventually leave by the back door means that you better be working hard at bringing them in the front.
NOTE: The following is NOT a definitive prospecting plan. I am just toplining the core elements that you have to do. Sales prospecting is both science and art. I help agencies every day get this particular act together.
Sales Prospecting
I am going to assume that you have a referral strategy so you have taken care of that critical business development tactic. But, you cannot rely on referrals and WOM alone for growth. Can’t, shouldn’t. Way too many agencies do this. need a referral plan? Here you go.
Your Brand Positioning Comes First
To be a great prospector, you need to offer the market, your specific market, a compelling brand proposition that will get their attention — one that resonates. You can do all of the prospecting you want but if you do not sound like you will meet a potential client’s needs then ‘fuhgettaboutit‘… you will be wasting your time and money. Need to rethink your positioning? Go here – How To Position An Advertising Agency.
Second, Develop Kick-Ass Messaging
It is great that you have a positioning that meets a need. Now, think about how you will turn that positioning into ongoing messaging. You’ll need a plan. What do you say; what thought-leadership can you develop; what IP do you have; what do your website and social media say about you that is compelling?
CRITICAL: How will you, your agency, and your messaging be unignorable? Easy? No. Critical? Yup. If you are not unignorable then you will be ignored. If you are in fact unignorable then ‘fuhgettaboutit‘… you will be wasting your time and money.
Get real. Ask yourself if your messaging, thought leadership, IP, whatever you are putting out there, will make your prospects sit up and want to give you a shout.
Build That Smart List Of Sales Prospects
Here is the start of a prospecting plan. Know that the art and science of list building is a critical element of business development. Know that you should go and get the clients you deserve. Deserve means that they will most likely want to talk to you.
- The first step is being focused. What are your target industries / companies / titles / geographies? These lists must be about people – not just the corporate info page. You are targeting people. Ah, yes, personas.
- I usually suggest having an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ list. A’s are folks that will get a VERY personalized message ( a timed program) and the B’s are as personalized as your agency’s skill set allows. The size of each list does matter if you want to make sure you get the job done.
- Establish the list using client criteria, as in what criteria matters to you and your goals, and review and adjust bi-monthly.
- Your list can go beyond specific prospect companies to “influencers” in your category. Again, you are doing this with related marketing partners – who do they know.
- Create a rating system to select the client opportunities based on your business objectives and history. Be realistic – but why not go for it if the prospect should get to know you.
- Build the master list and review the list every three months or so to maintain freshness. Example: lots of marketing directors leave and move on every month.
- Use outside help if your folks are too busy to create that detailed list. I like college interns (pay them) or that freelancer from the Philippines to do the detailed work (give them a spreadsheet to complete). And, yes, there are online tools that can help too.
- Keep all eyes and ears open for opportunities – everyone at the agency, your ‘partners’ should understand the agency’s objectives and be visualizing opportunities.
Use A Sales Process
You need that positioning that resonates + the sales plan + the list that targets the right prospects + smart/compelling messages (the reason anyone will pay attention).
Then an ongoing and timed system – your process.
Make sure that everyone in your company knows how important business development is. Get alignment. The boss has to look hungry. The hunger for growth comes from the top.
This means having a sales development process that includes a calendar. Clear assignments and responsibilities. Success metrics. A quarterly or whatever meeting timetable works for your agency. Keep the energy rolling.
Last Point- Leverage Some KISS For Your Advertising Agency Sales Prospecting
Hubspot has a prospecting guide that has 26 tips, techniques, and tools. LOL = Frankly, most advertising agency or digital marketing types will not be able to handle 26 of anything. So, have that plan but Keep It Simple Stupid so you actually create a repeatable program.
Last… Last Point – Give Me A Shout.
Yeah, put my consultancy on your biz dev list. Here is my story.
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