New Business

Advertising Agency Sales Meeting Insanity

Peter · March 21, 2024 · Leave a Comment

Yikes: Advertising Agency Sales Meeting Insanity

Yup. Sometimes even a super smart marketing agency does not seem to know how to run an effective advertising agency sales meeting. Power sales acumen, style, and delivery are a learned skill set. So…

This is a shoutout to RSW/US’s Lee McNight and his mind-blowingly sad video about advertising agency sales: 3 Takeaways Ep16 – 3 Reasons Why Initial Agency New Business Meetings Go Nowhere

I watched this video on my mobile phone in the dark at 6 AM in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, waiting in a long line to fill up my gas tank. Lee’s message kinda blew my mind.

Other than Lee’s points about how some agencies do not know how to run a sales meeting, I am most perplexed that an agency making any of these three points is still in business. As an ex-major league agency business development director and growth-obsessed agency owner, I cannot believe that by the time an agency leader is invited to a sales meeting, she or he has not prepared for the meeting. At this point, I suggest that you buy my book: “The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches.” 250 pages on how to win new business.

One more quick point. Think interpersonal chemistry. Chemistry is often the deciding factor when a client gets pitched by finalists. In some ways, lookalike agencies. I’ve even heard that an agency won a new account because it sent a handwritten thank-you note. This is from Lisa Colantuono, President of the agency search firm AAR Partners

Back to Lee and RSW/US.

The 3 Reasons Why An Initial Agency Biz Dev Meeting Can Go Nowhere…

“You didn’t do your homework.”

Advertising Agency Process and Profitability

Peter · December 12, 2023 · 1 Comment

Get This Right – Your Advertising Agency Process Delivers Profit

Warning: While not as sexy as a new TikTok marketing plan, this in-depth 3,500-word post is all about creating and running a killer advertising agency process that will help your agency make, here it comes, more money. Process, as in managing and controlling your time, costs, and being efficient will deliver greater profits — and much happier clients and staff.

Process, having a process, is one of the key elements of my business development and client management consultancy. I get into the weeds on this every day with my clients. You cannot be efficient and a money-making machine if you do not have a clear path – a plan that you repeat for each client and every element of your agency sales plan.

By the way, if this post is too long for your online perusal, I’ll send you a PDF version. Just email me at peter@peterlevitan.com

Process = Big $$$$

A bit of background. When I worked at Saatchi & Saatchi one of the accounts I ran was Northwest Airlines. At that time, a time when airlines spent big bucks, their media budget was $60 million per year. At the standard 15% commission, we generated $9 million in agency revenues. $9 million! Ah, the good old days. Days when an agency minted bucks even if some of our processes were a bit wanky.

This isn’t the case anymore.

Today, process: the art and science of managing client relations, agency staff, expenditures, and time, is critical to profitability.

A Wonderful Advertising Agency Process Plan = $$$$$

I have a Texas advertising agency client that isn’t anywhere near as profitable as it should be. Their problem isn’t having the right clients or clients that want great work, or clients that spend money. Their problem is not having the right workflow process to ensure that these clients are profitable.

And, worse, because the agency appears to be always overworked, they don’t have the time or energy to run a smart and consistent new business program. A 24/7 program.

I built this client process plan for them and thought, why not share it? To protect the innocent, this full-service ad agency has been renamed… Wonderful Advertising. I think that these general principles and actions can be applied to any communications agency type.

The Wonderful Agency: Background

Wonderful is an integrated marketing communications agency based in Dallas. Wonderful describes itself as (from Wonderful’s Twitter profile):

“A full-service advertising and marketing agency blending traditional and non-traditional media with digital services, graphic design, and social media.”

A bit boring, but at least they’ve made a statement.

Wonderful: Management Issues

Wonderful is entering a next-stage business phase where it would like to add larger national clients to its roster. In order to do so, it would like to set up client management systems to improve its workflow efficiency and improve and manage its client relationships, and most importantly… increase agency profitability. The agency must also build a business development system that will help them entice and land the type of clients that they need for agency growth. [Read more…] about Advertising Agency Process and Profitability

Ten Important Questions For Your Advertising Agency

Peter · October 31, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Ten Questions Every Advertising and Digital Agency Has to Answerer to Lead the Market

**But First… Some Pain. The Why I Wrote: Ten Important Questions For Your Advertising Agency**

There is a high degree of fear, doubt, and uncertainty in the Advertising Industry. According to the 2023 RSW/US New Business Report:

“This year (2023), 58% of agencies report obtaining new business has been harder, or a lot harder, compared to the previous year.”

“38% of agencies said the number of opportunities for new business decreased this year, versus 26% last year.”

As an ex-agency owner and the Director of Global Business Development at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, I know these facts are insane and worrying.

Frankly, only kick-ass agencies will survive.

Here Are Ten Questions (and Thoughts) That Will Kick-Start Your Agency’s Success.

These are food for thought. This is where I start with my advertising agency consultation clients.

Do You Update Your Business Plan? How hard do you look at and possibly adjust your business plan? How will you generate maximum revenues and profits moving forward? Do you adjust? Do you understand your Total Addressable Market (TAM)? I have a one-page business plan guide in my book, “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency.”
Have You Defined Your advertising agency positioning? This is a tough and hard look at your primary brand proposition. Stand out. be clear. Be compelling. Be an expert. Expert agencies win more clients and get bought faster.
Do You Have a Competitive ++ Sales Oriented Website? This is one of the first places that anyone sees your agency. How do you rank vs. your competition? What do you say (fast!) that will get a prospect to pay attention and want to dig in? In many cases, you only have around five seconds to make me pay attention, decide you are right for me, and stick around vs. the other 3,999 advertising, digital, etc. agency websites. Your website is a sales tool. Sell!
Is Your Business Development Plan A Winner? How have you managed your plan over the past year? My blog has 850+ blog posts discussing how to market your agency. Plus, I’ve written two advertising agency “guide” books just for you on this rather critical
Have You Perfected Account-Based Marketing? You do this, right? If so, how? I am blown away by the number of new, smart, easy-to-use AI-based marketing tools designed to energize and streamline your marketing. Ask me about them.
Are You a Thought Leader? Are you an active and efficient thinker, blogger, LinkedIn guru, or podcaster? How do you look on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok? Are you perceived as a category thought leader? What do your analytics tell you?
What Is Your ‘findable’ quotient: Can I find your advertising agency if I search for you or your expertise? You should be everywhere I might search for you. Your competition will probably be there.
How Is the Client List? Does your client list look powerful to an outsider? Do you know how to position your client list for business development? Do one or two clients account for too high a percentage of your revenues? If so, go out and get new clients. And love the one you are with.
Got Intellectual property? Do you have any IP? Something that will differentiate and add sustainable value to your agency? You can do this. I know how to make this happen by hyping your current client-facing systems and licensing white-label tools.
Do You Manage Your Creative Vibe? How does your creativity stack up, and how do you prove it? I am talking about the vibe of your creative ideas, use of media, and just plain methodology to help clients stand out.

One More BIG One. Man Bites Dog.

Is your agency, as in, for example, #digitalagency Unignorable? If you are, um, ignorable, you will not win. It is that simple. I concentrate on how to make agencies UNIGNORABLE.

Dog bites man, isn’t unignorable. Man bites dog is. What is your breakout message?

Here It Comes – An Unignorable Offer

Take me up on my free Godfather offer. This is an offer you can’t—or rather, shouldn’t—refuse.

Need a starting point? Let’s talk for 15 minutes—just 0.25 on the timesheet— to discuss your agency’s issues & opportunities and how I will help you build a more powerful advertising agency business development program. You will leave the call with at least one powerful business development idea. I guarantee it.

Here is my calendar: www.calendly.com/peterlevitan

Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Peter · October 22, 2023 · Leave a Comment

A Faster Way To Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Your marketing agency must have a need for speed. According to RSW/US’s 2023 advertising agency business development report, you better learn how to stand out fast if you want to grow and should not ignore Peter Levitan’s kick-ass advertising agency business development actions.

This year (2023) 58% of agencies report obtaining new business has been harder, or a lot harder, compared to the previous year. As seen in our graph, that’s creeping closer to 2020 levels at 67%, when we faced lockdowns, budget freezes, and overall extreme uncertainty.

The Way Forward Is… Leveraging FUD To Grab Attention

Think Purple Cow. Think Seth Godin. Think about being unignorable. Don’t be shy. I advise all of my advertising agency business development clients that they need to capture the attention of their future clients. Leverage business pain points and even FUD – Fear + Uncertainty + Doubt. A way to do that is to do some easy to do custom research. Call me to find out how.

For Now… Here Is My Take On Godin’s Super 2003 Best Seller “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable” and, YUP…. Grow Advertising Agency Business Development Success

“Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable” by Seth Godin presented a groundbreaking perspective on modern marketing. Here’s a brief summary of the book’s key points:

The Purple Cow Analogy: In a field of brown cows (think about your 4,000 competitors), a purple cow stands out. Similarly, in a market flooded with products and services, being “remarkable” (like a purple cow) is the only way to truly stand out.
The Old Marketing Paradigm is Broken: Advertising methods (like TV commercials – today even SEO) are becoming less effective due to over-saturation. People are good at ignoring ordinary products and boring ads.
The New P’s of Marketing: Godin suggested a revised set of P’s for marketing: Purple Cow, Permission, Peer Pressure, Paranoia, Persistence, Placebo, Personalization, People like us, and Perceived Value.
Safety is Risky: Playing it safe and creating average products and messaging for average people is a risky strategy. It’s better to take calculated risks to create something truly unique and remarkable.
Target the Innovators and Early Adopters: Rather than trying to market to everyone, focus on the audience segment that’s most likely to try new things and spread the word – i.e., the clients you want.
Word of Mouth is Powerful: Remarkable products and services get talked about. Creating something worth talking about can lead to exponential growth via word of mouth.
Create and Spread Ideas: The goal should be to create ideas that spread. If an idea spreads, it’s because people like it, believe in it, and share it. your custom research will help.
Be Genuine: Consumers and client types can detect inauthenticity. It’s essential to genuinely be remarkable and not just create a facade.
Embrace Criticism: Remarkable ideas often get criticized. Instead of fearing criticism, see it as evidence that you’re breaking norms and standing out.
The Lifecycle of a Purple Cow: Once a service and a product becomes popular and mainstream, it loses its “remarkableness.” Brands need to keep innovating to stay relevant and remarkable.

In essence, GO: “Purple Cow” Buy it now! …Challenges businesses to stop focusing solely on standard B2B marketing. In a cluttered marketplace, only the remarkable advertising, digital, etc. agencies stand out, get talked about, and succeed in the long run.

Oh, Yeah: BUY My Books. Stand Out. They Will Tell You: How To Grow Advertising Agency Business Development

Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation

Peter · October 14, 2023 · Leave a Comment

Unignorable Marketing Program Delivers A Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation System

This is a thought starter for how to deliver on and support the promise that your advertising agency can make a client, its services, or its products unignorable. Deliver an unignorable message to develop a smart advertising agency lead generation system.

To prove your point and demonstrate your unignorable belief system your advertising agency will need to think about how to express its own marketing messaging in an unignorable way. Your advertising agency will need to tailor its promise based on its own skills and history.

You have to walk the talk.

Now, consider this…

“My brain is full.”

It is common knowledge that we are bombarded by 24/7 news, social media content, incoming alerts, messaging and emails, digital notifications, and multiple forms of advertising every day. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people and brands and sales messages want our attention.

“My brain forgets”

Even worse than message bombardment is the fact that we can hardly even remember the messages that we want to remember. Neuroscientists tell us that, at best, 90% of what we hear and see will be forgotten. These scientists have even invented the Forgetting Curve chart to help us to visualize how much does not sink in.

Marketing clients understand the high cost of this cognitive problem and are looking for marketing techniques, systems, platforms, and efficient solutions that help deliver sales messages that get noticed and are memorable. These clients are looking for marketing communications agencies that can offer marketing that cannot be ignored.

I call it getting to being Unignorable.

Unignorable delivers smart advertising agency lead generation.

What is the definition of Unignorable? The online dictionary Merriam–Webster defines “Unignorable” as being – unable to be ignored: not ignorable.

According to me, the opposite of being Unignorable is to be ignored. Being ignored is a marketing disaster. A waste of everyone’s time and money.

Your Advertising Agency’s Must-Do Approach to Delivering Unignorable Marketing.

OK. How to express your advertising agency’s solution to current and future clients? [Read more…] about Smart Advertising Agency Lead Generation