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6 Critical Elements Of A Sales Pitch

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6 Critical Elements of An Ad Agency Sales Pitch

mIf there is one thing you must do when selling a BtoB service (as in your ad agency’s services; a tech solution; a great media or creative idea…) it is making sure you understand the needs and motivations of the person you are selling to when you craft your sales pitch. Sounds obvious, right? Believe me, after interviewing a wide range of clients and ad agency search consultants for my book on pitching I have to say that many agencies do not follow this golden rule. We are simply not spending enough time really thinking about the buyer and her perspective. 

A Sad Ad Agency Sales Story

I had this lesson hammered home at my first media to agency pitch when I moved from Saatchi & Saatchi New York to launch the brand new newspaper website NJ.com. I figured I’d start selling the new fangled idea of internet advertising to my friends at my old agency (this was 1996). I knew the agency inside and out and had worked with its Executive Media Director Allen Banks for years. My pitch included a hockey puck graph of projected Internet usage and a discussion of digital advertising that touted our  news website’s newfound ability to track how website visitors viewed and interacted with online advertising.

Sounds like a great digital media pitch, right? Was Allen smiling? No. His reaction?

“Are you f*cking kidding me? We have made a fortune not really knowing how, when and for how long consumers have been looking at our ads. I manage hundreds of millions in advertising media placement. Knowing how much of it doesn’t work will kill our golden goose.”

My point in telling you this story is that I didn’t really think through Allen’s motivations and potential objections before I delivered my early online sales pitch about tracking and analytics. I had only thought about how wonderful the Internet advertising  solution was. By the way, Allen was right. The Internet sure seems like it killed some parts of the golden advertising goose.

Here’s some more advice from the world of sales…

Yes, some of these 6 elements may seem obvious (and yes, I am repeating myself) — however, I know for a fact that not everyone in your agency truly understands these simple rules. Many of your colleagues, even the folks on your new business or creative idea pitch team, probably do not have much direct sales experience.

  1. Think like the client. The presentation (it’s a sales presentation!) must be written from the client’s perspective. What are they asking for, and what do they need and want to hear? You want to win them over, not your colleagues. This is the key reason why you have to learn about the individual clients, and if you have time, create personas for any new to you decision makers before you ever meet them.
  2. Involve them. Don’t make the presentation one-sided. Try to involve the client in a discussion. You might be able to motivate the stone-faced clients by asking them a few questions at the right time.
  3. Answer their questions. If the client has specific questions, stop talking and listen. Make sure you answer the question and confirm with them that you have. Think all agencies do this? I know for a fact that they don’t. Sometimes in the heat of the pitch, agency presenters will consciously or unconsciously deflect and even ignor the client’s question so that they can get on with their scripted presentation. This can be a major lost opportunity for dialog and might put off the client.
  4. Deliver value. The client has invited you into their world. Return the favor by giving them something of value in return. In most cases, this might be a serious insight or a creative solution. This is your chance to demonstrate why this client couldn’t possibly live without you.
  5. Be dynamic. Clients want agencies that are passionate about their work and ideas. Show your passion, and find a way to show passion for the client’s brand and/or quest. In a new business pitch, you might want to actually ask for the job. 
  6. Be different. Again, if you are in a new biz pitch, know that the other agencies that are pitching are good, smart and could probably do the job. You have one chance to look and sound different. Think very hard about how you will stand out from the pack.

6 simple rules. They work.

me me mistake copy jpegHead over to this link to see my post on the 12 worst mistakes agencies make when pitching. You’ll like the cartoons as well.

My 500th & Most Valuable Advertising Blog Post About Saatchi

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Wowzer – This Is My 500th Blog Post

BLOGI  started blogging a few years ago to help promote my ad agency Citrus. We were early and, I have to admit, the blog world was a bit less crowded in the mid-2000’s. Today with over 3,000 marketing services blogs, agency blogs have to work a lot harder and smarter. I’ve tried to do just that here.

To commemorate this personal milestone, I want to make sure that this 500th post is highly valuable to my readership – that’s you. After I ramble a bit about what I think are some of my most useful advertising agency insights, I am going to discuss the essentials of my blogging system as a final point. This system works for me as virtually all of my business leads come from this blog as well as LinkedIn, Twitter, Slideshare and guest posting which are tied into the blog. These social media actions are directed by very clear objectives and are focused on targeting ‘you’ via the use of personas. I can tell you that, if used correctly, social media is a highly effective inbound marketing platform. But, you know that.

I believe that many of my past posts have provided value since they have been read over 159,000 times, have been shared across the web and, most importantly, drive those sweet incoming leads from agencies (hopefully like yours) that are looking for growth strategies.

Here Are My Top Posts

As you’ll see, my second most read post at over 9,000! covers the worst advertising pitch and presentation ever.

top posts

“The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever”  is about a Saatchi & Saatchi pitch debacle and was one of the reasons I wrote my book on how to run winning pitches. The outcome of this botched pitch was that Saatchi did not win the global Adidas account and I didn’t get to run the account from my very own Saatchi sports agency. Go ahead, buy the book to see all of our mistakes and how to avoid them from Amazon here.

The worst ever pitch blog post is also the reason I put the word Saatchi in this headline. “Saatchi” is serious blog post headline click bait. More on click bait, or better yet, targeted keyword rich blog headlines a bit later.

The Post: The Worst Advertising Agency Presentation – Ever [Read more…] about My 500th & Most Valuable Advertising Blog Post About Saatchi

Six Ways Ad Agencies Are Winning New Business

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Six Ways Ad Agencies Are Winning New Business

download adHere is a headline from a 2009 Advertising Age article:

By the way, am I the only one confused by AdvertisingAge / AdAge branding. Which is it?

“Six Ways Ad Agencies Are Reeling in New Business Now  Some Novel and Tried-and-True Tricks to Snag Accounts in Recession”

I found the article searching for ways that advertising agencies are winning new accounts. Since the article was from the dark days of the recession, I thought… hey maybe there are some insights that are applicable to today’s agency world. Here’s the Ad Age article and my take.

“Client cutbacks amid the recession have placed intense pressure on agencies, who are clamoring to hold on to the clients they have and starved to add new business where they can. “When times are tight, even the huge agencies go after the tiniest of accounts,” said Ann Billock, a principal at consultancy Ark Advisors in New York. Below, Ad Age shares some of the ways agencies are managing to still snag business.

NETWORK INNOVATIVELY

Having an ample Rolodex is essential to growing your agency, but networking doesn’t have to be about three-martini lunches. Via Group, Portland, Maine, has developed a clever way of drumming up new business. Once a month, founder-CEO John Coleman organizes a get-together of eight to 10 marketing executives to discuss topics such as “technology’s role on the evolution of society and culture.” 

Yes! Create events, face-to-face events that attract your most cherished client prospects. My Portland agency Citrus ran events about new marketing trends in the late 2000’s for clients and prospects. We were able to get folks from LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft to come to Portland and discuss the newish world of digital and each company’s advertising products. This was a no-brainer for us. We initially ran these in our lobby and when the attendance grew, we rented a big rock hall to add a bit of hipster. Your agency can do this easily. Start small… rent a bar at happy hour and drink and talk. You’ll look smart and cool and sell face-to-face. Beats cold-calling.

SHOW YOUR SOCIAL-MEDIA SAVVY

Having an influencer on your team is a huge asset. Take Dave Armano, VP-experience design at digital agency Critical Mass, or Steve Rubel, senior VP-director of insights for Edelman Digital (and an Ad Age columnist). These are new-business people on social-networking steroids. 

I suggest that your agency designate a partner (reasoning to follow) to author and be the face of your social media. Get out there and do a really great and powerful and consistent job in social because it works (see my recent article on how social works hard for my brand and… because if you can’t look good in social media (!!), how the heck can a client think that you have the chops to ever recommend any social programs to them.? Do unto others, baby.

OK, why a partner? Do you really want to build an employee’s brand and then watch them go across town? This happens. I don’t thin AdvertisingAge gets this one: “Sure, the thoughts they share are their own and not their employers.’ But in the end, the agency wins with talent that is active in consumer conversations.”

ADOPT A RECOGNIZABLE PLATFORM

Agency-positioning efforts such as Kevin Roberts’ “Lovemarks” platform (he really siuggests that a consumer can learn to LOVE their tootpaste) at Saatchi may not be new, but they really can work. One of the more recent platforms to emerge is Publicis Groupe’s “Contagious Ideas”…

“It’s not just some abstract theory,” said Mark Hider, exec VP-director of engagement strategy for Publicis USA. “There is a conversation going on about brands whether we like it or not,” and the key is to “monetize brand conversations, and then alter them in your favor.”

Obvious, right? Um, no. Most agencies don’t look all that different than the shop down the street. It is very easy to look and sound different. Don’t believe me? Call me.

BE WILLING TO CONTORT

Every client seeks flexibility in a partner, but increasingly that requires taking it one step further to build custom-made solutions. There’s WPP’s Enfatico, the agency it built from the ground up for Dell, and more recently DDB Entertainment, a dedicated agency unit at Omnicom for Blockbuster. 

LOL. Blockbuster!!! Guess this article was from the olden days (I bet you have employees that have no clue what Blockbuster was.) OK, here is a better point than AdAge’s building a brand new agency – clearly a point for the holding companies.

You a smaller agency? Why not create niche agency service for a category like Louisiana’s Innovative Advertising did when they offered the restaurant category their specialized website The Fridge. Innovative’s kicking it for their beer client Abita and other edibles, why not isolate this sales message?

WRITE A BOOK

Mitchell Levy, CEO and author at Happy About, says books are the new calling card. According to Mr. Levy, the author is the one asked to speak at conferences and events, and books are a great networking tool when sent to both existing customers and new prospects. 

Um again. I wrote a book on agency pitching and because of that, I have given presentations about how agencies should write books. Please do this for your agancy and follow my directions on how you can make it  a painless process. A link: Yes, You Can Write and Publish A Business Book in 6 Months

OFFER A DIRECT LINE TO THE CEO

Personal attention goes a long way. Anyone who knows Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based agency honcho Jordan Zimmerman knows he is not only accessible to clients 24 hours a day, he’s checking in with them on a daily basis. It’s no coincidence that the shop in the past two years has grown its operation by leaps and bounds, winning an astounding 85% of pitches.

Really, daily? LOL. Do you know a client that wants to talk to an agency CEO daily? Does your cousin want to catch up daily? Ok, the real point is that a small to medium agency CEO’s should be up front and center and accessible with clients and prospects. Why not put the CEO’s contact in the Contact section of your website? What else should the CEO be doing?

That’s it. Know what?

What worked during the recession works today. I always tell my agency clients… Have a bias for action! Want me to tell that to you — lets talk.

The Lost Advertising Agency Client

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Advertising Agency Clients Get Lost

Interview: Bill Duggan – Association of National Advertisers

download lostAt the end of phase one of my advertising career, I became a client of advertising and public relations agencies. As CEO and founder of Advance Internet’s New Jersey Online from 1995 to 1999 I was tasked, along with a very talented crew, to ‘invent’ online newspapers and new advertising programs. To introduce our new service and grow our brand, I wanted to find an advertising agency that could understand the emerging world of Internet-based news and create new online advertising units that captured the attention of this nascent market.

From 2000 to 2002, I was CEO of the natural language company ActiveBuddy. ActiveBuddy allowed users of Instant Message platforms like AOL’s AIM to talk with a computer who became their smart & friendly 24/7 buddy. In that role, I wanted a PR resource that would make our intelligent instant messaging bots like SmarterChild famous, help us build a huge audience (we did), and make us look hot to prospective acquirers during the first dot-com bubble.

With 16 years of agency experience, I knew what I needed from ad and PR agencies to achieve my objectives, and I had a large Rolodex of agency friends to call on.

I didn’t feel lost in my agency search.

Advertisers Are Lost

Most advertisers looking for an agency do not have these contacts or knowledge of the agency world. They simply do not perform enough searches to act as experienced and efficient buyers. Individual agencies are partially to blame for adding to client confusion by not providing a clear point of difference vs. their competitor agencies. There are over ten thousand marketing agencies. Just imagine how difficult it is to pick the right one. That’s why clients get lost. [Read more…] about The Lost Advertising Agency Client

4 Hour Workweek On Whisky Or Whiskey

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Yo, AdMan: Do You Know How To Spell Whiskey Or Whisky?

whiskey-bottles-photoI didn’t until I listened to what I think is one of the most entertaining and informative podcasts from Tim Ferris and his 4-Hour Workweek podcast:

The Tattooed Heretic of Wine and Whiskey, Richard Betts.

By the way, its whiskey in countries with an “e” in their name like the U.S.A. And in Japan and Scotland it’s Whisky. If this isn’t important to you, I suggest you bail on the rest of this blog post. Go ahead, drink more vodka.

The Whiskey Deal Via A Great Podcast

You work in advertising which means that according to recent research you are 67% more likely to drink more wine and whiskey than the average U.S. consumer. What’s more… there is a need to know things about booze because you drink it with friends and the occasional client. Hopefully, an AOR client.

img_4268The super entertaining interview is… C/O Tim Ferris… (You’ve read his books, right?) [Read more…] about 4 Hour Workweek On Whisky Or Whiskey